damage

The US is doing a lot of damage to Iran with the Hormuz counterblockade. So much so that he is already considering closing oil wells

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Oil has an unbreakable physical law: once it leaves the ground, it has to go somewhere. If ships can’t transport it and storage tanks fill up, the only option is to shut down the wells. Today, the war of attrition between the United States and Iran has ceased to be a mere diplomatic conflict and has become a geological and logistical time bomb. According to data from the analysis firm KplerIran has just 12 to 22 days left before its crude oil storage capacity is completely saturated. The US naval blockade has suffocated its exports by 70%, plummeting shipments from 1.85 million barrels per day to a meager 567,000. A lethal limit. As explained Al Jazeera, Stopping production at an oil well is not like turning off a light switch. When pumping is stopped, the pressure in the underground reservoirs drops sharply, allowing water or gas to seep into the production layers. The potential damage is immense: The Wall Street Journal warns that almost half of the Iranian oil fields are old and low pressure. An abrupt shutdown threatens to permanently destroy part of this aging infrastructure, making recovering that crude oil in the future technically and financially unfeasible. In Washington, the narrative is one of imminent victory. The US administration is confident that this collapse will force Tehran to surrender. According to statements collected by Foreign Policythe US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessentand President Donald Trump himself predict that the drowning will cause an imminent internal shortage of gasoline, increasing social pressure on the regime until it is forced to give in. However, experts urge caution against Western triumphalism. A rigorous analysis of the Center on Global Energy Policy from Columbia University dismantles part of the myth of catastrophic damage dividing the problem into two fronts: Crude oil can breathe: Specialists detail that the historic oil fields of Khuzestan operate through a “gravity drainage” system. Paradoxically, a temporary stoppage could allow these specific reservoirs to recharge naturally. Natural gas, the true Achilles’ heel: The real risk, the institution explains, lies in the natural gas fields, such as the gigantic South Pars. If these become blocked as they cannot release the associated liquids, Iran will be forced to drastically ration energy for industry and homes in the coming months. Tehran does not plan to give up. According to NDTV, The Islamic Republic will maintain its “diplomacy of patience.” Furthermore, the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) already survived to severe production cuts in 2012 and 2019, and has a robust smuggling network that makes it very resistant to conventional economic pressure. Added to this is the time factor: according to the calculations of Kplerthe real financial blow will take between three and four months to be felt in Iranian coffers, since China – its main client – ​​operates with long delays in payments. The flight forward. To buy time, Iran is resorting to extreme measures. As revealed The Wall Street Journal, The country is reactivating dilapidated infrastructure, known in the sector as “junk storage”, in areas such as Ahvaz and Asaluyeh, and is even trying to export crude oil by train to China; a very slow and very expensive route that shows the level of stress in the system. and in the sea activation of the Nashaa 30-year-old supertanker rescued from scrapping to serve as an emergency floating warehouse. But the most fascinating and opaque strategy is unfolding thousands of miles from the Persian Gulf. As my colleague Miguel Jorge has developed for Xataka, There is a “secret gas station” in the middle of the ocean. This is an area off the coast of Malaysia, known as EOPL, which functions as a huge ghost car park. There, a shadow fleet of aging ships with their tracking systems (AIS) turned off conduct dangerous ship-to-ship crude transfers. With this maneuver they launder the origin of the oil, passing it off as Malaysian to sell it to independent Chinese refineries and evade the radar of US sanctions. The global earthquake. As Iran searches for oxygen, the collateral damage of this blockade is fracturing the global economy and geopolitics. Behind closed doors, the Iranian social collapse is advancing at a steady pace. A crude report of the Financial Times details that real inflation is already close to 50% and the national currency (the rial) sinks to historic lows. The price of basic products such as cheese and chicken has skyrocketed, and the government admits that more than 191,000 workers have applied for unemployment benefits since the start of the war. Globally, the Straits crisis has shattered the mirage of modern logistics. The collapse of Hormuz It’s not a temporary traffic jam.but a tectonic fault that has broken the “just in time” system and is threatening the hegemony of the petrodollar. Markets, panicking over a prolonged disruption, have pushed a barrel of Brent crude above $120, its highest level since 2022. But the most seismic geopolitical consequence of this war has erupted within the oil cartel: the United Arab Emirates (UAE). will leave OPEC+ May 1st. Fed up with production quotas that limited their income and feeling deeply abandoned by their Arab neighbors in the face of direct attacks from Iran, the Emiratis have decided to fly alone. This breakup leaves Saudi Arabia alone bearing the cost of stabilizing the market, greatly weakens OPEC and gives Donald Trump a diplomatic coup that he had been seeking for years. The final pulse. In the end, this conflict has become a drag race in which no one emerges unscathed. The big question that will decide the outcome of the war is who will go bankrupt first: the fragile and antiquated oil wells of Iran and its exhausted population, or the global consumers and the great Western powers, unable to withstand the skyrocketing fuel prices and the collapse of world shipping routes for much longer. And all this happens under inescapable pressure. While political leaders debate and move their chips thousands of kilometers away, the valves of Kharg Island … Read more

