demand

The Adamuz accident has plunged demand for the AVE by 30%. It is a fact that hides something worse: mistrust

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The high-speed accident in Adamuz (Córdoba) has turned the Spanish railway upside down. Closures, speed restrictions and a loss of credibility in the service have directly impacted the sales of the three companies that operate on Spanish roads. And it has translated into data: a 30% drop in sales. The data. Demand for high-speed trains has fallen by 30%, according to data collected by Trainlinea railway ticket price comparator that operates in our country. The information was released by Pedro García, its general director in Europe and Spain, at an event organized by the company this week. According to this platform, the demand for banknotes has fallen by 30% in the weeks following the Adamuz accident (Córdoba) in which 46 people died after an Iryo derailed and, still under investigationthe subsequent crash and derailment of an Alvia that was traveling in the opposite direction. No trust. We could say that it hints at it but it is almost a cry: the customer is distrustful of high speed. It is not only a question of security, the drop in demand is undoubtedly influenced by speed restrictions that have been imposed and the cancellations late in the day between Madrid and Barcelona. It must be taken into account that, in just over a month, we have had the following schedule on the Spanish railway lines: Later. In the current state of high-speed lines, only one thing is clear: the train is going to arrive later. First of all, because Adif is reviewing all avenues and that requires, for example, In Madrid-Barcelona, ​​25 minutes have already been added by default to the journey. And that is in the best of cases. Because as reported by a train driver Xatakathose who drive the trains have the power to stop the train or move more slowly if they consider that the tracks are not safe or, at least, not at maximum speed. Their repeated complaints have led to temporary speed limitations that have been activated and deactivated but, ultimately, yours is the last word. This situation has been experienced with the reopening of the Madrid-Seville line. The driver, passing through the Adamuz section He stopped the train thinking that something was happening on the premises.. Then it turned out that, simply, confusion had arisen due to repairs carried out. to the plane. This distrust has caused a transfer of passengers to the plane. And the thing is that, especially companies, have been putting aside the use of the train for daily trips between Madrid and the large capitals of Spanish provinces. Especially in the Madrid-Barcelona route, where business use of the train was very high, demand for air travelers skyrocketed to the point that Iberia capped dynamic prices at 99 euros. The Ombudsman even asked the CNMC to study the price increases that were experienced in the following days in airlines and car rental companies. The rise in demand for aircraft between Madrid and Barcelona has been such that Vueling has returned to the Air Bridgea route that had abandoned in a movement where, without a doubt, The arrival of Ouigo and Iryo on Spanish roads had influenced. And an impact on the accounts. The combo of cancellations, high-speed restrictions and insecurity in arriving at the agreed time has caused a hole in the accounts of the large railway companies. According to theEconomistalready in January 2025 the losses were recorded at more than one million euros per day if only the cut in the southern corridor was taken into account. In The reason They raise the impact to a loss of 109 million euros in Malaga tourism alone. Losses that are yet to be quantified for companies but that arrive at a bad time, just when Ouigo and Iryo aspired to make money in our country after completing its landing phase. Photo | Samson Ng. D201@EAL In Xataka | The first AVE trains are more than 30 years old and are still in circulation: Renfe has not yet found a company for their maintenance

The United Kingdom has always been a country of pets, but fear has triggered a dangerous demand: dogs ready to attack

