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Why does your refrigerator dry out food and when is it worth buying a ‘low frost’ one?

March 8, 2026 by usatoday24

Nowadays most refrigerators are “No Frost”, but… what does this really mean? Perhaps what you have heard the most is that they do not make frost, but they also have other peculiarities with respect to the more traditional models. For this same reason, today we are going to review the differences between both types of refrigeratorswith the advantages and disadvantages in each case. How a No Frost refrigerator works No Frost refrigerators use fans that constantly remove the coldwhich prevents water vapor from condensing on its walls. Since there is a constant, dry air flow, moisture does not accumulate in the form of ice, which prevents us from having to remove it ourselves. In addition, many models have a system that allows you to eliminate small traces of ice if they appear. This No Frost system has some especially interesting advantages beyond not forming frost. By having a constant air flow, this cold air reaches all corners of the refrigerator equally, homogeneously, which allows all foods to be preserved better for longer. Now, it’s not all advantages. When using a No Frost refrigerator, it is advisable that we take into account that your air system is dryand by reaching all corners evenly it can dry out food, especially fresh items such as fruit, sausages or vegetables. We must also pay special attention to another point: No Frost refrigerators consume a little more because they have a resistance that heats up to melt the ice automatically. For this reason, we recommend looking at the annual consumption in kWh, and not only at the letter of energy efficiency. How a cycle refrigerator works Cyclic refrigerators (also called Low Frost either Less Frost by some brands) are the traditional ones, the traditional ones. They work through a refrigerant gas that travels throughout its circuit until it reaches the desired temperature, at which point the air flow stops. It does not work using fans, so they can generate less noise than No Frost. As the cold of these refrigerators is humid and they do not have a fan that constantly stirs the air, plaques of frost can form on the walls, which forces us to remove them manually so as not to compromise their efficiency and durability. Additionally, if too much frost forms, the refrigerator motor may have to work harder, which means possible increase in electricity bill. The good thing about these refrigerators is that by having a system that generates humid cold, food is usually better hydrated, preserving it better for longer. This occurs especially in fresh foods such as vegetables, which hold up better without drying out. The good of both worlds We can also find refrigerators that bring together the best of both worlds: hybrid refrigerators. In this case, they come with both systems, but separate: the No Frost system in the freezer and the cyclic system in the refrigerator. This prevents frost from forming in the freezer and allows the fresh food in the refrigerator to stay moist for longer. In other words: mixed models come with a No Frost freezer which prevents us from having to chip away at the ice that forms every so often and they also have a cyclical or dynamic refrigerator that prevent fresh foods, such as lettuce, from drying out. The good and the bad of both options, face to face No Frost Cyclic (traditional) THE GOOD 🟢 You do not need to remove the ice manually, the temperature is more homogeneous on all shelves and the food tends to cool faster thanks to the fan air system. They keep food fresh for longer and are usually quieter and cheaper. THE BAD 🔴 Their dry air can dry out fresh foods and they tend to be noisier due to the operation of the fan. Plus, they tend to be more expensive. They can form frost on your walls and can cause uneven temperatures on different shelves. Ideal for: Storing a lot of food in the freezer without the ice blocking the drawers or for families that open and close the freezer constantly, thus recovering the optimal temperature in a short time. Eat a lot of fruits or vegetables without losing moisture in a short time or if you want a refrigerator that makes little noise. We do the math to see which one can compensate you more. Each of the refrigerators has its advantages or disadvantages, so to see everything much clearer we are going to give a couple of practical examples. If you are looking for a refrigerator that allows you to use it without further ado, without worrying about removing frost every few months, a refrigerator with a No Frost system will compensate you much more. Actual use: Let’s say you usually freeze a lot of food. The accounts: No Frost refrigerators allow you to better recover the temperature by opening and closing the freezer many times. In addition, you avoid emptying it to defrost the ice every few months. So? It is a choice that lies in both the comfort and the usefulness of the freezer: fresh foods dry out more, but in exchange we have a freezer that better maintains its ideal temperature. If you opt for these refrigerators, at least have one or more drawers with humidity control, generally called VitaFresh or BioFresh. Although there are fewer of them in stores today, refrigerators that are cycled or have a traditional system can be very attractive, both for the preservation of certain foods and for other characteristics. Actual use: You don’t usually freeze a lot of food and you usually eat a lot of it fresh. The accounts: Having a cycle refrigerator allows fresh food to last better. In addition, by not using a fan constantly, they tend to make less noise. So? It is ideal if you consume more fresh foods than frozen foods or if you have the refrigerator next to, for example, the living room and you are looking for as little noise as possible. … Read more

