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AI doesn’t just live on chips, it also requires massive energy, so Google has bought an energy company

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The AI needs a lot of energy and technology companies are already planning how to power their huge data centers. On the table there are such creative ideas as take them to space either submerge them in the sea to reduce its consumption. Google has opted for a more immediate solution: it has purchased an electricity company for data centers. The agreement. Google has purchased Intersect Powera company dedicated to developing energy infrastructure, including renewable energy sources, for data centers. Google has paid $4.75 billion for the San Francisco-based company, in addition to assuming its debt. According to Sundar Pichai: “Intersect will help us expand our capacity, operate with greater agility in the construction of new power generation facilities in line with the new load of data centers, and reinvent energy solutions to drive innovation and American leadership” Why it is important. The agreements of AI companies are usually focused on computing capacity, not energy. This agreement underscores the importance of energy in AI infrastructure, putting it on the same level as the very chips it powers. Data centers are being developed at a brutal pace and energy is presenting itself as a bottleneck. Satya Nadella already said it: there is no power for so many chips. It’s Google ensuring enough “food” for its chips. Yontersec. Google’s relationship with Intersect began just a year ago, when big tech acquired a minority stake in the company. Under this collaboration, several projects have come to light in their data centers. Both these projects and all Intersect personnel are part of the agreement. What the agreement does not include are other company assets, mainly located in Texas and California, worth 15 billion. These will continue to operate under the Intersect brand. Energy. In 2023, data centers already accounted for 4% of the energy consumption of the entire United States, and at the rate at which they are being built, the figure will continue to increase (there is talk of 12% by 2028). The problem is that US electrical infrastructure cannot support that pace and is having consequences for consumers through price increases in electricity. Google assures that with this agreement it will be able to guarantee “an abundant, reliable and affordable energy supply that allows the construction of data center infrastructures without passing on costs to network customers.” Image | Wikipedia, Intersect In Xataka | Talking about artificial intelligence is talking about energy, and the fashionable term is ‘bragawatts’

Jensen Huang managed to convince Trump to sell his H200 chips in China. Now China doesn’t want to buy them

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When something gets into Jensen Huang’s head, he goes after it and often succeeds. This is what happened in July of this year when managed to convince Trump to let him sell his H20 chip in China. History has just repeated itself and has managed to the president lifts the veto on H200 chips (although keeping a part). The problem is China, which does not see it very clearly. what has happened. China is preparing restrictions aimed at limiting access to NVIDIA’s H200 chips, according to Financial Times. If these restrictions end up being implemented, it will mean that the chips will not be available to any company that wants to buy them; They will first go through a pre-approval process, which includes explaining why chips from domestic companies do not meet their needs. In addition, there is another fact that adds up: for the first time, China has put national chips from companies like Huawei and Cambricon in its official procurement list. This list is a kind of purchasing guide for public institutions and large state groups that move billions a year in contracts. Why is it important. It is further proof that the Chinese government’s priority is not to depend on American technology for the development of its AI. Their bet is to favor the use of national chips even though they are not technologically at the level of NVIDIA chips. It’s not the same. China has already responded with distrust when NVIDIA obtained permission to sell H20 chips months ago and it seems that now they want to follow the same path, but there is a big difference: the H20 chips were the most basic, the H200 GPUs are much more advanced and represent a greater technological advantage, especially in more demanding tasks such as training large language models. What Chinese companies say. According to South China Morning PostAI companies in China such as ByteDance, Alibaba or Tencent continue to prefer to use H200s because they are much more powerful than the national alternatives offered by Huawei or Cambricon. Additionally, much of these companies’ code is based on NVIDIA’s Hopper microarchitecture, allowing them to use the chips without having to rewrite the code. On the other hand, developers who do not need maximum performance are wary of using American chips given the instability of the situation. The energy. NVIDIA’s CEO has been around for a while pressing for the US to lift these restrictions. Their pitch is that if China does not have access to NVIDIA chips, then they will improve their domestic chips and win the AI ​​race, but there is more. He has also warned that China has a huge energy advantagelargely thanks to government subsidies. He has already managed to convince Trump to sell chips and now the most difficult thing remains. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | China is very clear about what it must do to win the chip war against the US: resort to its technological geniuses

There are dozens of influencers obsessed with helping us choose the perfect can of tuna. The problem is that what they say doesn’t make much sense.