The damage to the oil and gas industry will take years to repair

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The Third Gulf War is here, and while financial markets cling to the hope of a quick resolution, the physical reality tells a much darker story. The world is currently facing the largest supply disruption in the history of the oil market. As detailed The New York Timesbased on the analyzes of energy expert Jason Bordoff, the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has taken about 20 million barrels per day off the board, which represents 20% of world consumption. To put this in perspective, the International Energy Agency (IEA) recalls that the historic Arab embargo of 1973 “barely” withdrew 4.5 million barrels per day. The logistical, political and infrastructure damage that Operation Epic Fury has unleashed in the Persian Gulf is so profound that, regardless of what is signed in the dispatches, it will take years to return to normality. The new global funnel. Even if the war ended today and the Strait were 100% reopened, untangling the monumental logjam would take months. As Rory Johnston, oil market researcher, explains, to the magazine New Statesman“we are talking about two to three months just to renormalize the global system.” Oil tankers are piled up on both sides of the strait, and a sudden restart would cause a collapse at unloading terminals, reminiscent of the worst bottlenecks of the Covid-19 pandemic. It won’t be suddenly. To this we must add a key factor: the ships will not sail again the day peace is signed. Maritime insurers will require months of proof that the Strait is safe before returning to cover oil tankers without imposing unaffordable premiums. But the situation is even more complex. As detailed in a recent analysis by my colleague Miguel Jorge in Xatakathe dynamics of the Strait have drastically mutated. Iran has turned this artery into a kind of maritime “VIP discotheque.” It is no longer a free international transit route, but rather a selective access system where Tehran decides who passes. While US allies and Israel are banned, countries like Spain – which refused to participate in the military coalition – have received “passes” for their ships. The root of the problem. If the recovery will be so slow it is, fundamentally, because the infrastructure is burning. Unlike previous conflicts, Iran’s strategy is based on an asymmetric war that seeks to destroy the energy pillars of its neighbors. The most devastating example is found in Qatar, where the Iranian drone attack on the Ras Laffan facilities—the largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export plant in the world— has caused damage which will take between three and five years to repair. Furthermore, we must add temporary closures in Saudi refineries like Ras Tanura that guarantee long-term disruption. The domino effect has already reached the earth. Given the impossibility of removing the crude oil by sea, the storage tanks are bursting. Iraq has been forced to close wells and cut production by 70% simply because there is nowhere to put the oil. This is what is known in the industry as “locked-in” oil, and reactivating all that stopped machinery requires weeks of complex technical work. The specter of chronic inflation. The impact of this paralysis goes far beyond the gasoline pump and will condition the economy for the next five years. As he warns The Economistthe sustained rise in energy prices threatens to entrench global inflation, quickly pushing it to an unbearable 5% or 6%. This means that the cost of living, interest rates and commodity prices will be marked by this crisis for years, slowing down any attempt at real recovery. Added to this is a silent time bomb: food. Not only crude oil transits through the Strait of Hormuz, but a third of the world’s fertilizers. If global agriculture runs out of this vital input, we face a global food crisis that will distort harvests and supermarket prices in the coming seasons. On the threshold of $200 per barrel. If the blockade persists, economic pain will be inevitable. Macquarie Group analysts warn in Bloomberg that if the conflict extends until June, the price of crude oil could reach a whopping 200 dollars. The objective of this extreme price is none other than to force the “demand destruction“: that it be so expensive that people and industries simply stop consuming. The most pessimistic voices warn of an economic catastrophe. Larry Fink, the CEO of the financial giant BlackRock, warned in an interview with the BBC that if the barrel settles at $150, the world will plunge into a “severe and deep recession.” And the consequences are already visible, as jet fuel in Asia has already exceeded $200. Meanwhile, magazines as Fortune report that Goldman Sachs has raised the probability of a recession in the US to 30%. The Wall Street mirage and useless patches. It is fascinating and terrifying to observe the disconnection between physical reality and financial markets. Wall Street lives “spellbound” by algorithms and verbal intervention (jawboning) by Donald Trump. All it takes is a tweet from the American president announcing vague peace plans—quickly denied by Iran—for the stock markets to rise and the price of a barrel to drop momentarily. Investors blindly trust the phenomenon WAD (“Trump Always Chickens Out”), believing that the president will back down before sinking the economy. But tweets don’t fill the tanks. To try to mitigate the blow, the International Energy Agency has coordinated the historic release of 400 million barrels of its strategic reserves. It sounds like a lot, but as the experts consulted by Al Jazeerathat amount barely covers 20 days of the oil that has stopped flowing through Hormuz. It’s a band-aid for an arterial bleed. In fact, such is the desperation of the West that the US administration has gone so far as to temporarily lift sanctions on Russiaallowing it to sell its crude oil on the open market in order to try to relieve the pumps. The big silent winner. While the West is suffocating with inflation and supply problems, just a few … Read more