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The proverb says that the dog is man’s best friend. In United Kingdom more and more people He believes he can be something more: his best protector. At least that is the feeling conveyed by dog ​​training companies, which have found a curious increase in demand thanks to the visibility that networks and networks are giving them. celebrities. They are not cheap, they carry many more responsibilities than a ‘conventional’ pet and they operate within a complex legal framework, but that does not prevent the fact that on the other side of the English Channel it is increasingly easier to come across dogs ready to jump at the command of their owners. There are those who prediction even that personal defense dogs are a billion-dollar market that is rapidly expanding in the United Kingdom. What has happened? That the training of defense dogs is becoming an increasingly profitable business in the United Kingdom. We know it thanks to Guardianwhich a few days ago published an extensive report in which he explains that this type of pets, ready to obey the orders of their owners and defend them with hooves and teeth (in the most literal sense of the expression) if necessary, is experiencing considerable growth. There are not many statistics or official data that corroborate the trend (Guardian does not provide them at least), but of course the message from the sector is clear. “Demand has increased, without a doubt,” confirms Alaster Bly, founder of K9 Guarda company specializing in “highly trained security guard dogs.” There are even trainers who offer special courses to train pets that people already have in their homes. Has demand increased that much? A quick search Google shows a good number of British companies and blogs dedicated to the same thing: selling or informing about defense dogs. And that’s not the only clue. There are even market reports that assure that it is a business in full expansion. A recent study published by AdAstra Solution estimated the size of the British protection dog market at 1.2 billion dollars in 2024. Its forecast is that in just a decade it will rise to 2.5 billion, with a growth rate CAGR of 9.2%. The key is not only that these pets arouse more interest, but that they are expanding their demand base. What does that mean? That dogs trained to serve as bodyguards seem to be ‘becoming popular’ in the United Kingdom. They are far from being a mass phenomenon, but something has changed: they are no longer a ‘whim’ of the wealthiest families or professionals in the security field. According to confirm Guardian After interviewing professionals in the sector, the panorama is changing little by little, as demand increases. Bly acknowledges that the majority of his clients are still wealthy people, but he has also seen growing interest from families who are not wealthy and simply want to “invest in security.” The reasons for this change? There are two that seem key. The first is concern about crime. Although official statistics can be contradictoryStatista tables reflect that the number of violent crimes against people recorded by the police in England and Wales have increased in recent decades. And clearly. In fact, although they have decreased in recent years, they continue to remain well above the snow levels of the beginning of the 21st century. Are there more reasons? Yes. The networks. British reporter Elle Hunt remember that the increase in demand has gone hand in hand with greater media exposure of this type of dogs through various means. One is celebrities. In recent years, personalities such as Rochelle and Marvin Humes, Molly-Mae Hague, Katie Price, J.Terry…actors, singers, footballers and television personalities with well-identifiable faces in the United Kingdom. In the sector, there are those who remember that the increase in demand coincides with greater visibility through Instagram or TikTok of defense dog exhibitions and competitions. Schuzthunda canine agility sport. And how much do they cost? Much more than a ‘conventional’ dog. A trained dog requires considerable work that, sometimes, begins even before the dog is born. Bly works, for example, with hybrids of German and Belgian shepherds, a “very specific genetic mix” that allows it to adapt to its function. Hence they are not cheap. They cost (at least) £32,000. However, price is only one of the factors that the owner must take into account. ¿Is there anything else? Yes. Another factor, even more important, is the care and responsibility that comes with having a dog specially trained for defense. Guardian remember that these personal protection dogs have a complex legal framework, since they are not under the Guard Dogs Law, which does regulate animals in charge of protecting premises or professionals. “They receive the same treatment as any other dog,” explains a criminal lawyer. The problem is that standard home insurance policies can leave them out of your coverage. An important factor in a country that has seen how in recent years attacks increased of dogs recorded by the police. Images | Bignsmall Paws317 (Unsplash) and Wikipedia Via | Guardian In Xataka | Asturias has been fighting for years to have a decent train connection. And now he is also fighting to include his dogs

After 20 years of works and 4,000 million euros, Asturians demand one last thing for the AVE: traveling with their dog

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“Our dogs are family. They are not an extra suitcase, they are an essential part of the trip. Europe is already ahead of us by allowing dogs of all sizes on trains. Why can’t Renfe be just as modern and empathetic?” With these words and the support of more than 5,000 signatories, Isa Díaz Yusta, who promotes a petition on Change.org, summarizes the feelings of Renfe travelers in the north of the country as stated The New Spain. And the train company does not allow the access of dogs weighing more than 10 kg on the routes that go to Galicia, Asturias or the Basque Country. That impossibility has open a wound in northern Spain. The aforementioned request is not the only one. With almost 5,000 supports, another user of the same platform also has a petition open for Renfe to allow dogs weighing more than 10 kg to travel on these routes. “We can’t always drive or leave them with someone. Many of us need the train to go see family or for work, and leaving our colleagues behind is not an option,” says the promoter on this occasion. Arancha Gómez, again another Change.org user, asks that the possibility of carrying accompanying dogs be expanded on all lines operated by Renfe. It is the same thing that Laura Serena asks for, whose request has already been collected more than 26,000 signatures. I don’t have a driving license, so I depend entirely on public transportation. And, although I have been waiting for a change for years, Renfe only allows traveling with dogs weighing more than 10 kg on four routes. FOUR!!. The rest of the country remains inaccessible for those of us who travel with large dogs. Not without my dog Indeed, as noted in the last petition, Renfe only allows traveling with dogs weighing more than 10 kg on limited routes. Since the petition was launched, Renfe has been expanding the destinations in which you can travel accompanied by large dogs but, for now, the only AVE available are still the following: Madrid-Barcelona Madrid-Zaragoza Madrid-Alicante Madrid-Valencia Madrid-Seville Madrid-Málaga Madrid-Granada However, the company The possibility of traveling with dogs is not enabled between 10 and 40 kg on all high-speed and long-distance lines. On the contrary, dogs of this size and any other can ride on Cercanías trains. If we want to travel with a dog weighing less than 10 kg, Renfe allows us to do so on all AVE, long-distance, AVLO, medium-distance and metric gauge trains. Except in the latter, the pet can travel in a carrier that does not exceed 60x35x35 cm for a surcharge. On those trains that have places specifically reserved for dogs to travel, you can pay 35 euros so that the pet does not travel in the carrier. However, as we say, only on selected routes you can travel with dogs weighing more than 10 kg. In this case, it is mandatory to fill out a document discharging the company’s responsibilities and another to confirm that we are aware of the regulations. The dog will travel in the adjacent seat and this cannot be chosen because there are pre-established places for this purpose. Furthermore, in these cases, the company provides a travel kit and has a series of standards and recommendations that are summarized in this document. In the delivered kit there is a seat cover and a mat to place on the window seat. The dog must be on a leash of a maximum of 1.5 meters and with a muzzle. In all cases, only one pet is allowed per traveler, but in the particular case of dogs weighing more than 10 kg, no more than two pets are allowed per car on the same train. Furthermore, on the Madrid-Málaga and Madrid-Granada corridors, only one pet of this size is allowed per train. Asturian users, as we have seen, complain about this type of restrictions for a line that It opened in 2023 after 20 years of work (13 years late) and a investment of 4,000 million euros. Even on lines that do allow it, some travelers also complain that the purchasing process can be too complicated. They explain in the blog Pipperontour that not all trains on the enabled lines allow traveling with dogs and, furthermore, this possibility only appears to be added in the last step of the purchase process, which makes it difficult to get a ticket. To try to make everything clearer, Renfe has a space where all frequencies can be consulted that allow large dogs but the aforementioned blog states that this list is not always updated. To all of the above we must add that it is no coincidence that some of the popular petitions requested through the Change.org platform come from northern Spain. In one of them it is remembered that Gijón is one of the cities in our country with the most registered dogs and Asturias is the Autonomous Community with the most dogs per inhabitant of our country. Photo | john crozier and Phil Richards In Xataka | “In 1961 it took Bilbao three hours and five minutes. Now it takes three and ten”: Cantabria and Spain’s drama with the train