that China loses the AI race, but wins the economic war by bleeding them dry

December 16, 2025 by usatoday24

The AI race has two main players, but their bets are very different. While the United States has already spent $350 billion in AI (and plan to spend much more), China has only invested 100,000 million. Silicon Valley optimists start from the belief that AI will radically change the world and whoever masters AI will dominate the future. And if not? As they say in financial times, The United States could win this battle, but lose the economic war. USA. You have put all your eggs in the same basket. Exorbitant investments are guided by the belief that AI will change the world as we know it, that AGI will make humans finally stop working. It is an epic speech in which AI is presented to us as a kind of messiah that will save the world, one that completely ignores the alternative: that AI is a great technological leap, yes, but neither so revolutionary nor, above all, such a great business. And it’s not just a technology thing, investors are absorbed in the same obsession. China. In 2017, China announced the “Development Plan for a New Generation of Artificial Intelligence” in which they defined AI as a strategic technology. For China, AI is a national priority, but its approach is more pragmatic and much less speculative. You just have to look at their AI models, like DeepSeek, effective but very far from the very expensive ‘frontier models’ in which the US is investing. His vision for AI is not so much to transform the world, but rather to function as a tool to be even more efficient in different processes. a few months ago They announced the “AI+” planwhere they detailed the deployment of AI in six sectors: scientific and technological development, industrial applications, consumer services, public welfare, governance and security, and international collaborations. The AI war. We always hear the idea of this stark battle to dominate AI from the American side. In many cases, the AI war, like AGI, is another point of pressure for Silicon Valley to justify the tremendous expense or achieve its objectives. We have seen it recently with Jensen Huang pushing for the government to let him sell his chips in China and his argument revolved around the idea that China will achieve technological independence and then win the AI war. The paradox for the United States is that its own invention is benefiting its enemy. The AI war also functions as a pressure point for China: forcing the US to mortgage its economy to the technology they consider the future, while they overtake them in everything else. The economic war. The United States is betting everything on a single winning horse, while China has not stopped investing to ensure its dominance in other key sectors, such as electric cars, batteries, robotics and, above all, renewable energy. For China there are many futures, for the US only one. The commitment to diversification is going well. In 2024 China already manufactured 76% of electric cars sold worldwide and 80% of all lithium batteries. They are also the country with more industrial robot installationswhich gives them an advantage to continue being the factory of the world. There is much more, they are also undisputed leaders in other sectors such as the manufacture of drones, solar panels, high-speed trains and graphene. China’s AI is energy. China carries years investing in clean energy. According to Carbon Brief reportIn 2024 alone, China invested $940 billion, and it is not the year it spent the most. The curious thing is that energy is key for many sectors, especially AI. The United States knows this well and has already encountered a wall: They don’t have power for so many chips. Not only is China producing more energy, it is also is subsidizing it. Jensen Huang warned about this situation, ensuring that “China is going to win the AI race” thanks to the government’s energy aid. Trump, for his part, has discouraged renewable energies and the electric car industry. In the end it will turn out that, for the United States, it is AI to win or nothing to win. Image | Gemini In Xataka | China already has an army of 5.8 million engineers. His new plan involves accelerating doctorates