68% have serious damage

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More than half of the Spanish road network accumulates serious or very serious damage. This is how it specifies the latest report of the Spanish Road Association (AEC). And according to the study, the deterioration has skyrocketed in recent years and the bill to fix it now exceeds 13,000 million euros. Among all the Autonomous Communities, Aragón occupies the last place in the ranking of the roads with the worst condition. A problem that does not stop. In July 2025, the AEC published its audit on the state of the national road network, and according to the association, the roads are in the worst state “since the late 1980s.” In 2022, the AEC estimated in its audit that there were about 13,000 kilometers of roads that had very serious pavement damage. Today that figure is close to 34,000almost triple in just three years. What exactly does “serious impairment” mean? He report The AEC distinguishes two levels of urgency. On the one hand, there are 34,000 kilometers that need immediate reconstruction (in less than a year) because they present serious structural damage: deep potholes, what is technically called “crocodile skin”, longitudinal and transverse cracks, and peelings in the asphalt. On the other hand, another 20,000 additional kilometers require intervention within four years. In total, more than 54,000 kilometers, out of a total network of 101,700, are in a more or less compromised situation. The invoice. The accumulated road maintenance deficit amounts to 13,491 million euros, according to the AEC, which updated the figure in 2025 taking into account inflation and the increase in the cost of materials and labor. Compared to 2022, the cost necessary to fine-tune the infrastructure grew by 42.7%. Of that amount, 4,721 million correspond to the State network and 8,770 million to roads managed by autonomous communities and provincial councils. Aragon tops the ranking. According to the association, 68% of its road network presents serious deterioration, sixteen points above the national average. As the AEC says, it is the only community that is at a “critical” level, which implies that most of its roads are not only bad, but require practically immediate action. The deficit per kilometer in Aragon reaches 150,632 euros, also the highest in the country. The motor expert Alfonso García ‘Motorman’, analyzed the figures in the COPE program Putting the Streets, counting that “riding on our roads and highways has become a risky activity.” The state in other Communities. Just behind Aragón, with 59% of its network in serious condition, are Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia. They are followed by Asturias, La Rioja, Castilla y León and the Region of Murcia, all above the 52% national average. At the opposite extreme, the communities with the lowest percentage of deteriorated roads are the Valencian Community (32%), the Madrid Community (38%) and Extremadura (40%). Driving on bad asphalt is expensive. According to AEC calculations, driving on a road in poor condition can increase fuel consumption by up to 12%. Only during July and August of last year, the association estimated that the overspending on gasoline and diesel derived from the poor condition of the roads would exceed 270 million euros, considering the more than 100 million journeys long-haul that the DGT provided. According to the report, the deterioration of the pavement also forces the average speed to be reduced by 10%, which makes the transportation of goods more expensive and, as a consequence, pushes up product prices. AI enters the scene. Until recently, the AEC audited roads with a classic visual inspection methodology, that is, with evaluators traveling sections on foot or by vehicle. In 2023 the transition to a digital inspection system based on artificial intelligence. A vehicle equipped with sensors travels along the road at up to 90 km/h and collects images that are later processed using artificial vision in the cloud. The result is a sample of 4,000 kilometers compared to the 300 that were previously analyzed with visual methodology. What solutions are proposed. The AEC has been calling for years for a specific and stable financing fund for road maintenance, which would combine public budgets, European funds, pay-per-use systems and public-private collaboration. Also point to a possible financing route that has no extra cost for drivers: making the special hydrocarbon tax also paid by rail, maritime and air transport. Thus, they say, some 4,091 million euros would be generated annually, enough to liquidate the accumulated deficit in just over three years. A few weeks ago, the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, announced an injection of 1,629 million euros to face the situation, although at the moment it is far from being enough. Cover image | Commons In Xataka | As soon as the war in Iran began, Spanish gas stations had already done something: start raising prices