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There is a fine line that connects volcanic eruptions, oil combustion, and waste incineration with our kitchens: mercury. A mercury that is produced in dozens of activities (mostly human), which ends up deposited in the waters, transformed into methylmercury by millions of microorganisms, stored in fish and, finally, in our stomach. It was only a matter of time before it became the huge food scandal it is today. Methylmercury also reaches social networks. The problem is so big that there is no shortage of experts and influencers that defend messages such as choosing cans of “tuna” over cans of “light tuna.” The music is that of institutions such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that recommends avoiding large fish; The lyrics hide many problems. At the end of the day, the viral message mixes correct intuitions, with more than debatable scientific evidence (it uses, to begin with, commercial classifications that do not have direct Spanish correspondence). This is not the first time that an idea that sounds good ends up giving us headaches. And why is that a problem? Because, like it or not, fish is a centerpiece of many diets. Not only for its protein contribution, but as a priority source of certain fats that are very difficult to replace by any other means (e.g. omega-3). The thing is, with all that, comes methylmercury. And exposure to methylmercury is a tricky thing: it can harm brain development and be toxic to the nervous system. In fact, it can cause symptoms such as tremors, memory loss, and cognitive dysfunctions. The most vulnerable groups are pregnant women, nursing mothers, babies and young children. Do all fish have the same amount of mercury? No, it doesn’t. According to the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutritionthere are four really dangerous species: the swordfish or emperor, the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), the shark (dogfish, mako shark, dogfish, dogfish and blue shark) and pike. These are problematic in women who are pregnant or planning to be pregnant, nursing mothers and children under 10 years of age. In fact, AESAN recommends directly avoid its consumption. The rest of the species are not problematic for the effects of mercury: they are safe and healthy. And the AESAN recommends between three and four servings a week even in the at-risk population. And aren’t there more differences according to levels? That is, are there only dangerous and non-dangerous species? No no. It is true that each species contains a different amount of mercury. In fact, each copy has different levels. That’s where the problem comes from: we need simple ‘rules’ to help us deal with uncertainty. On a practical level, according to the available studies, we can only define species with low mercury content as those on this list: Pollock, Anchovy, Herring, Cod, Bacaladilla, Cockle, Mackerel, Squid, Shrimp, Crab, Cane, Coquina, Carp, Squid, Clam, Choco/Cuttlefish, Lobster, Coquina, Sea bream, Sprat, Prawn, Horse mackerel, Lobster, Prawn, European sole, Dab, Sea bass, Mussel, Merlan, Hake, Razor clam, Oyster, Pomfret, Flounder, Squid, Octopus, Shrimp, Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon, Sardine, Sardinella, Sardinopa, Plaice, and Trout. Everything else has medium levels and making distinctions between them is impossible on a practical level. So it doesn’t make sense to follow these types of recommendations? In general, any attention we pay to food is good. The system is configured in such a way that, if we let ourselves goour diet gets worse. However, we know that Obsessing over diet is also full of problems.. Using heuristics that complicate the purchase without substantial improvements is not as good an idea as it seems. Image | Tobias Tullius In Xataka | The scientific reason why miracle diets don’t work is you

Brendan Foody, one of the new AI billionaires, has not had a single day off for three years: he doesn’t need it either

