continues

AI solves equations and chops code, but continues to crash with PDFs: the explanation shows its limits

by

It’s probably happened to you. You upload a PDF to an artificial intelligence chatbot in the hope that it will summarize a report, extract a table or find a specific piece of information for you in a matter of seconds. And, sometimes, he succeeds. But other times, the result is disconcerting: mixed columns, footnotes embedded in the middle of the text, tables converted into an illegible block or answers that do not faithfully reflect what the document says. The paradox is evident. Systems that already demonstrate clear advances in mathematics and programming They keep stumbling upon something as everyday as a PDF. And there is more than a simple punctual failure. Change of mentality. Although for us it is a document with well-defined paragraphs, titles and tables, for the system that processes it the situation may be very different. PDF is, first and foremost, a way to visually describe how a page should be rendered. And when a chatbot like Gemini either ChatGPT If you try to work with it, you do not always access an ordered structure, but rather a set of graphical instructions that you must first reconstruct before you can respond coherently. And that difference is better understood when we look at how a PDF “saves” information. How you actually organize information. Unlike a web page, where the content follows a logical order defined in the code, a PDF can store text as independent fragments placed at specific positions on the page. Many times, the file retains coordinates and placement instructions, but not necessarily explicit relationships between one sentence and the next. This implies that the order in which the text “appears” when extracted does not always coincide with the order in which we read it. If your document includes multiple columns, tables, or overlapping elements, the system must figure out how they fit together. And that deduction is not always trivial. {“videoId”:”x9hhg44″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”The TRUTH of AI – This is how ChatGPT 4, DALL-E or MIDJOURNEY works 🤖 🧠 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”, “tag”:”webedia-prod”, “duration”:”1173″} What happens with HTML. On a web page, the content is organized in an explicit hierarchy– There are tags that indicate what a title is, what a paragraph is, what a table is, and how those elements relate to each other. This structure is part of the file itself and makes it easier for other systems to read, index and process it. In a PDF, as we have seen, that semantic layer may not exist or be clearly defined. Therefore, in practice, extracting information from a website tends to be a more predictable process, while doing it from a PDF is more complicated. So what about OCR? It is the first solution that comes to mind. If the problem is that the text is not well structured or even “drawn” like an image, optical character recognition should convert it into something machine readable. And in part it does. OCR has been used for decades to transform images of words into text, but converting an image to text is not the same as reconstructing the logic of the document. When there are varied elements, the system can recognize each word without knowing exactly how they fit together. The result is not a failure in reading characters, but in the organization of information. In Xataka Dario Amodei founded Anthropic because OpenAI didn’t take the risks of AI seriously. Now you are going to give in to those risks Why don’t we abandon PDF? The answer is more pragmatic than technological. As reported by The Verge citing the person responsible for the PDF Associationthe format became established precisely because it allows a document to look the same today as it would in ten or twenty years, regardless of the device or software with which it is opened. A web page can change depending on the browser, an editable sheet can be modified or overwritten, but a PDF maintains its appearance and visual integrity. That stability is precisely what lawyers, engineers, public administrations and any organization that must maintain reliable records need. The challenge is not to replace the format, but to learn to interpret it better. Images | Xataka with Nano Bana In Xataka | Three AIs clashed in ‘War Games’. 95% of them resorted to nuclear weapons and none ever surrendered (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news AI solves equations and chops code, but continues to crash with PDFs: the explanation shows its limits was originally published in Xataka by Javier Marquez .

In 1977 Japan released an anime inspired by a raccoon. To this day he continues to pay the consequences