Massive study confirms direct link to heart damage and mortality

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For years science has been warning us that ultra-processed they are a danger because of the effects it has on our body. Something that began as a suspicion about nutritional quality has now become a statistical certaintysince ultra-processed foods not only make you fat, but also directly hit the cardiovascular system. With figures. A new study conducted by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and published just a few days ago in The American Journal of Medicine has put an alarming figure on the table: high consumption of these products is linked to a 47% higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases. And it is not a study that is based on speculation, but the authors have analyzed the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey corresponding to the period 2021-2023 cwith a sample of 4,787 American adults. How it was done. The methodology is robust because it does not simply look at what participants eat, but the researchers adjusted the results taking into account confounding variables such as age, sex, race, income level and, crucially, smoking. With all this, and eliminating the effect of tobacco and socioeconomic situation of the equation, the result was that those who consume greater amounts of ultra-processed foods are almost 50% more likely to develop heart pathologies compared to those who consume less. It is not an isolated case. If this study were the only one, we might be skeptical. The problem is that it rains in the wet, since the FAU research It arrives to confirm a trend that we had already seen in previous macro studies, consolidating what in science is called a dose-response relationship: the greater the amount of ultra-processed foods, the greater the damage. For this we have the French precedent with a famous studio of the cohort NutriNet-Santéwith more than 100,000 participants, which has already shown that an increase of just 10% in the ultra-processed diet is associated with a 12% increase in total cardiovascular risk. There is more. A meta-analysis published in 2024which reviewed more than a million participants, found a linear relationship in which for each additional daily serving of ultra-processed foods, the risk of cardiovascular events increases by 2.2%. And if we still want more evidence, in Australia A 25-year follow-up of almost 40,000 people linked high UPF consumption with a 19% higher cardiovascular mortality. The new tobacco. The most striking thing about this new research is not only the numbers, but the comparison they make with tobacco and the public health crisis it generated in the 20th century. And while the anti-smoking campaigns achieved drastically reduce deaths due to lung cancer and heart disease, the food industry has filled shelves with products classified as ultra-processed. Because? The mechanism behind this 47% elevated risk appears to be related to systemic inflammation and altered lipid metabolism. It must be taken into account that industrial processing generates polluting byproducts such as acrylamide and uses additives that increase oxidative stress in our body. Basically, the body loses the ability to “cleanse” itself at the cellular level, decreasing antioxidant enzymes and allowing free radicals to damage the inner layer of the vessels, which accelerates the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. This is combined with a nutritional composition with 5 or more ingredients, rich in added sugarssaturated fats and additives, but poor in fiber and micronutrients. A trio that directly impacts blood pressure and insulin resistance, increasing predisposition to diabetes. Images | Darko Trajkovic In Xataka | Making extra rice is no longer a mistake: cooling and reheating it can reduce its calories according to some nutritionists

Why Weekend Nap Binges Don’t Undo the Holiday Damage

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We are in full dinner timereunions and late nights with a lot of partying involved. The logic of the average ‘party animal’ in these cases is infallible: “I sleep four hours today, but I’ll have a sleep marathon on Sunday to compensate”, but although it seems like a perfect plan on paper, science has a very different opinion on the matter. Our habits. Luis de Leceaneuroscientist at Stanford University and one of the world’s leading authorities in the study of sleep, has just thrown a bucket of cold water on this custom in El País: he metabolic stress of Sleeping poorly is not cured with a long nap. In fact, with our modern habits, we are taking away the most pleasant phase of rest. The myth of accumulating sleep. There is a belief that sleep works like a real bank account: if you take out hours during the week, you can make a massive deposit on Saturday to balance the balance. However, science has been pointing out for years that our brain is not an accountant that understands the amounts and income of hours of sleep. And this is something that makes a lot of sense, because lack of sleep generates metabolic stress in our neurons. It is not just tiredness, it is an alteration in the consolidation of memory and in the neuronal repair. In this way, when we try to compensate on the weekend, we can alleviate drowsiness, but the biological markers of inflammation and cognitive performance do not recover in the same way. The nest protocol. One of the most fascinating points of De Lecea’s recent research is the importance of the pre-sleep phase. In the animal world, there is what is called the “nest preparation protocol”, which is a series of instinctive behaviors that prepare the brain for disconnection. In humans, this process depends on a delicate chemical balance: the dopamine inhibition. A necessary process to enter a deep and restful sleep, causing dopamine levels to drop so that we are not constantly on alert. The problem. It is quite common to hear that our habits cause alterations in the sleep-wake cycle. In this case, exposure to screens with blue light and the infinite flow of information keeps dopamine high, such as constantly watching TikTok. But the number one enemy is stress. The stressed brain interprets that there is danger lurking, which blocks the natural transitions between wakefulness and sleep. The science of delta waves. Not all dreams are the same, something that De Lecea himself has been revealed in different studies which analyze how the brain uses delta waves even during the REM phase, which is when we are dreaming. These slow waves, typical of deep sleep, are essential for the clearance of metabolic waste and synaptic plasticity. That is why if we sleep little and poorly (even if it is for a good cause, like a New Year’s Eve party), we break this spatiotemporal dynamic of the brain. 2023 research on vigilance states suggests that the brain needs a continuity that “weekend binge eating” cannot provide. It’s not just tiredness. The immune system also has a lot to say with this. In these days of cold and respiratory viruses, skimping on sleep to party is, literally, disarming our defenses. In this way, we must remember that sleep is not a passive state, but rather an active process of maintaining the body. Images | Dmitry Ganin Michael Discenza In Xataka | We thought insomnia was just not being able to sleep. Now we know that there are five different disorders