In Mexico, Generation Z has taken to the streets to demand changes. And he did it with ‘One Piece’

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Mexico has joined the wave of protests youth events that over the last few months have shaken Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Peru, Morocco either Philippinesto cite a handful of examples. Marches that share two great hallmarks. The first, who promotes them: young people from Generation Z (born between the late 90s and the first decade of the 2000s) raised in the heat of the networks and now crying out for change. The second, its symbol. It does not matter whether the protests are organized in Lima, Kathmandu or Mexico City. Beyond using networks as catalysts, the mobilizations of Generation Z usually resort to the same emblem: the pirate flag from ‘One Piece’, the manga of Eiichiro Oda that the protesters have turned into their most identifiable banner. And not just because of the flag. In the marches it is also common to see other clear nods to the comic, such as the use of straw hats. How did you get to Mexico? After weeks of brewing online, the most visible mobilization in Mexico took place this weekend, when thousands of people gathered in the capital to make clear their “political fatigue”. The authorities speak of around 17,000 attendeesa human tide that left the monument The Angel of Independence and concluded in the Zócalo. The call was for the most part peaceful and passed without major incidents, beyond the insults to the president (Claudia Sheinbaum); but it was marred by the final altercations, which left more than a hundred of injured (mostly police officers) and several dozen arrested. In fact, the Ministry of the Interior assures that during the “violent acts” homemade explosive devices were used and objects were thrown at the agents. Who took to the streets? Some media they assure that among the protesters there were mainly young people, others qualify that during most of the Mexico City march, Generation Z was a minority and the most common thing was to meet people who were over 30 years old. Sheinbaum herself influenced that message later, commenting on what happened on Saturday in Mexico City: “They say that young people marched, but in reality there were very few, and they violently removed fences and broke windows. No to violence.” The truth is that, beyond Mexico City, there were mobilizations in other points of the country, such as Yucatán, Puebla, Monterrey or Guanajuato, and among the protesters they waved the banners of ‘One Piece’. Also posters demanding improvements in the country and Mexican flags with the face of Carlos Manzothe local leader of Uruapan shot to death just a few weeks ago. His death (a new example of the violence in the country) was in fact one of the levers of the protests. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And why did they go out into the streets? The other key. The TendenciaMax account (656,600 followers) echoed a few weeks ago a manifesto headed by “Generation Z Mexico” and the ‘One Piece’ flag (modified to add a mustache and Mexican hat), on which keys to the call were slipped. To begin with, it was insisted that the movement does not endorse any ideology or party and lacks “disguised agendas.” “We are young people who love our country and we are tired of the same history, the same abuse and corruption.” During the march people could be heard expressing their exhaustion with the violence, insecurity, Sheinbaum’s management or even denouncing that Manzo “the State killed him”. The word “narco-state” was also drawn on the wall built by the authorities to protect the Presidential Palace from protests. Excelsior slips that another point that has caused tension to grow is the decision to apply a 8% tax to video games with violent content. In the opinion of the Executive, the protest is orchestrated actually by the opposition and reply to an “articulated digital strategy” in networks by dint of bots. Why ‘One Piece’? If spontaneous mobilizations have something, it is that it is not easy to define them. Gen Z marches are no exception. Although in recent months they seem to have gained strengthspreading through Asia, Africa and Latin America, the truth is that they can go back even further in time, to student uprising of Bangladesh that led the prime minister to flee to India, or the 2022 revolt in Sri Lanka that forced the president to resign. What they have in common is the mobilization of Generation Z and the fortune that ‘One Piece’ seems to have made in their imagination, something that it doesn’t seem casual. The comic began to be published in the late 90s and continues to be updated, so its popularity has coincided with the Gen Z boom, and much of its plot fits in with the demands of the protests. After all, its main character, the young and charismatic pirate Monkey D. Luffyis presented as a figure of liberation. Images | David Cabrera (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | Young people have become more spiritual than the average in Spain. The problem for the Church is that no more Catholics

