considered

In the 17th century there was a food that was considered deadly for the rich, but did not kill the poorest: the tomato.

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Today it is almost impossible to imagine Mediterranean cuisine without tomatoes, a food highly valued by its nutritional benefits and their antioxidant propertiesanti-cancer and how preventative for aging cellular. However, its integration into the European diet was a slow process full of obstacles, marked by a phenomenon that stigmatized it for centuries, calling it a poisonous food that could lead to cause death, especially if you were rich. Curiously, the poor were immune to its poison. The tomato was deadly for the rich The history of the tomato hides a phenomenon that defied the logic of the time, as it seemed to act as a selective executioner capable of distinguishing the social status of those who ate it. While the peasants and the popular classes They consumed it without suffering harm In some cases, rich aristocrats and wealthy merchants became seriously ill and even died after ingesting it, which consolidated the belief that it was a poisonous and cursed fruit. However, the key to this medical mystery lies not in the biological composition of the tomato, but in the chemistry of the utensils used by rich Europeans when serving and preparing this food. The upper classes of the 18th century had the custom of serving their banquets in pewter tablewarea metallic alloy highly appreciated for its shine and similarity to silver, composed mainly of tin and copper, but with a high lead content. Unlike the rich, the humble classes could not afford these luxuries and ate on simple plates made of wood, clay or coarse ceramics, materials that were chemically inert to food. The problem was that, when the natural acidity of the tomato came into contact with the surface of the pewter plates, their interaction caused a chemical reaction that leached lead from the alloyreleasing this heavy metal directly into the food. As a result, the aristocrats suffered lead poisoning (lead poisoning), whose symptoms were erroneously attributed to the toxicity of the tomatoes and not to the dish in which it was served, granting him tomato the nickname “poison apple” for more than 200 years. Bad botanical companies The rejection of the tomato in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries was not only due to the wealthy victims that this evil fruit claimed, but was supported by the botanical science of the time, which classified it under a family of some plants with a bad reputation: nightshades. Naturalists identify the tomato as a member of the Solanaceae, the same group to which plants belong. famous for their toxicity such as nightshade, henbane or mandrake. This botanical association was enough for doctors and scholars to assume that the new fruit native to the Americas shared the deadly properties of its distant relatives. This botanical classification reinforced the irrational fear of the plant, linking it not only with the poison that was clearly killing the richest, but with spiritual and moral dangers typical of the time. The mandrake, in particular, was strongly associated with witchcraft and rituals dark due to its narcotic effects and the anthropomorphic form of its roots. By placing the tomato in this same biological bag, all the negative connotations and superstitions that surrounded the plants used in the dark arts were transferred to it. As and as they pointed out in National Geographicthe herbalist John Gerard was one of those responsible for fixing this negative image in the collective mind, leaving in writing in his work Herball of 1597 a devastating sentence. Gerard described the plant as producing “corrupt and poisonous fruits”, a statement that, coming from an authority on the subject, cemented the terror of the tomato in Britain and its colonies for centuries. Although in Spain and Italy the tomato began to be accepted earlier due to the influence of customs brought from Americain northern Europe the shadow of suspicion lasted much longer. It was necessary for modern chemistry to explain the pewter reaction and for botany to refine its classifications so that the tomato could finally clear its name and occupy the place it today has on our tables, no matter if you are rich or poor. In Xataka | They are millionaires, but they eat like children. Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg share a passion for junk food Image | Nano Banana, Unsplash (Wanasanan Phonnaun)

Magnus Carlsen is considered the best chess player in history. He has not been able to beat the entire world