We have been talking about railguns for years without seeing their real damage. Japan just showed an image that says it all

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Japan is going through one of the most crucial transformations in recent decades: that of its rearmament. It is its most aggressive defense policy since Second World Warand the Ministry of Defense justifies because we are in the “most severe and complex phase of the last 80 years.” And there is nothing that better exemplifies Japanese rearmament than a cannon that, until not long agoit was science fiction material. The electromagnetic cannon. Reconfiguration. Starting in the 1990s, Japan stopped investing significantly in its Self-Defense Forces. He economic bubble burstthe “lost decade” and demographic difficulties implied that the military spending of 1% of GDP that they adopted after the Constitution of 1947 would be maintained. In 2023, things changed. As a result of geopolitical complexity, they decided that they would invest 2% of their GDP in rearmament. In figures, we are talking about about 271,000 million euros until 2027, but recently The target has been brought forward to March 2026. This reconfiguration will manifest itself in four dimensions: the aforementioned increase in military spending, the restructuring of the Self-Defense Forces, a relaxation of restrictions on the export of weapons and the expansion of long-range offensive capabilities. That’s where the railgun comes into play. Electromagnetic cannon. Like gunpowder, it fires a projectile that gains speed as it passes through a barrel. However, it uses electricity instead of gunpowder. Two metal rails form a circuit that, when closed by the projectile, generates an intense magnetic field. This produces a beastly force that propels the projectile at high speed, allowing hypersonic, precise and long-range shots. This speed would allow that would travel without detour even in the most unfavorable weather conditions. Japan has been investing in this field since mid of the 2010s, and a few weeks ago, the Japan Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) performed the first proof documented firing of a naval electromagnetic cannon at a real ship. Mounted in it JS Asuka test shipthe prototype is a cannon of 40 millimeters in caliber and six meters in length. It requires four huge energy containers to power the weapon and the projectiles used were small missiles of about 320 grams, stabilized by fins and without an explosive head. There is no need for an explosion: upon reaching those 2,300 meters per second, the kinetic energy is comparable to that of a 1,000 kilo car crashing into something at 140 km/h. Success. During them, the system achieved a record by firing projectiles at a speed of 2,300 meters per second. It is a speed of Mach 6-7, but in addition, they also pushed the useful life of the barrel to the limit. The estimate was about 120 shots, since it was established in previous phases of the investigation, but they got perform more than 200 shots without the system failing. ATLA had conducted open sea tests before, but never against a real target. And although they had already commented that the tests were a success, now they have shared photographs in which you can see the holes left by these projectiles. The target ship was in motion, but due to the enormous speed and stability of the projectiles thanks to the enormous power of the system, the entry holes allow an almost perfect view of the “cross” left by the projectile passing through the hull. Challenges. Now, understanding how a railgun works is easy, but executing it is extremely complex. It is a brutal technical challenge due to several factors: The stability of the barrel: the system generates tremendous heat, so dissipation systems must be effective enough not to compromise the integrity of the barrel. Wear and tear not only affects the speed and accuracy of the projectile, but can cause accidents on the boat itself. The energy: since it requires so much electricity to operate, it must have storage systems large enough to allow it to operate with the necessary power and during intense fire sessions. Miniaturization of the system: these cannons are extremely large and, although ATLA has managed to contain it quite a bit, mounting them on ships is not easy due to both the length of the cannon itself and the set of batteries required. Integrating a railgun into a ship is not easy. Perspectives. Currently, ATLA is working on evolving a system which might not be as far from the action as was thought a few months ago, and this miniaturization would allow it to be mounted on other types of vehicles, in addition to ground defense lines. But apart from as a weapon, the agency has mentioned that the concept of electromagnetic acceleration could be applied to other areas. For example, to the “mass throwers” ​​that would allow launching materials electromagnetically in space transportation. The problem is that other challenges are added, such as the imperative need to calculate the trajectory millimetrically or develop recovery methods for these goods. USA and China. And, although it may seem like another test of weapons, what Japan has achieved is a milestone. After fifteen years of research and some 500 million dollars invested in the technology, The United States left in 2021 the development of electromagnetic railguns (although they are now with larger versions). Japan has persevered and its testing demonstrates that the system can be viable in a real-world context. And another that has continued to develop this technology is China. They are keeping it more secret, but we have already seen images of Chinese ships with an electromagnetic cannon and power containers on the front. And that, precisely, it was these two countries that They are taking steps forward when developing this technology It’s not a coincidence. They are both engrossed in technological warbut also in a escalation of military tension that has been going on for months and that is leading both countries to accuse each other of invading their respective territory. Images | ATLA, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force In Xataka | Taiwan has had an idea if Beijing invades it: surprise China underground