by

What harm could a raccoon? Any search surface on the Internet reveals its many aesthetic virtues. They are small, but not too small; hairy, but not in moderation; intelligent, but still simple; handsome, still goofy. The dream of any child, the object of desire of every human passionate about terrestrial mammals Appearances are often treacherous. Numerous testimonies and graphic documents support the disruptive nature, in criminal occasionsof raccoons. Its own genes give it away: if its gigantic dark spots around its eyes function as a mask, the raccoon is the caco of nature, an extremely skilled animal, elusive, sagacious in its objectives, diligent in its blows. They know it well conservation services Madrid. Since the small bug was introduced into the community at the beginning of the last decade, it has spread across three different watersheds. During the last fifteen years more than 800 copiesa modest sample of a probably millennial population. They have become in a nightmare. Without natural predators (they come from the American continent), they wipe out numerous local species and cause fear among peripheral neighborhoods. The extreme expertise that only millennia of plunder provides is combined with a totalitarian reproductive capacity to dominate virgin lands in a matter of decades. The raccoon is a colonizing weapon perfect. (Thomas Despeyroux/Unsplash) We know it today, however. Half a century ago, as in many ways still today, the image of such a friendly animal conquered the hearts of a nation at the other (literal) end of the Western cultural world: Japan. A counterproductive obsession Their love-hate story begins in 1963, when American author Sterling North published Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Eraa small children’s story in which he surfs the waves of nostalgia in the company of his domestic raccoon. The work becomes an instant classic, hitting the shelves of thousands of children across the country. His media epic would enjoy a definitive boost when six years later Disney gained access to the rights to the work. Rascal, the moviewould debut in American theaters during the summer of 1969. Without viewing, the film would contemporize the dazzling success of the friendly raccoon in the United States, and limit its legacy. Until 1977. Almost fifteen years after its publication, Nippon Animationa Japanese animation studio, had an idea: how about moving the story of Rascal to the small screen, in a production of 52 episodes intended for family consumption? Overnight, Rascal, its irresistible manga version, conquers hyperbolic Japanese pop culture. It is difficult to define the impact of the series. Rascal would end up appearing in television advertisements and video games intended a la GameBoyand would cause thousands of Japanese children to want a raccoon in their homes. What harm could the proverbial Rascal do, after all? It was 1977 and Japanese parents had no choice but to shrug their shoulders. In the blink of an eye Japan started to matter raccoons like there was no tomorrow. The fever reached its peak in the late seventies, when Japanese families acquired the mammalian sibylline at a rate of 1,500 copies for weeks. Suddenly, Japan had placed a Trojan horse perfect in its natural ecosystems. And he had done it driven by an animated series. And the raccoons took over Japan The consequences were quickly felt. How do they explain in Atlas Obscuraone of Rascal’s moral readings was the liberation of the animal. Raccoons, after all, are wild animals, and at the end of the day they only want one thing: to flee. The idea fit well into the Japanese cultural world, soon to any symbiosis spiritual between fauna and flora. Many Japanese parents learned the lesson the hard way: the raccoons had begun to behave like, err, raccoons. Aggressive, destructive and difficult to domesticate, many of them were found where the fable of Rascal entrusted them: in nature. Turned into a nightmare, the series offered a comfortable moral safeguard. The subsequent history is similar to that of Madrid. Within a handful of years raccoons had spread throughout Japan. At the end of the last decade, its presence was known in no less from 42 prefectures (out of a total of 47). They looted templesthey finished with species natives with similar characteristics (the tanuki) and disrupted numerous ecosystems and crops, generating annual damages worth €300,000. The Japanese government would not take long to prohibit the importation of raccoons, imposing severe fines on anyone who dared to go to the black market, but the damage would already be irreparable. The raccoon continues to roam freely in the archipelago, and Rascalvery oblivious to the consequences caused by his media enthronement, remains very popular. The beginning of the end. Even though the raccoon has sneaked in in many nations of the planet (Germany catches about 25,000 every year), only in Japan does its history rotate around pop mythomanias and animated series. Its presence is probably irreversible. As this report As Slate illustrates, the raccoon is not only an animal suitable for the countryside: it is also a nearly perfect urban pest. His grasping hands allow him to avoid countless traps, and his particular intelligence causes the policies to stop him to become obsolete in a matter of days. Cities, in essence, function as a field of military training. Each obstacle posed by public authorities offers valuable learning that always ends up being overcome, and that underpins the adaptability urban of the species. In Toronto, for example, the introduction of famous anti-raccoon garbage containers, supposedly impassable, was revealed useless after two years. Nothing that the Japanese governments don’t know about. Thank you, Rascal. Image | Richard Burlton In Xataka | We have found an ancient bone in Córdoba. Some believe it is part of Hannibal’s war elephants. In Xataka | 13% of Spaniards have tried cocaine once in their lives. If we ask the dogs of Madrid the percentage will be higher