In 1521 Spain established a timid colony on the island of Borneo. Today they demand 15,500 million euros for it

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In a corner of Southeast Asia, the island of Borneo has been the scene of a historical entanglement that seems like something out of a novel. What began more than a century ago as a trade agreement between a local sultan and European businessmen today translates into multimillion-dollar lawsuits and international arbitrations involving Spain, Malaysia and the descendants of the Joló sultanate. The surprising thing is that the origin of all this mess goes back to a detail that many would overlook, but given that when it happened the island was under Spanish jurisdiction, a century and a half later, the judicial imbroglio has spilled over into a Spain that has been involved in a lawsuit for 15.5 billion euros without a hitch. Signing of the agreement and colonial movements In 1878, the island of Borneo was under Spanish administration in certain areas, although real authority corresponded to the Sultan of Joló, the highest authority in a small Muslim kingdom located to the north of that island. In that year, Sultan Jamalul Alam signed an agreement with two British businessmen, Baron of Overbeck and Alfred Dent for the exploitation of natural resources of the area. However, for the descendants of the sultan, that contract had a lease character, while for the British it implied a definitive transfer. First point of disagreement. Spain, as the administrative power of the time, left evidence of its limits and neither punctured nor cut nor cut in that agreement. Reproduction of the 1878 agreement In 1885 the Madrid Protocol between the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, with which Spain formally renounced any right over Borneo and recognized British control of the area, left in hands of the British North Borneo Company to its colonial exploitation and became part of the British colonial territories. Already in 1963, the island of Borneo was integrated in the newly formed Malaysia, and the Joló sultanate was integrated as the state of Sabah. Under the agreement signed in 1878, the Malaysian government was the “heir” of that transfer/lease of the territory, so kept a symbolic payment annual payment of about 5,300 ringgit (about 1,110 euros per year at the exchange rate) to the sultan’s heirs. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, oil and gas deposits were discovered in that territory, so Malaysia, through the company Petronas. With a treasure of such magnitude under the soil of their territory and with a difference of opinion regarding the meaning of the initial agreement, the heirs of Sultan of Joló began to pressure Malaysia to return their lands. Something that Malaysia rejected outright. Invasion of Sabah and start of battle Everything changed in 2013, when a group of 235 linked to the heirs of the Sultan of Joló invaded Sabah, starting what became known as the Lahad Datu conflictclaiming the sovereignty of the region. Malaysia responded with military force and stopped the rebels declaring that the state of Sabah was part of the sovereignty of Malaysia. In retaliation, he decided to suspend historic payments to the sultan’s descendants. This suspension marked the beginning of a long international legal dispute since now the heirs did not have the right of ownership of the lands nor did Malaysia recognize the agreement signed in 1878. Since in 1878 the kingdom of Sabah was under the administrative control of Spain, the sultan’s heirs considered that the historical jurisdiction belonged to Spain and requested arbitration in Spain, trusting that the country’s courts could act as a neutral venue to resolve the conflict between Malaysia and the heirs of the Sultan of Joló. Territory in dispute From trade disagreement to billion-dollar international conflict In 2019 and already in Spain, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) assigned arbitration in principle to lawyer Gonzalo Stampa. However, in 2020 and after studying the case in more detail, the same court ordered arbitrator Stampa to stop the arbitration by determining that the State of Malaysia could not be judged by another State. Despite the disqualification and orders from the Spanish justice system, Stampa ignored it and continued with the mediation process. Since it had been banned in Spain, Stampa moved the arbitration to Paris and, in 2022, he dictated a favorable award to the heirs of the sultan. In the award issued by Stampa, which we remember at that time was “free” and no longer recognized by Spain, it could be read: “(…) the Arbitrator decides that the Claimants have the right to recover from the Respondent the restitution value of the rights over the leased territory in northern Borneo. (…) and orders the Respondent to pay the Claimants the sum of 14.92 billion US dollars.” Painting of the Sultan from the late 19th century That is to say, not only had he ignored the instructions of the Spanish justice system, but he also condemned Malaysia to pay compensation of 15,000 million dollars to the heirs. Obviously, nor Malaysia neither Spain nor even Paris Court of Appeal and then the Cour de Cassation French recognized the nullity of the arbitration. In fact, the Supreme Court recently condemned to referee Stampa for contempt and usurpation of functions. Although no authority recognized this arbitration, the heirs attempted to enforce the award by confiscating Malaysian assets, in the form of Petronas assets, in Holland and Luxembourgbut European courts temporarily stayed the action. At the same time, the heirs of the Sultan of Joló filed a new complaint against Spain claiming 15.5 billion euros, alleging that the country had hindered the execution of the award. This demand has just been dismissed by the ICSID (International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes) tribunal dependent on the World Bank, which considered that there was no “protected investment” and ordered the heirs to assume the costs of the procedure. The result is that Spain leaves the dispute without paying a single euro, while the legal battle for territory and compensation against Malaysia remains open and on multiple fronts in Europe and Asia. What began as an agreement … Read more