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Mark Zuckerberg has been for years the benchmark of success precocious in Silicon Valley for having become the youngest self-made billionaire at just over 23 years old. Now the baton is being taken by new startup founders of artificial intelligence. In this new scenario there is Mercor, an AI recruiting platform founded by three 22-year-old friends who met on the high school debate team and are today listed as the world’s youngest self-made billionaires. Brendan Foody, Adarsh ​​Hiremath and Surya Midha have made it to the Forbes list with an estimated fortune of 2.2 billion dollars. However, all that money has not been enough for them to take a single day of vacation in the last three years. The startup that breaks records. As and as highlighted Fortunein less than nine months the founders of Mercor turned an initial idea into a company with a revenue rate of one million dollars, that meteoric growth places the Foody employment platform among the startups that have climbed the fastest in the current wave of AI. The definitive leap that has put Foody and its partners on the Forbes list came with a financing round of $350 million led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from Benchmark, General Catalyst and Robinhood Ventures, which it granted to Mercor an assessment of 10 billion dollars. Forbes estimates that each of the three partners control around 22% of the company, which places their fortunes in billions at just 22 years old, surpassing Mark Zuckerberg himself, who reached that figure at 23 years old. Generation Z and the 996 days. Paradoxically, this success comes from partners belonging to generation Z, which is usually associated with a greater concern for conciliation and balance between personal and work life. However, according to what was published by Fortune, Foody’s work style is more similar to the famous culture “996” (day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and six days a week) that is is imposing among the new Silicon Valley startups, which in the image of relaxed schedules and teleworking which is often attributed to the youngest. Three years without a single day off. Foody acknowledges that he has opted to follow an extreme work discipline since he dropped out of Georgetown University to focus entirely on Mercor. In his own words: “We work a lot, I have worked every day for the last three years,” he told Fortunebefore clarifying that, in his opinion, “people generally become exhausted, not only by working hard, but by working hard on something that is not as satisfying or enriching for them.” With this idea, Foody is located near the logic of culture 996but reinterpreted from the passion for his own project, where the long days they are experienced as an investment in a personal vision rather than an external imposition. It stops being an obligation and becomes a passion. Foody did not always experience work in this intense and voluntary way. Before creating his own company, he describes his relationship with work as something closer to disciplinary obligation than to deep motivation. “Often they were things I didn’t enjoy doing,” he recalled when talking about his previous stage. The turn came with the creation of Mercor, when the daily task began to be perceived almost as a creative obsession linked to one’s own project and a clear vision of the impact one wanted to achieve. “Compared to when we started Mercor, it became an obsession where I can’t stop thinking about, even if I’m having dinner with my parents or whatever, it’s spinning in my head,” Foody explained, stressing that this constant mental involvement means that he doesn’t even feel the need to take a vacation. Curiously, this feeling is not new. Bill Gates described a similar feeling in the early years of Microsoft. Then he understood that rest is necessary and even productive. Seeing results motivates you to continue. One of the keys to sustaining this pace that the young founder of Mercor highlights is to verify that the hours invested generate a clear return on the project. “I think the most important thing is to always make sure I see the impact of what I do, the return on investment (ROI) of the huge amount of time I put into it,” Foody added. In short, it confirms the old saying “find a job you like and you will never work again.” However, the origin of this motivation has a scientific explanationthe short-term rewards produced by the so-called “lens gradient effect“. Obtaining quantifiable results in the short term motivates you to continue working on the project. Especially if that impact is accompanied by a fortune of 2.2 billion dollars. ‘Genzers’ demolishing clichés. Foody’s story questions the clichés about Generation Z that portray them as reluctant to do the slightest sacrifice and rejects the excessive hours at work. However, it shows that when there is a strong connection between personal purposeperceived impact and financial rewards, some young people are willing to embrace extreme models of dedication. Faced with this narrative, the implicit question remains open for the new founders who They openly embrace the culture of “996”: if they demand the same from their teams level of delivery and commitment They, perhaps, should also ask themselves why these employees are not entering the Forbes list along with the creators of the company. In Xataka | “They are much more daring”: Gen Z is overturning all labor consensus in its massive entry into work Image | Pexels, Brendan Foody