today it continues to dominate Sri Lanka

by

We live surrounded by increasingly modern cities, connected by transport networks, technology and services that seem to completely define our time. However, in different corners of the planet there persist material traces of ancient societies that built works destined to last long further than those who built them, reminding us that the human ambition to transcend is not an exclusive feature of the present. Some of these structures remain part of the everyday landscape thousands of years later, silent but imposing. One of them stands on Anuradhapura and, despite its extraordinary scale, it remains little known outside its immediate surroundings. In the central north of the island is the first major capital of the territory and one of the most sacred places of Buddhism, where religious practice continues to develop with a continuity unusual in the contemporary world. On full moon days, pilgrims dressed in white walk barefoot along dusty paths while monks sing chants at dawn and foreign visitors join in rituals that have been celebrated in this same environment for centuries. Jetavanaramaya, the brick dome that defied time The construction that dominates this complex is called Jetavanaramaya and its scale is difficult to assimilate without dwelling on the figures. The stupa was completed around the year 301 ec using some 93.3 million bricks of baked clay and reached around 122 meters high, one of the highest heights in the ancient world. Due to its size, when it was completed it was ranked as the third largest construction made by humans, only behind the pyramids of giza. That material ambition alone sums up the magnitude of the project. The current appearance of Jetavanaramaya is also the result of a long history of deterioration and recovery. After progressive collapses and stages of abandonment, the stupa today reaches nearly 71 meters in height, far from the image it projected in its origin. Despite this reduction, its volume maintains it as the largest known brick construction, a scale so extreme that, according to a comparison collected in historical sourcesits bricks would be enough to build a wall about 30 centimeters thick and nearly three meters high between London and Edinburgh. The fact that it was covered by vegetation for centuries contributed to this feat of ancient engineering remaining relatively ignored outside the region. Beyond its architectural dimension, the stupa was part of a complex religious organization that articulated the monastic life of the environment. The complex, called Jetavana Vihara, was designed to accommodate a large community of monks and situate spiritual practice around the permanent presence of the main construction, visible from any point in the complex. The choice of brick as the main material completely conditioned the logistics of the project. Unlike the pyramids of Giza, built in stone, this stupa required preparing, transporting and assembling millions of pieces that were more vulnerable to erosion. Remains of ancient ovens found in the region confirm massive productionalthough without a conclusive attribution to the work or a secure dating to the beginning of the 4th century. The mobilization of labor necessary to complete construction remains one of the least clear aspects of the historical record. Part of the mystery surrounding the stupa comes from what has been found inside. They were found of reliquary chests placed on various construction levels, an arrangement that confirms their function as a container of religious meaning in addition to technical prowess. Next to them appeared gold panels with representations of bodhisattvastoday preserved in the Colombo National Museum. This set of findings provides material evidence of diverse doctrinal currents and suggests that the enclave participated in cultural networks connected with India and other regions around the Indian Ocean. Perhaps the most striking thing is not only that a structure of these dimensions has survived for more than 1,700 years, but that for centuries no stupa of comparable scale was erected in the region. This fact places Jetavanaramaya as the culminating point of a construction tradition that later evolved towards other forms and proportions. Its current presence reminds us that societies long before modernity were already capable of coordinating work, technical knowledge and collective beliefs with extraordinary ambition. Images | erdbeernaut (CC BY-SA 2.0) | Wimukthi Bandara (CC BY-SA 4.0) | In Xataka | 50 years ago a German started a futuristic paradise in Lanzarote. Nobody imagined that it would end up being the most famous ruin on the island

Microsoft continues to confuse the world with its obsession with Copilot. Almost no one is very clear if Office is alive or not

by

“But then, does Office exist or not?” It is a question that seems trivial, but it is not so, and with good reason: the constant name and brand changes have meant that the Microsoft office suite is being the latest victim of his obsession with AI and with its avalanche of products with the Copilot surname. The usual Office is no longer what it was. The evolution of Office was relatively stable until 2020. The office suite, officially launched in 1990, made it possible to bring together all the office applications that Microsoft already had and that it would later expand. This is how we soon saw an Office that consisted of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and even Access and other tools. Changes and more changes. Since then the suite has been undergoing paradigm shifts… and name changes: 2010: The Office 365 brand is introduced as a cloud version of the traditional office suite. The goal: compete with Google Docs 2013: After the launch of Office 2013, Microsoft begins to promote the Office 365 service as the main alternative to access office tools 2017: Microsoft presents a second evolution of these services, which this time were aimed at companies and which it named Microsoft 365. This platform combined Office 365 with volume licenses for Windows 10 Enterprise, as well as some additional solutions. 2020: Office 365 change your name to Microsoft 365 2022: Microsoft announces that the branding “Microsoft Office” would be abandoned in favor of the “Microsoft 365” brand. Even so, Microsoft continues to sell perpetual Microsoft Office licenses for local installations. The latest version Today it is Microsoft Office 2024. 2025:Microsoft rename the Microsoft 365 app to Microsoft 365 Copilot, referring to the “Office/Microsoft 365 Hub.” This application is actually like an aggregator of the different Microsoft office tools (Word, Excel, etc.). And Perplexity adds fuel to the fire. A few days ago those responsible for Perplexity published a tweet in which they seemed to indicate that Microsoft had changed the name from “Office” to “Microsoft 365 Copilot app.” In reality, what had been renamed, as they point out in Windows Latestis the “Office/Microsoft 365 Hub”, but this name change had already been announced a year ago, in January 2025, as we indicated. Perplexity also added that this decision had caused “400 million users to become “AI users” overnight.” Both the tweet and that statement were somewhat exaggerated, and did not help clarify a situation that is already confusing. Microsoft clarifies it. Microsoft officials have indicated in The Verge and other means that: “We have not made any recent changes to the names of our Office applications. Word, Excel and PowerPoint, the Office applications included in the Microsoft 365 productivity suite, remain unchanged In November 2022, we just renamed the Office hub app for web and mobile to the Microsoft 365 app. In January 2025, we updated it to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to reflect its role in bringing the Copilot and Microsoft 365 productivity experiences together in one place.” More trouble with the Office.com website. Although Microsoft hasn’t just “killed” the Office brand, it doesn’t seem to want it to be used much either. In fact, if one goes to the office.com website What you see as soon as you load it is a message that says “We welcome you to the Microsoft 365 Copilot application”, or in other words, that “hub” or aggregator from which you can launch the different office tools in the Microsoft suite. It doesn’t seem like a lucky decision. like others in this line in recent times. How to destroy a recognizable and recognized brand. The truth is that Office was a brand recognized by users, but for years Microsoft has wanted to transform it into part of something bigger. The intention, we believe, was to try to make it clear that Microsoft 365 was more than traditional office tools, but the only thing that has been achieved With these changes it is adding more and more confusion. Office is still alive as a product and as a brand, but it has ended up being absorbed by these new brands and, of course, because of Microsoft’s obsession with AI and with Copilot. In Xataka | Thanks again, Microsoft, for letting us buy Office 2024 instead of putting up with another subscription