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Last April 4 began A very special chess chess game. With white pieces Magnus Carlsen, considered the best chess player in history. With blacks, the whole world. And the world managed to force the tables. Carlsen can’t with the world. On May 20 ended This game Freestyle chess, and did it surprisingly. After 32 movements, “the world” forced tables in a lady end thanks to the triple repetition rule. This rule allows a player to claim a draw (tables) if the same position on the board occurs at least for the third time during a game. Magnus vs. The World. The event, organized by the online chess platform Chess.comhe has faced the ex -champion of the world of classic chess – he had that title by not wanting to defend him – against more than 143,000 users of Chess.com who joined strength to try to beat him. Freestyle chess. The game did not use the rules of classic chess, but those of Freestyle chess, the new modality that Magnus Carlsen is promoting. In this modality, the positions of the pieces of the rear row (towers, horses, alfiles, lady and king) are chosen randomly, although two rules must be fulfilled. The first, that the bishops must be in boxes of different color. And the second, can be continued on both sides, so the king must always be between the two towers. Thus ended the game of Carlsen vs The World. Tables by repetition. A legend. Magnus Carlsen, 34 years old, became the world’s largest score player in 2010, at age 19, and has won five world championships. In 2014, it managed to reach the highest elo score in history, 2,882 points. In recent years, tensions with the FIDE and its own tiredness with the classic chess modality have caused the fight to defend the title of World Champion. He continues to play classic chess tournaments, but is especially interested in fast games tournaments and, in recent times, in Promote freestyle modealso known as Chess960 (chess 960) or random chess of Fischer. Voting movement. After each Movement of Carlsen, in the turn of “El Mundo” a voting system was followed that lasted 24 hours and in which all those involved in the game could participate. It was not mandatory to vote in each movement, and to help the players of “El Mundo” there were several “coaches” who shared their own reflections on the best movements with their analysis of the state of the game. A “solid” game. In statements After the game, Carlsen Indian That “in general,” the world “has played a very, very solid chess from the beginning. Perhaps he has not opted for the most entrepreneurial options, but has remained more in the normal chess line, which is not always the best strategy, but this time it has worked well. The world did not risk and worked. In the last movements the players of “The World” discussed whether to force the tables with triple repetition or try to continue playing to win it, even if that supposed the defeat. In the end the votes favored the most conservative strategy, and preferred to force the tables. The world lost against Kasparov and Anand. There have been previous events of this type. In 1999 Garry Kasparov played against more than 50,000 players via Microsoft Network and won after four months. Last year the great teacher Viswanathan Anand He won a game against more than 70,000 players at Chess.com. In both cases they were classic chess games. How was the game? Chess.com analysts have described the game as “a roller coaster” in which there were a couple of dramatic moments. Carlsen came to have a somewhat more advantageous position, but he could not take advantage of it and confesses that from that moment everything was aimed at the tables because “they did not give me a single opportunity.” Image | Frans Peeters In Xataka | A study says that AIs are “cheating” to chess. That’s what we want to think

It is considered one of the best video game adaptations to the cinema ever made and has just arrived at Netflix

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Almost twenty years have passed since its premiere, but it is undeniable that the overcrowding visual force of ‘Silent Hill‘, that He has just arrived in Netflixremains intact. In the last two decades, the special effects have evolved in very different directions, but the incredible makeup of this Christophe Gans movie and its clear and open intention to make a faithful and respectful version of Konami’s original video game has gained Many of his fans. And that, as they say, ‘Silent Hill’ is maladaptable: the unforgettable experience of the first video games exists because it lives in the first person, and that makes that The cryptic argument and the atmosphere built with fog and sirens sounding in the distance Be sufficient to raise panic. But Gans has the need to convert that sensory experience into a film with conventional argument, and that sometimes makes decisions that move away ‘Silent Hill’ from an absolutely literal adaptation. In spite of everything, it works at a wonders. In this adaptation, a woman lives desperate to find a cure for her daughter’s mysterious disease, and decides to locate Silent Hill, a town that the girl speaks constantly in dreams. But upon arrival, a mysterious figure causes an accident after which, his daughter disappears. Accompanied by a police officer, the two women begin to look for it, and will soon discover that the desert people after a devastating fire hides much more than it seems. ‘Silent Hill’ belongs to a time when cinema began to produce, finally, visually faithful adaptations to the video games that inspired them. Far away were the times of the hilarious ones (but far from the originals) ‘Super Mario Bros.’ or ‘Street Fighter’, and Hollywood began to pay attention to the digital medium with films such as this or the success ‘Tomb Raider’. We would still have to suffer horrendous productions such as the bulk of UWE Boll’s films, also of this era, but ‘Silent Hill’ stands out among the rest for understanding and adapting, even with its problems, Konami’s original game with a remarkable dignity. In Xataka | ‘PT’: The best horror video game in history is a demo and hard just a few hours

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