finally an AI gadget that doesn’t make me wonder why it’s not just an app

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When in Xataka They offered me to try the Plaud Note Promy reaction was predictable: “another AI gadget that can be an app.” For a couple of years we have been seeing technological gadgets that promise to change our lives thanks to AI, sometimes with terrible resultand in general being solutions in search of a problem. But the Note Pro surprised me. Not because he does magic, but precisely because he doesn’t try to do it. This design only makes sense when you have it in your hand The product photos are very deceiving with this device. On the screen it looks like any other piece of junk, just another aluminum rectangle. When you take it out of the box, the reaction is to say “how cool is this.” It is literally the size of a credit card and just 3 millimeters thick.. We are not talking about “fine to be an engraver”, but fine, period. It’s ridiculously fine. Here, next to the AirPods Pro case to size it better. Image: Xataka. The first thing you do is try to fold it, because your brain doesn’t process that something so thin can have four microphones, 64 GB of storage and battery for 30 hours of continuous recording. The brushed aluminum finish is impeccable, with the kind of quality that makes you think of Apple. And I say this as criticism and as a compliment: They are clear about who they are copying, and they do it extraordinarily well. Well, that’s ridiculously fine. And well finished. Image: Xataka. The less than one-inch AMOLED screen is a detail that seems superfluous until you use it. It is not to watch videos, but to confirm at a glance that you are recording, how much battery you have left, and if you have marked any highlight. Nothing more, nothing less. It is design with purpose, not ornamentation. The screen has its purpose beyond being an indicator of the remaining battery. Image: Xataka. The uncomfortable question: why not just use an app? This is where it gets interesting. Because yes, you have options like Otter.ai or the native recorder on your mobile with automatic transcription. They are free, or almost. They already live in your pocket. Why on earth would you want to spend $179 on a separate thing, plus a subscription that ranges from $20 a month to $250 a year? The honest answer is that for most people, it doesn’t make sense. If you record one meeting a month, use your mobile. If you need to transcribe from time to time, Otter is more than enough for you. But if you live in meetings, briefingsinterviews, calls with clients, presentations… the equation begins to change. The Note Pro frees you from cell phone dependenceand that is more valuable than it seems a priori. When you record with your cell phone, that cell phone is busy. On many occasions you cannot consult documents, take notes in parallel or respond to an urgent message. And above all, you can’t let it run out of battery just when you need it most. The Note Pro is a single function deviceand that specialization is its strength. It charges via magnetic pogo-pin connector. Image: Xataka. 🔌 Image: Xataka. The recording quality also makes a difference. The four MEMS microphones pick up voices up to five meters away with remarkable clarity, and the AI ​​processing to separate speakers works surprisingly well. In tests in meeting rooms with six people, it correctly identified each voice without the need for anyone to speak in ordered turns. Otter.ai on my mobile usually works great, but tends to mix voices if two people are talking at similar volumes. But let’s be clear: the gap is not abysmal. Modern apps also work well. The advantage of the Note Pro is cumulative, not punctual: better battery, better audio capture, a device that you can leave on the table without worrying about interrupting notifications, without anxiety in case someone calls in the middle of recording. And also, if you have an iPhone with MagSafe, there is a wallet with which you can stick the Plaud to it and even be able to record calls. The Plaud Note Pro inside your MagSafe wallet. Image: Xataka. Also here. Image: Xataka. The button highlight: small detail, big difference There is a feature that sounds trivial on paper but that in use I have found to be extraordinarily useful: the highlight. During a recording, if someone says something important, you press briefly and the system marks that moment. Not only to locate the fragment later, but for the AI ​​to prioritize that information in the summaries. Bright. I’ve tried this on long presentations and the difference is brutal. Without highlightsthe summary gives you a medley where what is important can be diluted between ramblings. With highlights strategic, the summary goes directly to the decisions, commitments, critical points. It’s an elegant way to guide AI without having to write prompts after. Kudos to whoever had this idea. The AI ​​behind it: powerful but expensive Hardware is only half of the equation. The magic happens in the Plaud app, which processes the recordings using models from Google, OpenAI or Anthropic. You can choose which model to use for each transcriptionwhich is a level of control I wasn’t expecting. When starting a transcription we can choose between automatic and personalized transcription. If we choose the second, we can even choose the model to use. And it already includes the recently released Gemini 3 (although in beta). Image: Xataka. The different views of a transcript: summary, geolocation and recognition of who the key person is (if introduced at the beginning), key points, thematic index and complete transcript. Image: Xataka. The transcription is excellent. Comparatively better than Google Meet or Zoom in my experience, although that may depend on accent and environment. What is really interesting are the summary templates: you have everything from meeting minutes to Q&A format for interviews, to class notes or … Read more

This is the 3I/ATLAS photo that NASA was accused of hijacking. Of course it doesn’t change anything

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They are the most controversial astronomical photos of the last two months. And to no one’s surprise, speculation as to why NASA had not published them was exaggerated. This is what the space agency has seen. A little context. Since the ATLAS system detected a new interstellar object crossing our neighborhood, a very specific part of the scientific community has been carefully monitoring its trajectory to detect any anomalies. Especially since cosmologist Avi Loeb suggested it could be an artificial alien object. That NASA took a month and a half to release 3I/ATLAS images taken during its approach to Mars has not helped control such speculation. But the administrative silence, caused by the US government shutdown, has come to an end. NASA is back this week with a huge amount of data under the arm. “It’s a comet.” NASA has mobilized 12 of its spacecraft to observe the visitor from outside the solar system. And the official message is forceful, almost designed to nip any exotic speculation in the bud: “it looks like a comet and behaves like a comet, and all the evidence points to it being a comet,” said Amit Kshatriya, the agency’s highest-ranking official, in a press conference. Of course, it is a different comet from those in the solar system, which suggests that it was born in an environment with a different chemistry than ours, perhaps around a star much older than the Sun, because it is unusually rich in nickel and, instead of expelling water, it expels carbon dioxide. What’s new. What makes this new observation campaign special is the geometry. When 3I/ATLAS passed its closest point to the Sun in late October, Earth was on the “wrong side,” with the Sun blocking our direct view. Taking advantage of the fact that Mars had a privileged view, NASA forced the instruments of its ships beyond their original design. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured high-resolution images from 30 million kilometers away. The MAVEN mission analyzed its ultraviolet composition and the Perseverance rover, from the Martian surface, managed to capture a faint flash of the comet. Meanwhile, the Psyche and Lucy spacecraft, traveling to distant asteroids, managed to capture the comet against the light, revealing details of its tail and coma that would be invisible from Earth. And the SOHO and STEREO solar observatories followed suit when it was too close to the Sun for other telescopes. What does Loeb say? The controversial Harvard astrophysicist and techno-signature hunter has published an immediate response showing his disappointment. For Loeb, the NASA press conference has been an exercise in bureaucracy to confirm the “expected and boring.” His main arguments for maintaining skepticism are: The striking thing about the mass: 3I/ATLAS is a million times more massive than ‘Oumuamua. Statistically, we should have seen millions of small objects before seeing one this big, unless it was intentionally “sent”, according to the cosmologist. The camouflage theory: Loeb argues that an interstellar probe that has traveled through the cold interstellar medium could have accumulated a layer of ice and dust on its surface. As it approaches the Sun, this layer would sublimate, making it look like a natural comet. The resolution of the images: The photos shown by NASA are blurry (due to the limitations of the probes), so Loeb is pinning his hopes on images taken by amateur astronomers as the comet approaches Earth. And now what. NASA has not found any technosignatures: no radio signals, no impossible maneuvers outside of gravity, nothing that indicates intelligence on this comet. However, the show is not over. On December 19, 2025, 3I/ATLAS will have its closest approach to Earth (about 270 million kilometers). It will be then when the James Webb space telescope and the large terrestrial observatories will be able to perform the definitive autopsy. Image | POT In Xataka | 3I/ATLAS shows signs of non-gravitational acceleration: something has pushed it, and we think we know what