We believed that everything happened because of the new fighters. The F-16 has been in the air for 50 years and continues to sell like hotcakes

by

For years we have heard that the future of air combat is called F-35a program associated with stealth, advanced sensors and a very specific idea of ​​Western technological superiority. It’s the plane that makes headlinesbudgets and strategic debates. But while that conversation progresses, there is a much quieter reality that dislodges the story: a fighter designed in the seventies not only is it still in service, but construction continues in South Carolinaand continues to find buyers in 2025. The interesting thing about the F-16 is not only that it continues to fly, but to understand why so many countries continue to bet on it when there are newer alternatives. To answer that question you have to go back to its origin, follow its evolution and look at the present with data, contracts and calendars. It is also advisable to separate promises from real capabilities, because not all air forces buy the “best”, they buy what they can operate on a sustained basis. The secret of a fighter that does not retire The F-16 was born from an internal discussion in the United States about the drift towards increasingly larger, more complex and more expensive fighters. In the early 1970s, the United States Air Force promoted the Lightweight Fighter program to see if a lighter plane could gain maneuverability and be more affordable without sacrificing efficiency. The YF-16 prototype first flew in 1974 and, in January 1975, was selected in the Air Combat Fighter (ACF) competitiona decisive step towards production. The idea was simple: operational performance before unlimited ambition. That philosophy translated into very specific design decisions. The F-16 opted for a compact cell with controls fly-by-wire that allowed finer control and relaxed stability difficult to achieve with traditional systems. The cabin was also part of the approach, with a high visibility dome, a stick side and a reclined pilot position to better withstand G forces. Over time, this approach focused on air-to-air combat expanded. The F-16 incorporated improvements in avionics, sensors and payload capacity that they pushed it towards a multi-role capabilitywith room for ground attack and increasingly demanding missions. In parallel, its international expansion was supported by cooperation, standardization and support programs between allies, which created a broad community of operators. That network remains one of the reasons the plane stays alive. Almost continuous modernization is the bridge between the original design and the F-16 currently rolling off the production lines. In its most recent standards, such as the F-16V and the new Block 70/72updated mission displays and computing, data link systems such as MIDS-JTRS, and a AESA APG-83 radar as a central part of the equipment. These newly manufactured devices are offered with a declared structural life of 12,000 hours. Almost continuous modernization is the bridge between the original design and the F-16 currently rolling off the production lines. Here the question stops being just technical and becomes operational. The F-16 continues to fit because it offers a relationship between capabilities, cost and availability that is difficult to match in many defense plans. It is a well-known aircraft, with acceptable maintenancescalable training and a mature logistics chain, something especially valuable in periods of tension and urgency. In addition, it facilitates interoperability with allies and the integration of Western weaponry in a predictable framework. Recent contracts illustrate that pattern with names and numbers, and are often channeled through government agreements and programs like the Foreign Military Sales of the United States. Slovakia has been receiving new F-16 Block 70 from 2024. Bulgaria has also opted for this modernized aircraft. Taiwan maintains an order for 66 F-16Vs approved in 2019with deliveries and testing affected by publicly acknowledged delays.Bahrain ordered 16 Block 70 and Jordan signed an offer letter and acceptance for eight units. The case of Ukraine introduces a different dimension. Here the F-16 does not arrive as part of a planned modernization, but as rexposed to an ongoing war and the need to reinforce air defense. The transfers have been materialized by the Netherlands and Denmarkand deliveries have been confirmed in phases with a limited level of detail for operational reasons. Beyond the exact figures, the jump is relevant because it introduces a platform compatible with Western doctrines, support and weapons in a real combat environment. Argentina is a different example, but just as revealing. In this case, the F-16 arrives to fill a long gap in air defense capabilities and recover supersonic flight after years without an equivalent fleet. The operation is supported by the transfer of 24 used aircraft from Denmark, with deliveries in sections, and the first batch of six devices arrived in December 2025. For Buenos Aires, the value is not just the plane, but also the training and support package that accompanies it. If we look at the current Western catalogue, the temptation is to think that the future has already been resolved. The F-35 has become the great bet of several allies and, in parallel, Eurofighter and Rafale have continued to grow with new variants, radars and weapons. The problem is that an air force is not measured only by the most advanced aircraft it can buy, but by how many it can sustain, train and deploy on a continuous basis. That’s where the balanced fleet model gains weight and the F-16 falls into place again. And if we look one step further, the conversation is already in the sixth generation. The United States works in NGADEurope pushes FCAS and the United Kingdom has allied with Italy and Japan in GCAPa proposal that aims to redefine sensors, connectivity and cooperation with unmanned systems. But they are programs with long calendars and a very high investment, in addition to the uncertainty inherent in any technological leap. In that gap, the F-16 maintains a clear space, because it offers real and available capacity while the future finishes arriving. Images | United States Air Force (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,) | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | Ministry of Defense of Argentina In Xataka | The Comac C919 … Read more