Ghibli and more Japanese studios demand that OpenAI stop using their works. The reason: the Sora 2 videos

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In Japan they seem to be tired of images generated with artificial intelligence that resemble, perhaps too much, the mythical works of Japanese origin. We are referring, of course, to images and videos created with AI that seek to reimagine any photo, person or character with “Ghibli style” or similar. An anti-piracy organization in Japan has demanded that OpenAI cease what they claim is a copyright violation. Japan studies against AI. CODA is a Japanese anti-piracy organization that includes companies such as Studio GhibliToei Animation, Bandai, Toho and Square Enix. The organization has published a letter demanding OpenAI stop using its members’ original content to train Sora 2, the OpenAI tool responsible for generating realistic videos with artificial intelligence. Some of Studio Ghibli’s most legendary films. (Images: Studio Ghibli) In your letterCODA (whose acronym stands for Overseas Content Distribution Association) claims to have confirmed that “a large portion of the content produced by Sora closely resembles Japanese content or images.” This, according to the organization, would be the result of having used copyrighted content to train artificial intelligence. In Xataka OpenAI has just made a move after its separation of assets with Microsoft: it has signed an agreement with Amazon for $38 billion What Japanese studies ask for. CODA’s demands are clear: that OpenAI not use its members’ content to train its artificial intelligence model. And also, that OpenAI respond to the demands and complaints of the companies that are part of the Japanese organization about the Sora 2 videos. {“videoId”:”x9hhg44″,”autoplay”:true,”title”:”The TRUTH of AI – This is how ChatGPT 4, DALL-E or MIDJOURNEY works 🤖 🧠 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”, “tag”:”webedia-prod”, “duration”:”1173″} The government also pressures. In mid-October the Japanese government already had spoken against OpenAI’s use of copyrighted content to train its artificial intelligence. Minoru Kiuchi, Japanese minister responsible for intellectual property strategy in the country, asked OpenAI not to violate the copyrights of Japanese intellectual properties. According to Minister Kiuchi, manga and anime are “irreplaceable treasures” that Japan offers the world. 2025, the year of “Ghibli-style” images. Last March OpenAI enabled the image generation based on GPT-4oand quickly “Ghibli-style” or “anime-style” images became extremely popular. However, the claims of CODA and its members, in addition to the Japanese government’s request, are especially directed at Sora 2 and its video generation capabilities. In Xataka OpenAI has turned ChatGPT into mainstream AI. In the business world the game is being won by its great rival Although the results are far from perfect, social networks have been filled with these types of unofficial videos made with AI, which for companies such as Bandai Namco, NHK, Wowow, Aniplex and many others represents a violation of their copyright. At the time of publishing this article, OpenAI has not yet responded to the Japanese studios’ request. Cover image | OpenAI / Image created with artificial intelligence In Xataka | The “AI slop” turned into art. A Chinese creator is copying the absurd aesthetics of generative AI, and it’s hilarious In Xataka | OpenAI knows that ChatGPT is causing serious mental health problems for some users. And he is already “correcting” it (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 Ghibli and more Japanese studios demand that OpenAI stop using their works. The reason: the Sora 2 videos was originally published in Xataka by Eduardo Marin .