It doesn’t matter if you are looking for an iPad or a Galaxy Tab

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Now that we are in Black Fridaythere are many of us who set out to look for offers and bargains of all kinds. One of the devices that can give us the most versatility today is a tablet, ideal for both working and studying, watching a movie on the couch or even playing. There are offers, yes, but we cannot lose sight of the refurbished tabletsespecially those of Back Market. This store offers us a huge catalog of tablets, all refurbished by professionals, with 24 months warranty and with a period of 30 days where we can try them and return them if they do not convince us. There is a lot to choose from, but below we leave you a selection of some very interesting examples: iPad Air (2025) by 498 eurosa very interesting option if we are looking for a powerful and balanced device. Galaxy Tab S10 FE by 493.49 eurosa tablet that meets the grade in terms of quality-price ratio. iPad Pro (2024) by 850 eurospowerful and with one of the best tablet screens there is. Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra by 832 eurosone of the best tablets with Android operating system that we can buy. iPad Air (2025) We start this selection of refurbished tablets with the iPad Air with M3 chip. Taking into account how difficult it is to find Apple devices on sale and at a good price (even on Black Friday), this refurbished model is presented as a great option for all those users looking to spend as little money as possible without giving up having a current and powerful device. We have it available for 498 euros. This 11-inch version of the iPad uses an IPS Liquid Retina panel with 2,360 x 1,640 pixel resolution and True Tone technology. By using, as we have said before, the M3 chip, it is more than guaranteed that we will have great performance. It is a very comfortable device to use and has one of the best autonomy that we can find for this type of tablets. iPad Air (2025, M3 series) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Galaxy Tab S10 FE What if we look for a similar option within Android tablets? There stands out a lot the Galaxy Tab S10 FE. This device, as with all Samsung Fan Editions, is a high-end device that makes some concessions to reduce its price. It arrived in stores at around 800 euros in its cheapest version, but it is difficult to find it at as good a price as this reconditioned one: it goes for 493.49 euros. This Samsung tablet has a 13.1-inch screen with a 90 Hz refresh rate and an Exynos 1580 chip, which offers quite remarkable performance. It arrived in stores with seven years of guaranteed updates, so it is a device that will last us for years. Its battery is 10,090 mAh and it comes with the S-Pen as standard, which gives it a lot of versatility. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links iPad Pro (2024) We now change to iPad Pro 2024. It is true that the same already has a successorbut we cannot ignore two things: Apple devices age very well and betting on a previous generation is always cheaper. Taking all this into account, this refurbished device is presented as a great option to renew a tablet for demanding users: it comes out 850 euros. This device, which, remember, is 13 inches, stands out for its OLED screen with a peak brightness of 1,600 nits and an anti-reflective layer that is ideal if we are going to use it in a brightly lit room or outdoors. At the power level we will not have any type of problem even in the most demanding tasks thanks to its M4 chip, which makes it perfect for working. Its sound section also stands out, making it ideal for playing multimedia content. iPad Pro (2024, M4 series) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra We close this selection of reconditioned tablets with another from Samsung, in this case the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. It is a great option if we are looking for an Android device that offers us a good screen, good power and versatility. It also has a successoralthough the same thing happens as with the previous iPad: if we are looking to spend less, the previous generation is more attractive. In Back Market, go out 832 euros. It is a device that comes with a large 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate, making it a very interesting option for gaming. It uses a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chip and has 12 GB of RAM, a top combination if we are looking for notable performance. It comes with the S-Pen included and its battery is 11,200 mAh, so we will have good autonomy. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Xataka, Apple, Samsung In Xataka | Best tablets (2025). Which one to buy and 8 recommended models for all pockets and needs In Xataka | Best tablets in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and recommended models