Warner is in the most delicate moment in its history, but HBO continues to impress with its plans for 2026

by

HBO Max has taken a group of media to London, including Xataka, so they can learn about first-hand and in the mouth of Casey Bloys, CEO of the platform, its plans for 2026. Of course, the inevitable question was in the air: how can we make plans for 2026 if in the coming weeks, before the end of 2025, we could know that Warner has new owners. Paramount or Netflix They are some of the first swords to bid for the veteran giant, branched into dozens of entertainment and information channels. However, Bloys has been clear: he knows nothing about it (of course, we have asked him directly if he could say anything about it) and it is not his job to manage these types of operations either. What’s more: “they are decisions that do not affect our budgets. (…) The only thing we can control, the only thing we can do, the best we can do, is to continue making plans like this one for 2026. Furthermore, in this business we work about two years in advance. So, right now, we are preparing for 2027 and 2028.” That is, it is too early to know what impact a purchase would have on programming. And Bloys does not speak into a vacuum: tonight in London we have seen about twenty productions that will premiere in 2026, and the truth is that There are titles that aim to boast a quality absolutely beyond any doubtand with the variety of styles and textures that the platform usually boasts: from the superheroic and violent procedural of ‘Lanterns’ to the late and sordid return of ‘Euphoria’, through new proposals as stimulating as the fourth season of ‘Industry’ or the promising ‘DTF St. Louis’. The first thing Bloys has done has been to set the record straight regarding the return of the platform’s traditional name, allowing this year for HBO to appear alongside Max again: “We have brought HBO back back knowing that HBO Max clearly signals that we are the destination for extraordinary voices, different perspectives and narratives for mature audiences. For more than 50 years, this is what HBO has always been and continues to be.” Bloys has boasted million-dollar milestones, but also prestige: ‘Task’ has added 12.6 million viewers per episode globally and ‘It: Welcome to Derry’, 15.4. This summer, ‘Chespirito’ was the most viewed Latin American product in the history of the platform. In the last decade alone, HBO Max has won eight Emmys for Best Drama, four for comedy, seven for limited series and 13 for documentary, and last year it added more nominations than ever before in the life of HBO Max. The platform, in short, has grown by 20 million users in the last year. With all these figures ahead, it is normal for Warner to boast of being a purchase with an attractive catalog for other platforms, but it does not seem to be stepping on the brakes at the moment. Bloys has detailed some of the upcoming releases and the truth is that some of them have a great track. Let’s look at some of the most notable ones. old acquaintances We have had no news about the new season of ‘The House of the Dragon’but yes of a new spin-off of ‘Game of Thrones’: of ‘The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms We have seen a new advance and the truth is that it looks better and better. We will talk about her in more detail in the coming days, since we have had the opportunity to speak with her showrunnerbut from its progress we are left with its curious mixture of humor and the dirty and violent aesthetics of George RR Martin’s creation. There is death and darkness but also gags worthy of a sitcom and parodies that sometimes seem like a medieval ‘Top Secret’. The return of ‘Euphoria’ is also highly anticipated. Its creator Sam Levinson made an appearance in the room, joking with Bloys about how they couldn’t take the characters back to high school after so long, “even though there are other series with thirty-year-old high school students,” in an undisguised jab at ‘Stranger Things’. Bloys has defined ‘Euphoria’ as the current television series with the most powerful cast of stars, and the truth is that since its creation, Zendaya, Sidney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi and Colman Domingo have become leading performers. Levinson states that “it is very nice to see how they win awards, the careers they develop over time.” Lanterns They are not the only ones: the return of ‘Industria’ with a fourth season has also been discussed, we have seen a frenetic trailer for the second season of ‘The Pitt’, which is arriving right now and which promises, at least, the same tension and a good pan of viscera. And beware, ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’, a spin-off of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ starring, in an environment of multidimensional chaos, the owner of the comic book store from the original series. As Bloys says, “a show that Sheldon and Leonard would watch.” Although the most peculiar and most anticipated return has been the third season of ‘The Comeback’, twenty years after the first season and ten after the second, and where Lisa Kudrow (the unforgettable Phoebe from ‘Friends’) and the original creator Michael Patrick King (producer of ‘Sex and the City’) return. In this new satire of the world of series that comes at a sweet time for audiovisual satires after the triumph of ‘The Studio’, the fallen star played by Kudrow will face the threat of AI… but without science fiction elements. Casey Bloys New passions The truth is that What has caught our attention the most and best have been the new series. For example, ‘DTF St. Louis’ is a limited series about a love triangle between three adults (Jason Bateman, David Harbor and Linda Cardellini) that begins as a clumsy way of managing a midlife crisis and ends with one of them dead. Or it’s … Read more