The “best mechanic in Spain” says that leaving the car parked for a long time causes “irreversible damage.” It’s not as terrible as it seems

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Any object that uses mechanical components is something that should be used from time to time. Although we are talking about cars here, it is not exclusive to cars. If you have one bicyclesome automatic watch either photo cameras old, it is something that you most likely have in mind. And the thing is that, with the passage of time, the liquids dry out or become stuck and the components can begin to suffer from corrosion. That’s exactly what happens to a car. When a vehicle is not movingthe moving parts lose lubrication and the liquids always remain in the same places. It is also easier for corrosion to appear. In short, it is the same case as the previous ones. With the difference that a car is an object that usually weighs between one and two tons and is designed to move at high speeds on the road, leaving aside its maintenance clearly puts our health and that of the rest of the drivers we meet on the road at risk. But what should we fear and what can we not worry about? For the best mechanic in Spain in 2023, the problem is obvious: “irreversible damage may occur.” a long, long time In 2023, Javier Sendín, from Talleres Cardiocar de Salamanca, was chosen as best mechanic of Spain for The Official Workshop Community. This award delivered annually and over the years it has brought together more than a thousand participants. The winner is chosen after online tests in which theoretical questions are presented and, phase by phase, it ends up deciding who is the best in Spain. In The Vanguard They have contacted Sendín to ask him about some risks that we should not overlook when maintaining our car. Whoever was the best mechanic in Spain has remembered the importance of not forgetting of a vehicle because we cannot expect that after a long time without starting, the car will be in perfect condition. “Although it may not seem like it (leaving the car still for weeks), this can be harmful. Components such as the suspension are affected, since the silentblocks and other rubber pieces tend to dry out or warp when left in the same position for weeks or months. It is also very negative for the battery, both in thermal vehicles and, especially, in hybrids and electric vehicles (…) there is a risk of irreversible damage.” What “the best mechanic in Spain 2023” claims is undoubted. The question is how much time has to pass for the damage to be especially noticeable. The truth is that if a car remains stationary for a few weeks, the damage is still minor. For example, it is not good for tires spend a lot of time supporting the weight of the car in the same position as deformities may arise. Despite this, in less than a month you will not notice substantial changes. Of course, keep an eye on its pressure so that when you get going again everything is in the best state. The battery is the other problem that can appear when the car has not moved for a long time. Especially if its useful life is already on its last legs, it is not a good idea to leave the car stationary for a long time. Yes indeed, if only a few weeks passthe worst that can happen is that the battery is completely discharged. However, if the battery is in good condition, may take more than two months to download. If we contemplate this happening, a good idea is to unplug the battery completely. So, when should we start paying real attention to our car? The American Automobile Association recommends that we put more emphasis on car care when they pass more than 45 days immobile. In that case, you should try to keep the car indoors and in a dry place. In this way, the car is more protected from corrosion and components that suffer from changes in temperature and humidity, such as tires, are more protected. Among the advice given from RACE There is checking the levels of the car’s fluids: brakes, coolant or oil. And with the passage of time, part of them may evaporate or have dried out in some specific points. Keep in mind, however, that again we are talking about months with the car stopped and not a few weeks. In that case, do not force the mechanics excessively when putting the car back into operation since we will not be risking any breakage. In fact, it is estimated that until after three months Since the car came to a complete stop, the components will not start to cause real problems. That is why possible damage from having the car stopped is not the most common case. Yes indeed, from the RACC They also recommend paying close attention to gasoline. First of all, we should not rush the tank to the maximum since impurities always remain at the bottom of it and it is easier for them to end up damaging a component such as the spark plugs. But if the car has been stopped for a long time it is not good to leave it loaded with fuel either. Over time, it loses properties. If we have a classic car that we use a few times a year, it is best to leave some gasoline in the tank but renew it shortly after we get going. You don’t have to use up the tank but you also don’t have to leave the car forgotten with a full tank. We talked, once again, about leaving the car sitting for months. Photo | Felix Neudecker and Sten Rademaker In Xataka | The “one minute rule” or how to always keep your car ready and avoid breakdowns worth 3,000 euros