Meeting the energy demand of AI is leading to desperate measures. How to reuse old airplane turbines

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The AI ​​race has put the electrical infrastructures of half the world in check. Data centers need more and more megawatts, and they need them now. But the energy industry does not play at the same pace, which explains why there are companies installing airplane engines next to these huge graphics card farms. Two options, two problems. When a company builds a new data center for AI, it has two options. The first is to connect to the electrical network, but according to IEEE Spectrumpermits to carry out interconnection can reach eight or even ten years in some regions. AI, however, advances in a matter of months, and cannot wait a decade. Hence, many companies, like Elon Musk’s xAIopt for option 2: build their own power plant on the site. This is not without problems either. Global demand for gas turbines has skyrocketed, and not just because of AI, but because of economic growth in Asia and the Middle East. Manufacturers such as GE Vernova or Siemens Energy have waiting lists of three to five years, and for larger models, the period is longer. As noted in a report by Public Powera new gas plant project commissioned today could begin operating in 2032. Aircraft engines as power plants. This bottleneck has caused, on the one hand, that turbine manufacturers rub their handsand on the other, that companies sharpen their ingenuity. And this is where aeronautical engineering and the reuse of aircraft turbines come into play. The concept of using aircraft engines to generate electricity is not new. They are known as aeroderivative turbines: they are smaller, lighter and easier to maintain than heavy industrial turbines. What is new is the scale and urgency with which this solution is being implemented. From a Boeing 747 to the data center. An American company called ProEnergy has become a protagonist of the trend with a simple plan: buy used jet engine cores, specifically the CF6-80C2 model of the iconic Boeing 747, and adapt them. These engines, after decades of service in the air, are disassembled, reviewed piece by piece and rebuilt for a second life on dry land. The result is the PE6000 unit, a gas turbine that, as detailed the popia companyis capable of generating 48 megawatts (MW) of electricity. A single one of these units can power a small or medium-sized data center, or a city of up to 40,000 homes. A bridging solution. The reality is that these converted aircraft engines are not the definitive solution, but rather what the industry bridges for the first years of operation of its data centers. “Both projects are designed to provide bridge power for five to seven years, which is when they hope to have interconnection to the grid,” says the CEO of ProEnergy. But business is good. The company has already sold 21 of these turbines for two projects, adding more than 1 gigawatt (GW) of capacity thanks to its speed of delivery. Companies can buy a turbine from ProEnergy by 2027 or wait a decade to build a conventional plant. Everyone wins. Except the environment. It is gas that ends up burning in order to have these data centers operational in record time. Image | ProEnergy In Xataka | If the question is “how does having a data center next to my house affect me”, in the US they already have an answer: 267% more expensive electricity

just announced its most capable robot. Now the only thing missing is that there is demand

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The Chinese company Unitree Robotics just presented the H2its most advanced humanoid robot to date. At 180 centimeters tall and weighing 70 kilograms, this model is getting closer and closer to that preconceived idea we have about robots that we have seen so much in fiction. Perhaps the most striking thing about his announcement is his presentation video, where we see him dancing, dressed and even with a humanized face. A robot that dances and does kung-fu. Demo images show the H2 performing complex dance and martial arts sequences with surprising fluidity. The robot maintains balance naturally, makes smooth transitions between movements and demonstrates remarkably organic limb articulation. Although Unitree has not revealed all the technical specifications, previous leaks They pointed out that the H2 would have 31 degrees of freedom, compared to the 23 of its predecessor. The legacy of the H1. Unitree’s previous model, the H1, achieved widespread fame after appearing at the 2024 Spring Festival Gala in China, where its Yangko dancing performance went viral both inside and outside the country. With that robot, China had achieved its first full-size model capable of running, setting a world record reaching 3.3 meters per second, even with peaks with the potential to exceed 5 m/s. Equipped with 3D LiDAR and depth cameras that provided 360° spatial perception, the H1 weighed just 47 kilograms and was powered by a swappable 864 Wh battery. From the workshop to the living room. The H2 represents a new level with respect to industrial robotics that China already dominates. The Asian country installed nearly 300,000 industrial robots in 2024more than the rest of the world combined, according to the International Federation of Robotics. However, humanoid robots like the H2 remain a bet for the future with sales still marginal. The Chinese startup ecosystem focused on humanoid robotsdriven largely by state policy, seeks to continue evolving in this field so that the country also scores the same in this sector. A two-speed strategy. Unitree is committed to covering the entire spectrum of the market. While the H2 represents its high-end offering aimed at advanced industrial and commercial applications, the company also recently launched the R1, a 1.2-meter robot designed for developers and researchers at a somewhat more accessible price. In fact, the R1 was recognized by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of 2025. They are two models that reflect Unitree’s efforts to become known in the world of robotics, at the level of large American manufacturers such as Boston Dynamics. And now what. The real challenge is not only technical, but commercial. China has demonstrated its ability to develop increasingly sophisticated humanoid robots, but the real test will come when practical large-scale applications have to be found that justify the investment. Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing confirmed at the beginning of the year at the Hangzhou World Digital Commerce Exhibition that this model was planned for the second half of 2025. The schedule has been met. Now it’s time to see how the market reacts. Cover image | Unitree In Xataka | With AI, Microsoft has once again insisted that we talk to our computer: experience says that we don’t feel like it