diesel lives, the fight continues

by

Diesel, 204 HP and ECO sticker. Aberration for some. Heavenly music for others. Audi maintains in its range one of those cars that is a safe bet for fans of the brand. But, above all, for those who travel long and hard on the road, those who want a car with comfortable and safe reactions and, incidentally, get an ECO label that gives it certain advantages when entering big cities. He Audi Q5 It is the reminder that there are not many of them anymore but yes, diesel is still a good alternative for a very specific driver profile. The company has also renewed one of its best-selling SUVs with a technological arsenal that may include a screen for the co-pilot. Audi Q5 technical sheet Audi Q5 TDI quattro 150 kW (204 HP) BODY TYPE. five-seater SUV MEASUREMENTS AND WEIGHT. 4.86 meters long, 1.89 meters wide, 1.66 meters high. Wheelbase of 2.82 meters. 1,910 kg weight. TRUNK. 520 liters MAXIMUM POWER. 204 hp WLTP CONSUMPTION. 5.9 l/100 km ENVIRONMENTAL DISTINCTIVE. ECHO DRIVING AIDS (ADAS). Automatic emergency braking, intelligent speed limit information, parking assistance, driver fatigue monitoring, parking assistance and lane departure and lane keeping warning. OTHERS. Operating system built on Android Automotive. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, via Bluetooth. Two USB C ports for the front and rear seats. Wireless charging for mobile phone. ELECTRIC HYBRID. Yes, MHEV versions with 48v battery. Plug-in HYBRID. Yes, 220 kW (299 HP) version with 98 kilometers of electric range. electric No. price and launch Now available from 66,600 euros. Tested unit 76,300 euros. Diesel, why not? Only 5.6% of all cars bought in Spain They have been diesel between January and October 2026. The image is radically different from that of a few years. In 2010more than 70% of the cars purchased in Spain used this mechanism. It didn’t matter if the car was going to be used on long stretches on the highway or in an urban environment and its ring roads. Over the years, European regulations have put a stop to this fuel, less expensive than gasoline under similar conditions and cleaner if we talk about CO2 emissions but much more polluting if we focus on NOx emissions or in fine particles. This has led us to AdBluethe particle filters and their painful breakdowns. A technology that discourages short, repetitive journeys in which the engine does not reach the optimal temperature to burn polluting particles, forcing forced regeneration which, when not completed, ends up leading to breakdowns. But like everything in this life, not everything is black or white. Firstly, because there are those who not only still like the diesel formula, they also still like it for maintaining that push from very low down. And second because this 204 HP Audi Q5 TDI does not add up in the category of diesel car. The company has here a mild hybrid which accesses the ECO sticker, a purchase value that is almost essential in a car worth more than 60,000 euros. That ECO sticker is achieved by a soft hybridization system that continues to impact less on consumption and emissions than a “Toyota-style” electric hybrid but it is more capable than most alternatives on the market. And the electrical system, which consists of a 1.7 kWh capacity battery and a 24 HP motor, allows the car to move by itself and not only support the combustion engine. It does this for a few meters or during parking maneuvers and is especially comfortable in the latter case when the engine is turned off and parking becomes more pleasant. It can also turn off the combustion engine while it is running when the foot is lifted from the accelerator to drive at full speed and save a few tenths in final consumption. This is where the Audi Q5 shines the most. On the open road is where it achieves its best results because its dynamics have everything we can expect from the brand: a comfortable car, with direct steering and very noble reactions. Especially with the pneumatic suspension that we have tested, which slightly reduces the height with the sport mode activated, improving the possible roll of the body that becomes almost non-existent unless we intend to go faster than we have to on a secondary road. It is also its best side because that is where the combustion engine becomes less present. And at low speeds or when we put pressure on the accelerator pedal to get out of trouble, the combustion engine can be heard and felt. This diesel is less refined than, for example, the six-cylinder inline of the Mazda CX-60which is a delight. We are not talking about a car that feels noisy, but its presence is noticeable during acceleration or in the city where the lowest speeds do not cover the sound of the engine. They are details that leave us wanting more. The same thing happens inside with some lights and shadows although it is the first that shines above the second. And the fit of all the interior materials is good. Soft materials are used in most places where our hands reach, but as we go down to the ground, hard plastics are more present, which reduces the sensation. premium that we should have in a car that starts at over 60,000 euros. Added to this is the absence of physical controls for the air conditioning and the replacement of controls that were once made of aluminum with plastic parts finished in piano black that are difficult to keep clean. Layout of applications on the central screen Beyond the ergonomics of having direct access to raise or lower the temperature or select the lights (which are located in the door collected in a single piece of plastic), these are decisions that lower the perception of the general quality of a vehicle and that, without you knowing very well why, do not generate the good harmony of a few years ago. Of course, Audi is not … Read more