Yes, next year I am going to carry the V-16 beacon because they force me to. It doesn’t even occur to me to throw away the triangles

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January 1, 2026 we will say goodbye to the triangles. Or maybe I would have to say that “we should say goodbye to triangles.” Because that is what the DGT wants. Traffic has decided that in just over two months, the V-16 beacon will be the one that signals breakdowns or accidents that occur on the road. And by the way, it prohibits the use of triangles. And I will say that, when I need them, I will continue using them. It’s not a tantrum. It is not a question of simple rebellion because I have to spend 30, 40 or 50 euros on a new accessory for my car. It is as simple a question as deciding what is best for my safety, that of my passengers and that of my car. A good (but improvable) idea I am not one of those who rant about the V-16 light for the simple fact that the DGT forces us to spend money on a new accessory for our car. I think it has its good parts but I also think it has some things that could be very improved. And, above all, I don’t understand why both devices cannot be combined. According to the DGT, we are experiencing a kind of epidemic of abuses when it comes to put emergency triangles in our country. Well, there are reasons to be skeptical. Between the years 2018 and 2022 (that is, a period that includes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic), an annual average of between 18 and 26 people died in accidents “after getting off the vehicle” on high-capacity roads, as reflected in the document itself which explains why the regulations and technical requirements of this connected V-16 beacon are changed. The DGT highlights the year 2019, the year in which 58 pedestrians lost their lives on high-capacity roads, of which 18 people were run over “after getting off the vehicle” by a particular group. In those five years, there were 108 pedestrian deaths on our roads that can be classified in that particular group. According to data collected by Statista8,615 people died on our roads between 2018 and 2022. That is, 1.25% of those killed on Spanish roads died from a collision under these circumstances. But the most problematic thing about the matter is that these very particular circumstances do not reflect the abuses that occurred while a person placed a triangle. Are you looking for that number? The DGT does not offer it. It talks about accidents on high-capacity roads but does not pay attention to the number of accidents when putting the triangles. That is, the organization is putting a patch on a problem for which we do not have clear or verifiable data. Yet, I break a spear for of the connected V-16 beacon. It seems like a good idea to have a system in the car that warns of an obstacle on the road and that can be installed on the roof of our car without having to get out of the vehicle. And all this despite the fact that it is already mandatory to start the car flashing. It also doesn’t seem like a bad idea to me that the beacon connects with the DGT in its platform 3.0 and so from Traffic they can give notice through the road panels that there is an obstacle on the road. Of course, notifying the emergency services is the responsibility of the driver and passengers. It would be appreciated if, since there is connectivity with DGT 3.0, Traffic would study fluid communication with these emergency services. Not to mention that in all new cars sold there is already the function eCall to sound the first alarm. I will continue wearing the triangles That said, I will continue to carry emergency triangles in my car. And I threaten to use them! (Insert image of Abraham Simpson yelling at the clouds here) No jokes. I have already seen the V-16 beacon in operation connected to the DGT in operation and I am sorry to say that its visibility level during the day and in good light tends to zero. I fully agree with what A few days ago José Lagunar expressedroad safety expert Auto FMin the article in which we asked three voices to give us their opinion. In broad daylight, the differences between setting the DGT V-16 beacon and activating the car’s flashing are: none. In fact, it should give us a clue about this that Netun Solutions, the creators of the invention and the first beacon approved by the DGT, are already selling us “more powerful” lights than the minimum required by Traffic. Will I put the beacon on the roof of my car? Well yes, because it is of no use to me to buy it and carry it in the glove compartment. Furthermore, the connection with DGT 3.0 to alert by the lights is welcome. But I will also put the triangles. With great care and with all the caution in the world but I consider that it improves visibility in case of breakdown. And we’re talking about a highway in broad daylight. But, What happens on a secondary road with a sharp curve? And with a pronounced change in gradient? Not putting emergency triangles in those situations, especially during the day where the light beam from the V-16 beacon is diluted, seems at least dangerous to me. In those cases, it is essential for me to place the emergency triangles. I am firmly in favor of the fact that both systems can coexist. The connected V-16 light doesn’t seem like a bad invention to me. At night, for example, the visibility of the triangles improves and even in a secondary vehicle in the above conditions it is likely to alert the rest of the vehicles sooner than the triangles. But if you use a battery, you are only forced to run it for 30 minutes. What happens if I am left stranded with … Read more