It is being a complicated summer for the US F-35. After the NO of Spain, Russia and China have appeared to do more damage

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In the Almighty Lockheed Martin must be looking forward to one of the most cruel summers that they remember regarding image. First it was a stranded hunt A month in Indiathen Spain decided reverse to the request of 50 F-35 that I had to the American company. To the “Porazo” have been added countries that have put in Doubt your purchase. Now, to finish off a tragic week, Russia and China have put their finger on the sore. A second breakdown. British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of WalesRoyal Navy’s flagship and leader of the Carrier Strike Group 2025he suffered for the second time in his current deployment Highmast Operation An incident with one of its fighters F-35B Lightning IIforcing this time to the aircraft to make a emergency landing In a foreign civil airport. On this occasion, the device had to deviate to the Kagoshima airport, in southwest Japan, during a joint exercise with the Japanese Self -Defense Air Force, because of of a breakdown which forced to close the track for about 20 minutes and caused delays in commercial flights. Although the ruling did not require urgency technical assistance as in the Previous incident in India (When another F-35B remained inoperative for more than a month), the new episode tarnishes a mission conceived to reinforce the British projection in the Indo-Pacific, and that of Lockheed Martin in the background. United Kingdom and doubt. The first reactions to the failure have not been expected in England. He Telegraph counted A few hours ago, the risk of the risk does not reside solely in the reliability of a specific model, but in the Procurement strategy that the British Ministry of Defense has been applying for decades: prioritizing small amounts of high -tech equipment to the detriment of the operational mass. In other words, mechanical failures in complex systems such as F-35B are inevitable and are part of the life cycle of any advanced technology, but what cannot be affected is that the temporary loss of a single plane involves a 6% reduction In the combat capacity, or that a naval breakdown paralyzes half of a group of escorts. According to the mediumthe lesson of these incidents is not to question the worth of the aircraft, but to recognize that the United Kingdom needs more of everything: more fighters, more ships, more personal and more resilience. Teasing and propaganda. Forbes counted That the nature of the last failures of the hunt, despite its low technical gravity, has served as fuel to the Beijing and Moscow propaganda. Apparently, media and commentators in China and Russia, Like Wang Ya’nanAerospace Knowledge editor have questioned the British capacity to keep a fifth generation furtive hunt in prolonged deployment. In social networks, accounts Like India Sputnik Ironized saying that the HMS Prince of Wales “collects emergency landings such as souvenirs”, while others They ridiculed The reputation of the F-35 of LM with comments such as “World’s Best Jet… Really?”. Analysts like Cliff Lampe They warn That these narratives are extended almost immediately in the current digital environment, where virality and absence of moderation allow misinformation, mockery and propaganda to mix with economic or political interests. Kerala also took the opportunity to “promote” the situation of the hunt stranded for a month Informative war. The F-35 case adds to a pattern of media attacks against high profile weapons systems used by Western powers. Recent examples include Chinese discursive offensive Against the Dassault Rafale after the demolition of an Indian specimen for an Air-Aire PL-15 Missile of China, or the Chinese Networks campaign Against Russian Hunting Su-57 before the Zhuhai Air Fair. These dynamics show how geopolitical rivals use isolated incidents for feed narratives of technological or logistics weakness, exploiting the susceptibility of the public and the press to the stories of failures in advanced military teams. Impact for Lockheed Martin. As we said at the beginning, for Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of the F-35, this new incident adds to a more than complicated period, after the decisions of Spain and Swiss to explore alternatives and two recent accidents In California and Alaska. It We counted Yesterday: although the accumulation of events can affect public perception, the F-35 program maintains a solid positioning thanks to its deep integration into allied forces, the investments already made, their advantages in interoperability and the political support that ensures its continuity. The immediate strategy is to return as soon as possible the F-35B affected to operations from Japan or reincorporate it to the aircraft carrier, while the International narrative To present these cases as isolated failures, preventing them from being interpreted as structural problems. Strategic implications. Beyond the impact on the Image of F-35incidents raise questions about the United Kingdom Capacity to hold large -distance deployments with latest generation media and on the logistics resilience of its shipped air fleet. The deployment in the Indo-Pacific, only the second of a British aircraft carrier in the 21st century, is part of a strategy for strengthen alliances and demonstrate presence in a region marked by the Competition with China. However, episodes such as these can be perceived by partners and rivals as indications of operational vulnerabilitiesreducing the deterrent impact of the mission and offering competing powers an alternative story that exploits each breakdown as a symbol of structural limitations. Image | Rawpixel, Rawpixel In Xataka | The F-35 not only costs a fortune, it has a button that Spain does not like. So he told the US that he doesn’t want them In Xataka | Spain refuses to spend 5% of GDP on artillery. Because what you really want is to sell it to Europe