China continues to draw up five-year plans in the old communist way. Objective: tech self-sufficiency

by

Let’s talk about five-year plans. Alexei Grigorievich Stakhanov She had no idea, but her exaggerated productivity ended up messing her up. In 1927 he began working in the Tsentrálnaya-Írmino mine and realized that he was good at it. In fact, he was much better at it than the others. In August 1935 smashed the record of mine productivity and extracted 102 tons of coal (14 times its quota) in five hours and 45 minutes. Days later he crushed it again and extracted 227 tons. He became a hero to socialist workers—in addition to appearing on the cover of Time magazine—and from that was derived the stakhanovismwhich advocated the increase in labor productivity based on the workers’ own initiative. That didn’t matter to Stalin: the Soviet Union was already completely immersed in its second five-year plan with a clear objective: the frenetic industrialization of the country based, of course, on trying to convert all workers into new Stakhanovs. And from those five-year plans we ended up moving on to others. China signs up for the five-year period That idea of ​​five-year plans ended up being used by China, which began to apply them in 1953 – with the help of the former Soviet Union – and has maintained them until now. In fact, the Asian giant has debated these days what will be your 15th Five Year Plan and the focus is clear: technological self-sufficiency. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China published on Thursday a statement in which he made it clear. Its objective was to “greatly increase” the self-dependence capacityand in that plan there are clear fronts for the medium-term future of the Asian giant: Promote R&D in critical technologies such as semiconductors, robotics, high-performance computing and, of course, artificial intelligence. Build a “modern industrial system“that allows reduce dependency of foreign components, equipment and knowledge. Promote the domestic market as a pillar of growth and reduce exposure to possible impacts of the export model Integrate technological development with national security: self-sufficiency not only makes economic sense, but also geopolitical sense. This five-year plan is clearly a consequence of the times we live in: the trade war with the US that it started years ago has marked the apparent end (at least partial) of globalizationand now both are looking for the same thing: not depend on others. China’s new five-year plan goes precisely in that direction, and has a clear impact both for that country and for the rest of the world. On the one hand, greater state investment in strategic sectors and greater interventionism are proposed (Hello Mr. Trump). On the other hand, this move may reduce Chinese demand for foreign technology, exacerbating technological rivalry with the US but perhaps opening new opportunities for collaboration with other countries. If successful, China’s five-year plan can stabilize growth in the face of potential external threats, but if self-reliance is prioritized too much, international openness and competition could be neglected, which could slow innovation or lead to less efficient companies. Source: Bloomberg And there is another problem: as they point out on BloombergChina is the great world exporterprecisely because their internal consumption is insufficient: they produce much more than they need. The contribution of exports to the country’s GDP is getting biggerbut consumption has stagnated or falls. All the details of the final five-year plan will be published in March, and will intensify the focus on everything related to the technological field. This effort, which began after that first veto of the Trump administration on Huaweiseems to be bearing promising fruits for China, which is becoming in an overwhelming machine of technological innovation. That pace will not slow down. Alexei Grigorievich Stakhanov would probably be proud. Image | Chinese Communist Party In Xataka | Spain has an antidote to mental and emotional exhaustion: the nap

Amazon’s nuclear dream for AI continues to advance. This will be one of its first plants with modular reactors

by

artificial intelligence electricity demand is multiplying of data centers, and with it, the interest of large technology companies in energy sources capable of keeping them running 24 hours a day. Amazon has gone one step further with Cascade, a new generation nuclear plant that aims to change the way the company powers its digital infrastructure. It is not a simple energy installation: it is the symbol of an ambition that combines autonomy and energy security in the midst of the AI ​​revolution. This industry is not only transforming the labor marketis also testing the global energy infrastructure. Large data centers that process millions of operations per second need a constant supply, and renewable sources, although clean, do not always guarantee that stability. Hence, nuclear energy is once again gaining prominence as a strong and carbon-free option. For companies like Amazon, the challenge is no longer just to innovate in algorithms, but to guarantee the energy that keeps them running without interruptions. What we know about the plant. Named Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, Amazon’s new nuclear plant will be built near Richland, Washington state. Over there, the company will work with Energy Northwest and X-energyresponsible for the design of the reactors. Cascade will be located near the current Columbia Generating Station. Amazon defines it as a key step to reduce emissions and provide constant electricity to the network that supports its global digital infrastructure. Cascade will rely on X-energy’s Xe-100 design, a next-generation modular reactor designed to be more efficient and safer than conventional models. The first phase adds 320 MW with four SMRs, and the plant can be expanded by up to 12 units to reach 960 MW. The scheme includes three 320 MW sections that will occupy only a few blocks. This modularity is one of the keys to the project: it allows production to be scaled according to demand and takes up much less space than a classic nuclear power plant, which can extend over more than 2.5 km². A different ‘campus’. Unlike traditional power plants, the Cascade plant will be organized as a small energy campus. Its modules will include reactor buildings, service areas, turbines, condensers and a space for temporary fuel storage. The complex, according to X-energy projections, will occupy a compact area that is more similar to an industrial estate than a classic nuclear facility. This modular approach allows you to build in phases and maintain operation without major interruptions in future expansions. Amazon’s schedule for Cascade moves forward in stages. The company plans to begin construction before the end of this decade and reach the operational phase in the 2030s. These are tentative goals, which depend on both the licensing process and the industrial development of the Xe-100 reactors. A project that needs labor. According to Amazon, Cascade will create more than 1,000 construction jobs and at least 100 permanent positions in areas such as engineering and operations. In parallel, Columbia Basin College will open the Energy Learning Center, funded by the Department of Energy, with a simulator that reproduces the control of the Xe-100 reactor. This program will allow young people in the region to access qualified jobs and reinforce Washington’s role in the transition to clean energy. More initiatives. Amazon is not the only technology company that sees nuclear energy as an ally for artificial intelligence. Microsoft has signed an agreement to reopen a plant and, in parallel, is studying long-term contracts with nuclear fusion projects, still in the experimental phase. Google, for its part, collaborates with companies in the sector to integrate small modular reactors (SMR) into its supply network. Although the paths differ, they all share the same challenge: powering a digital infrastructure that consumes more electricity every year. Although Amazon has shared many of the details of Cascade, the project is still in an early phase. There are no definitive dates for the start of construction or for the commissioning of the reactors. It has also not been specified what volume of energy will be allocated to its data centers and what part will be integrated into the local network. Everything indicates that the coming years will be decisive in testing whether modular nuclear energy can respond to the pace demanded by artificial intelligence. In Xataka | An open secret: far from being in decline, oil companies are doing business thanks to AI