There is more demand than leaves, more fashion than ceremony

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the book The wind through the pinesby Malena Higashi talk about a lesson that seems forgotten: relearning to breathe. In its pages, the tea ceremony—the chado, or “tea path”—is a metaphor for slowness, for respect, for what the Japanese summarize in four words: wa, kei, sei, jaku (harmony, respect, purity, tranquility). That ancestral stillness contrasts with the present. In just a decade, matcha—that green powder that for centuries was ground in temples and served in silence— has become in a global phenomenon. Coffee shops in New York, Paris or Madrid offer it with vanilla, banana or oat milk. There are numerous videos on social networks of people drinking matcha with hundreds of millions of views. However, behind that vibrant color and perfect foam there is something broken: “The matcha market is cracking under pressure.” From the temple to the algorithm. For four centuries, matcha was reserved for formal ceremonies and high tea craftsmanship. Today, as explained in The New York Times: “Harmony has been replaced by discord, respect by unscrupulousness, and purity by fraud.” Historical companies such as Marukyu Koyamaen, founded in 1704, They fight fakes of their tea on Amazon or Facebook Marketplace. Some sellers offer yellowish powder—ordinary ground tea—in fancy packaging, while others market an “imperial grade” or “barista grade” that do not exist in the Japanese classification. The global boom has created a demand that Japan cannot satisfy. “It’s like the Old West,” points out the merchant Sebastian Beckwith, faced with a deregulated market where matcha has become a label rather than a quality. The numbers in a bubble. The data does not deceive anyone. In just one year, Japanese exports of green tea powder have grown by 75%reaching almost 27,000 million yen, about 165 million euros. But enthusiasm has its price: a kilo of tencha leaves – the base of matcha – already exceeds 14,000 yen (about 85 euros), almost triple what it was a year ago. It is the highest price in memory and a clear sign that global demand is pushing the limits of tradition. Japan today exports more than half of the matcha that it produces, but that has not resolved the imbalance. In Uji, the birthplace of green tea, the shops limit the sale to one can per customer and farmers reject new orders until the next harvest. Jiro Katahira, a producer from Shizuoka, says to have received requests from all over the world: “Even from Benin. But I can’t mass produce. You can’t speed up a process that takes years.” For its part, in Los Angeles, the crisis is felt differently. At the Kettl Tea bar, only four of the 25 varieties on the menu remain. “There is nothing more to buy”, confessed its founderZach Mangan. The result is a fractured market: large wholesalers like Marukyu Koyamaen cannot cope, and small producers struggle to maintain quality while prices rise and there is a lack of young hands in the fields. An unsustainable boom. Matcha cannot be grown like corn or coffee. The tencha leaves They need weeks of shade before being collected, steamed and slowly ground between granite stones. Five years can pass from sowing to the first harvest, and many Japanese farmers – with an average age of 69 – lack generational change. The Japanese government has launched subsidies to modernize factories and increase mechanization, but that, experts warnyou could sacrifice the artisanal quality that distinguishes Japanese matcha. Meanwhile, China, Korea and Australia are taking advantage of the vacuum. According to FTChinese producers are introducing matchas “dyed” with chlorophyll to achieve a brighter green. “If everything becomes matcha, nothing will be,” a merchant tells the newspaper. The loss of value: from ceremony to latte. In the chadoeach movement has a meaning. In the global market, everything is measured by likes. “Using first-harvest matcha in a latte is like using Burgundy wine to make sangria,” Zach Mangan denouncedfounder of Kettl. The big chains have turned it into a trendy flavor. starbucks launched matcha protein drinks with banana cream; Blank Street Coffee removed the word “Coffee” of his name and embraced the “matchacore” aesthetic; the influencers they mix matcha with collagen. In this new context, matcha is no longer a drink, but a texture, a color, a mood. Master Rie Takeda, founder of the Chazen tea room, prefers to see it from an optimistic perspective: “Yes, there are concerns, but if this trend sparks interest in the tea ceremony, welcome. Our challenge is to share the essence of tea without losing its spirit.” Others, like Shihori Suzuki, warn of the risk of confusing spirituality with aesthetics: “Matcha has become a mass product, alien to the ceremony. If it becomes just a business, we will lose quality and meaning.” What is at stake. The rise of matcha not only threatens to deplete the fields, but to disfigure a cultural identity that took centuries to build. Farmers, like Katahira, they see it with ambivalence: Thanks to the boom they have paid off debts, but many feel that the spirit of tea is diluted between influencers, baristas and designer packaging. “Those who rush to produce don’t think about tradition. They only think about lattes,” he says. However, other people see it as a phenomenon that could save the tradition: more visitors flock to authentic tea rooms, seeking the calm that social media does not offer. After the pandemic, says Atsuko Morifounder of Camellia Tea Ceremony in Kyoto: “Visitors don’t just want to taste matcha, they want to understand it. They value its sense of presence and attention.” But that balance is fragile. The same tea that calms is also exhausting those who grow it. Producers face a paradox: commercial success can destroy what made it valuable. Return to the dô? Matcha was born to stop time, not speed it up. The tea master Sen no Rikyū, in the 16th century, said to serve a perfect cup was an act of harmony between host and guest. Today, that harmony is sought between saturated markets, influencers … Read more