For years they leaked murders and violations for Facebook in Barcelona. Now they claim 4 million to the goal for psychological damage

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Goal had a moderation center in Barcelona that was responsible for monitoring its contents. Had. Telus Digital, the subcontracting company, closed its facilities in April. Now, twenty -nine of their then content moderators They have filed a criminal complaint against Meta and its Barcelona subcontractor for the mental damage suffered after years filtering external material. Why is it important. It is the first criminal accusation admitted in Europe against the technological giant for the sequels caused by the moderation of content. Workers claim 150,000 euros of compensation each. Almost 4.5 million euros in total. The facts. For years, these employees had to visualize murders, decapitations, rapes, child pornography, live suicides and terrorism for eight -hour days. His rest time was set in five minutes per hour while processing up to 800 videos a day. The consequences they expose were tranquatic stress transport, panic attacks, suicidal ideas, nightmares and phobias. An employee has been in psychological treatment for six years and has temporary disability since 2022. Between bambalins. The complaint ensures that Mal CCC Barcelona Digital Services, then absorbed by Canadian Telic Digital. The American matrix set schedules, productivity and quality demands, requiring 98% success in moderation decisions. The best performance workers were “promoted” to high priority tail, where the most disturbing content arrived. Yes, but. Companies knew that many employees would lead to “serious psychic pathologies” but did not implement protection measures. During the hiring process they deliberately hid the nature of work, limiting themselves to verifying knowledge of languages. The day -to -day detail arrived later. The context. In 2023 it was uncovered that between 20% and 25% of Télus template was decline, many for psychological reasons. Meta definitely closed the Barcelona center a few weeks ago, dismissing the entire squad after dispense with moderation servicesthat now remain in the hands of the users themselves, as in X. The complaint accumulates to another filed in 2024 by a worker, already admitted by the Court of Instruction 29 of Barcelona. In the United States, Goal paid 52 million dollars to more than 11,000 moderators in 2020an average of $ 4,700 per person. In Xataka | Four AI companies are monopolizing the intellectual future of humanity. They are not good news Outstanding image | Greg Bulla in Unspash

The chip war between the US and China is already leaving collateral damage. Although in South Korea

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For the South Korean government Your semiconductor industry has a strategic role, like those of OLED panel production either Battery manufacturing. These three sectors have A very deep impact on its economyso it is understandable that the administration does everything in its hand to reinforce its position in the global market and increase its competitiveness. In mid -December 2023 Yoon Suk Yeol, the former president of this Asian country, traveled to the Netherlands with the purpose of consolidating an alliance with ASML in matters of integrated circuits, among other priority objectives. During the last months South Korea He has “faced” the US To protect the business of its main semiconductor manufacturers in China, among which are Samsung and SK Hynix. But his short -term perspective is discouraging. Sales of semiconductors to China have fallen in February 31.8% The Chinese market is essential for South Korea. It is at least if we stick to the integrated circuit industry. At the end of 2024 the country led by Xi Jinping represented approximately two fifths of all southern Korea technology exports, but the chips flow is plummeting. According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy of this last nation in January 2025 the sale of chips It contracted 22.5% compared to the same month of the previous year. 2025 is going to be a bad year for the semiconductor industry due to the cooling of global demand and the impact of tariffs And in February the fall has been even more steep: 31.8% compared to February 2024. This trend supports the omens that predict for months that 2025 will be a bad year for the semiconductor industry due to the cooling of global demand and to the impact that tariffs presumably they are already having in the integrated circuit industry. In any case, to South Korea this incipient crisis seems to be affecting more than other countries that also live largely from chips, such as Taiwan. Samsung and SK Hynix lead the memory chips market, and much of their income comes from precisely these semiconductors. The US sanctions prevent them from selling their most advanced chips to their Chinese clients, which, precisely, are those that usually live with the GPUs for artificial intelligence (AI). China has responded by dedicating more resources to the development of Your own memory technologieswhat is causing A prices decrease which is clearly affecting the Samsung and SK Hynix business. Despite all the consultant Gartner has predicted that The AI ​​will pull the semiconductor industry For 2025, leaving the door ajar to the possibility that finally this year is not as bad for chips manufacturers as the first figures point. Image | Samsung More information | SCMP In Xataka | The virtuous circle: China has become the greatest added value of the planet thanks to feedback

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