the only autonomous community that continues to be a leader in its region thanks to jotas, folklore and walks in the countryside

by

It is a unique phenomenon among regional television stations: together with TV3but with much more modest programming (and budget), it is the only channel of its type that is the most seen in its autonomy above the national generalist television networks. Neither Telemadrid, nor Canal Sur, nor TVG can boast of such a feat: what Aragonese people like to see most is television that talks about Aragon. A special case. Aragon TV It began its official broadcasts on April 21, 2006 after a long and complex political and technical process that lasted more than two decades, from the first legislative attempts in the 1980s to the final implementation. The first attempts to create autonomous television ran into multiple obstacles, both political and legal. This extensive process made the late birth of Aragón TV a unique case in the field of Spanish regional television. Grow without stopping. A few days ago we saw this amazing tweet from @hugo_cnm which visually made the situation very clear in terms of audience: Basically, Aragón TV has experienced a sustained growth in audience, reaching a historical record in 2024 with 11.6% annual screen share, an outstanding figure for regional television. In the recent months of 2025, it continued to grow with shares greater than 12%, leading key schedules such as after-dinner hours and surpassing other regional channels (except TV3 in Catalonia, which is the most watched with shares closer to 13-14%). In addition, its news programs reach peaks of up to 30% or more in share, being the most viewed in Aragon and with a quality recognized nationally. Aragon against Catalonia. As we sayTV3 has a more notable general audience, but there are days like last October 11, to which the aforementioned tweet refers, in which Aragón TV soars, reaching 27.1% on recent key days (now we will see why), and with very strong audiences in slots such as after-meal (18.9%). ETB2 and Canal Sur Andalucía complete the podium in the most viewed regional list. What Aragón TV does stand out above all its competitors is that it is the autonomous one with greater penetration and loyaltyfar exceeding the average of the autonomous communities in Spain.​ But… what does Aragón TV broadcast? The network stands out for entertainment programs with a strong local component such as ‘Oregon TV‘, one of its historic and longest-running formats (almost 20 seasons), which makes humor with native content, in the style of its clear reference, ‘Polónia’. Another successful program is ‘Jotalent‘, a talent show focused on the Aragonese jota, which scored an 18.7% share in its last season with 200,000 viewers between DTT and internet. Or ‘Giving it my all’, also focused on regional dance and songs. But beyond humor and information, Aragón TV offers a varied range of cultural, social and leisure programs, often focused on rural life: ‘Here and now’ (morning show with more than 36% of share), ‘Pasados ​​por agua’, ‘Aragón Connection’, ‘The countryside is ours’, and programs on gastronomy, routes, history, environment and Aragonese heritage. It is a programming that contrasts with the usual general programming, and where the demand for rural life plays an important role. Without getting wet. Aragón TV also responds to an avowed editorial strategy that avoids delving into territorial or political controversies (something, without a doubt, much easier to carry out than on TV3), focusing on inform and entertain from close proximity and the representation of the average Aragonese. Its programming is oriented towards the proximity and plurality of the territory, with strong dishes that burst the audiometerssuch as the retransmission of the Pilar Festival: during the ten days of the festivities, Aragón TV averaged a 20% screen share. On October 12, Pillar Daythe broadcast of the Offering of Flowers reached 29.9% of sharethe network’s third best historical record, with 692,000 unique viewers. In the first section of the Offering, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the audience reached an impressive 44.5%, and in the second section, 30.8% with peaks of up to 60.5% share. The news program Aragón Noticias 1 achieved a season record with a 43.8% share on that day. To all this we must add more than 500,000 views on its digital platforms. In Xataka | In the midst of the housing crisis, in Zaragoza they have had an idea: build a building in pieces like a giant LEGO

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.