Europe has found the antidote to Russian drones. So demand for a 100-year-old gun has skyrocketed.

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The war in Ukraine has become an immense laboratory for new war technologies, but it has also reminded us that beyond the sophistication of modern artillery, the experience of the past remains a weapon as powerful as any missile. we have seen optical illusionsthe return of the horses or weapons 1940’s vintage. In fact, Europe is arming itself against Russia’s hybrid war with a 100-year-old weapon. The resurgence of a legend. The war in Ukraine has returned a veteran of more than a century to the front line: the M2 heavy machine gun Browning, symbol of 20th century war engineering and now a key piece in the arsenal of modern armies. Designed in 1921 by John Moses Browning and mass produced during World War II, the M2 (capable of firing .50 caliber projectiles at a rate of up to 600 rounds per minute) has once again proven indispensable, especially on the Ukrainian front, where it is used on civilian trucks to shoot down Russian Shahed drones. Its mechanical simplicity, extreme reliability and devastating power have made it a weapon with no direct substitute, and its use has contributed to a surge in global demand reminiscent of the most intense years of the Cold War. Industrial boom. The rebirth of this icon runs parallel to the FN Browning expansionthe historic Belgian firm that from its headquarters in Herstal manufactures not only the M2, but also the FN MAG and FN Minimi (known in the United States as M240 and M249) along with FN SCAR rifles and ammunition of standard NATO calibers. After decades of relative calm, its production of machine guns has been doubled compared to 2022, and the demand for ammunition has quadrupled. Although the company does not sell directly to Ukraine, its contracts with allies such as the United States, the United Kingdom or France have grown exponentially. France, for example, has recovered thousands of M2s abandoned by US troops in 1945 for FN to modernize and return them to service with “like new” guarantees. The conflict has revived interest not only in new generation weapons, but also in those that have proven to be reliable under any circumstances. Economy of rearmament. The war has awakened a cycle of massive rearmament in Europe, with more than 930,000 million of dollars committed through 2030, and FN Browning has become one of the epicenters of this military reindustrialization. Despite a stable business volume (1.3 billion euros in 2024, after the acquisition of the ammunition producer Sofisport), the company is expanding its workforce and increasing the production of weapons and ammunition by thousands of units annually. The stagnation of its sports division, which flourished during the pandemic, contrasts with the avalanche of state contracts that consolidate its strategic role within the European defense ecosystem. The machine gun market, relegated for years, is experiencing a second youth marked by the urgency of replenishing depleted arsenals after the massive shipment of weapons to Ukraine and the perception of a persistent Russian threat. Classic weapons, modern warfare. The Ukrainian conflict has shown that even in the era of artificial intelligence and drone swarms, classically designed weapons still play a critical role. The M2 they have adapted to unmanned ground platforms and remote stations controlled by AI to improve precision in the fight against drones. F. N. Browning collaborates with technology firms to integrate automatic target recognition systems into their turrets, anticipating a convergence between mechanical tradition and algorithmic warfare. At the same time, European militaries, after decades of disinvestment, are faced with the need to rebuild their heavy fire capabilities from the ground up. From the past to the future. The longevity of the M2 It is a testament not only to its design, but also to a cyclical military reality: modern wars continue to depend on the reliability of steel and gunpowder. From the beaches of Normandy to the fields of Donetsk, this machine gun has accompanied Western armies through a century of changing conflicts, and today it once again symbolizes resistance in the face of technological adversity. For FN Browning, the resurgence of its most emblematic weapon marks not only the most active moment since the end of the Cold War, but also the beginning of a new era in which war tradition and digital innovation march, once again, at the same pace. Image | Wikimedia Cominos In Xataka | Europe has decided to take action against Moscow’s hybrid war. So Germany has started hunting for Russian drones In Xataka | “Why don’t we shoot?”: in the face of Russian drone incursions, Ryanair has its own alternative to the European wall

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