When turning 100 doesn’t mean retiring

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For much of this year, Japan has been revealing situations that revealed the extreme situation derived from aging of its population. In fact, the need of many elderly people to continue working after retirement had become the “rent” of grandmothers in a new symbol of the times. The same thing happened with many jobs. that they are going to lose due to lack of young hand. But there is also another side: that of reaching 100 years celebrating it with work. Longevity as a vocation. I was telling it on the weekend the new york times. Japan, country with a centenary population largest in the worldlives a demographic paradox: while its birth rate sinks and the proportion of young people is reduced, an extraordinarily long-lived generation of elderly defies retirement. More than 100,000 people exceed one hundred yearsand among them there is a common thread that goes beyond genetics or diet: work as a reason for being. In a country where a sense of duty and discipline permeate daily life, these centenarians do not conceive of old age as a retirement, but as the natural extension of a useful existence. Their longevity, they say, is born from the balance between an active body, a busy mind and a purpose that does not extinguish. The mechanic that doesn’t close. One of the most palpable cases is 103 years old. Seiichi Ishii He continues fixing bicycles in the same Tokyo neighborhood where he started as an apprentice as a child. His hunched figure under a too-long blue jumpsuit sums up an ethic: that of the artisan who is not measured by age, but by the need to continue doing. The man repairs screws with trembling hands, makes his own miso, sings karaoke and rides a tricycle to his favorite bar, but above all he refuses to leave the job that gives meaning to your days. Your workshop is your world and, as he says calmly, “if I die here, I will die happy.” In a technical JapanIshii represents the persistence of the intimate relationship between manual labor and personal dignity. The cook The Times also remembered the story by Fuku Amakawa102 years old, who it’s been six decades in charge of the family restaurant where he mixes noodles, broth and chives with the naturalness of someone who has not lost the rhythm of work life. The heat of the steam has kept his skin smooth and his spirit strong. She continues to work five or six days a week, convinced that her body remains strong thanks to the routine of effort. Her restaurant, opened with her husband and supported today by her children, has become a domestic temple of perseverance. When the muscle pain scared her, she thought it was her heart. The doctor explained that it was just a consequence of lifting heavy pots. For her, continuing in the kitchen is not resistance: it is gratitude for being able to do it. Cultivating memory. Masafumi Matsuo101 years old, grows rice, eggplants and cucumbers in the mountains of Oita. He works in the sun with measured breaks, sitting on a plastic stool, and brings offerings of rice to the small chapel where he honors his deceased wife. Cancer and covid survivor, clings to the earth like a form of continuity: To till the field is to maintain the link with his past, with his family and with the natural cycle that taught him to resist. He plays with his great-grandson, watches the grasshoppers jump from his heating table and finds in everyday life the serenity of someone who has learned that working is, literally, continuing to breathe. Selling beauty. At 102 years old, Tomoko Horino continue selling cosmeticsas she has been doing since she was 39, when she decided to challenge social conventions that prohibited married women from working. With three children and a reluctant husband, Horino turned her aesthetic intuition into sustenance and pride. Today, widowed and alone, she makes her sales by telephone, sews, feeds the neighborhood cat and continues to feel the same emotion when listening to a client regain her self-esteem. In his story The change of the Japanese woman and the validity of work as a personal affirmation are intertwined: each conversation, each shade of lipstick sold is an act of vital continuity. The narrator. Tomeyo Ono101 years old, sits on a cushion and recites traditional stories (minwa) with an energy that belies his age. She began telling stories in her seventies, in a society where girls of her time did not dream of having a public voice. Since the 2011 tsunami devastated his house in Fukushima, he has mixed old legends with memories of the disasterconvinced that narrating is preserving the memory of those who left. He eats natto between bread, writes his diary, laughs, cries and says he only dreams of the dead. His mission, he says, is to keep talking until he can meet with them. Work is life. If you will, the example of these five portraits condenses a vision of Japan that survives beyond its demographic crisis: that of a society where work is not only a means of subsistence, but moral affirmation and emotional continuity. In all of them, activity maintains health, protects from loneliness and gives purpose. No one idealizes fatigue, but everyone assumes it as a companion. Contrary to the stereotype of the golden retirement, these centenarians embody a form different from fullness: that of the repeated gesture that sustains identity. In a country where the elderly already surpass in spades To young people, his example is not a curiosity, but rather a response: to continue working, in Japan, is to continue being. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | Jeans from Japan have become a luxury good. The problem is that he is running out of hands to knit them. In Xataka | That Japan has 100,000 people over 100 years old explains a problem: they are literally running out of drivers.

Silicon Valley doesn’t know what to do with so many unemployed engineers. Spain does not know where to get what it needs

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The global technology sector has been facing a kind of roller coaster very conditioned by AIin which while in some corners of the planet there is a commitment to destroying employment in this sector, in other countries it is created at a frenetic pace and even a scenario of staff shortage skilled. Since mid-2022, Silicon Valley has not stopped destroy technological jobs. On the other hand, in Spain the trend is just the opposite, and this sector has not stopped growing at a notable rate, being the exception among advanced economies. Global downward trends. A recent analysis by economist Brendon Bernard for the employment platform Indeed in Canada confirms that job offers in technology have slowed down in countries like the US and Canada. This change occurs after a crisis caused mainly by the pandemic and the collapse of the metaverse, which caused rounds of massive layoffs in large technology companies and drastic cuts between 2022 and mid-2023. The appearance of ChatGPT and the AI ​​fever managed to stop the downward trend in the sector’s offers, but the initial boost that AI seemed to give has stalled and technological employment in the world has not recovered its 2022 levels. Spain follows its own path. As and how they stand out in The Economistamong all this downward trend in technological employment in advanced economies, one stands out that marks a totally opposite path: Spain. Bernard’s study highlights that, while large advanced economies such as the United States (-34%), the United Kingdom (-41%), France (-38%) and Germany (-29%) reduce the number of technological job offers compared to their pre-pandemic levels, countries such as Singapore, Spain and Australia draw a graph in the opposite direction, creating new job offers at a double-digit rate. Technological employment in Spain. In Spain, technological employment is growing rapidly. According to data According to the Cotec Foundation for Innovation, 494,000 new positions have been created in technological activities since 2013, of which approximately half (about 240,000) have been generated after 2020. The weight of technological employment over total employment is especially high in communities such as Madrid (10.5%), Navarra (10%) and Catalonia (9%). On the other hand, regions such as the Balearic Islands (2.7%) or the Canary Islands (2.2%) have a lower concentration of technological job offers. Lots of supply, but much more demand. In fact, the rebound in the Spanish technology sector faces a serious challenge: staff shortages. According to the report HR Trends 2024‘ prepared by Randstad, more than 30% of companies reported difficulties in finding qualified talent in digital areas, which causes certain positions to take months to fill. This generates tensions in the technological labor market and increases competition by the professionals available. The Cotec Foundation report indicates that the growth in technological employment is based largely on programming, consulting and computing, which account for nearly 80% of the employment generated since 2020. To give a concrete example, Randstad data indicates that, during the third quarter of 2024, employment among programmers in Spain registered an increase of 16.4%. Demand reaches universities. According to the report’The Future of Talent in Artificial Intelligence and Data in Spain‘ prepared by INDESIA, in 2023 5,000 job offers in AI and data science were left unfilled per lack of trained candidates. The education system can only train about 6,000 new professionals annually in these areas, while demand is increasing. Núria Ávalos, general director of INDESIA, explained to The Country that “many grades are now emerging, but until these people are in a position to take on positions such as a data architect there are a few years left”, which exacerbates the gap between supply and demand. In response, companies and universities are exploring joint training models, where companies themselves become training centers to urgently cover this need for qualified talent. What AI gives you, AI takes away. Despite the good figures for technological employment in Spain, it is inevitable to observe the United States labor market as a canary in the mine that reveals where the trends in the futureand has already begun to give the first signs. While it is true that the arrival of AI stopped the decline in employment, as AI gains skills in programming and basic tasks, it is also promoting job automationwhich reduces the number of necessary technological employees, especially among those who just begin their working career. We are seeing a clear example in the latest layoffs from large technology companies, where not only are “accessory” positions for an approach whose objective is the development of AI, but engineers who until now are being fired they were developing that AI. In Xataka | Big Tech doesn’t stop firing its engineers. At the same time, they have stepped on the accelerator in hiring Image | Unsplash (Fatemeh Rezvani)

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