In Madrid there are 24 tons of Canarian volcanic sand giving tumbos. So they will become a “dry garden”

July 29, 2025 by usatoday24

Every summer has its informative soap opera. That is no novelty. What is less common is that, As is happening In La Palma, a few sacks of sand star. It sounds strange, but after all it is the history of the 24 tons of volcanic sand that in May 1,800 kilometers traveled to value the Canarian culture and then ended up abandoned. From the case we already talk to you A few weeks ago. Now we finally know its conclusion, which is no less surprising. Volcanic sand … and traveling. A few months ago, in May, the Canary Authorities had a peculiar idea: they collected more than 20 tons of sand from Tajogaite volcano (La Palma), prepared it and put it in large bags and then uploaded it aboard a ship that transferred it to Cádiz, from where she traveled again on board trucks to Madrid. It took several days to cover the entire journey. Once in the capital they opened the sacks and scattered those blackish grains in the middle of Callao, drawing a huge, dark and bright circle. And all that, for what? To value the Canarian struggle, a popular sport on the islands, but that many do not know in the Peninsula. Coinciding with the Month of the Canary Islands, on May 17 the outdoor playing field was prepared in the Plaza de Callao and everything arranged so that two of the teams with the most footprint in the islands, the Saladar of Jandía and the Candelaria de Mirca, dispute in Madrid one of the most emblematic days of the DISA Government of the Canary Islands. As was in charge of emphasizing The regional government was the first time in the very extensive history of the island sport in which an official fighting day was held in the center of Madrid. But even so, to give it more epic, they decided that the fighters were measured on authentic volcanic land of La Palma. Hence the whole logistics deployment of sacks, permits, ship, trucks and crane. First stop: Callao Square. The experience was a success. In addition to the Arena, in Callao, stands were installed and the appointment attracted a nourished audience that included some authorities, such as the island president, Fernando Clavijo. “Fighting about the sand with which so many palm trees continue to fight to get ahead was a spectacular moment. We were recorded in memory,” Recognize in The Spanish newspaper (EPE) Lorena Hernández, general director of native sports of the regional government. At first, the sand, he remembers, sounded like “crazy”, but the idea went ahead for his “romanticism.” And what do I do with all this sand? That was the next question. Once the competition is over and the experience is over the next question was what to do with those 24 tons (some versions speak of 20) expelled in their day by the Tajogaipe volcano. They could take the way back to the palm. Or they could stay in Madrid as a gift, which was the idea that ended up. There were those who thought that the grains would be divinely in the Madrid volleyball pigs and for that purpose they reserved, but there was a problem: the sand was heated too much, so it was not a good idea to dedicate it to that end. Second stop: Torrelodones. The history of those volcanic sands ended A report With a suggestive headline: “Without a trace of the 24 tons of sand from the palm volcano that Canary Islands gave to Madrid for beach volleyball fields.” The newspaper said that the Consistory had no evidence that they went to dedicate volleyball sand to its volleyball fields. Apparently the material was lost track. The mystery did not last little. A day later the same medium revealed That the sand of discord was actually in a Torrelodones warehouse, where they accumulated dust waiting for the City Council to ultimately accept the sacks formally and look for a new use. Discarded the Volleyball fields and without short -term plans that the Canarian struggle was to take root in Madrid, then it was pointed out to be given a third use: environmental. Third stop: “Dry Garden”. The story seemed to conclude there, but EPE He has just contributed A new fact that (at least apparently) puts the end to the soap opera of volcanic sand, at least for the moment: instead of allocating sports clues, the sand will be dedicated to gardens. And not any kind. There is talk of “dry gardens.” One of the ideas on the table is to create a garden with low water consumption species and a typology similar to those that exist in the Canary Islands. Another option is to use it in other green spaces to take advantage of the properties of the material, of porous structure, good for drainage and that prevents the land from flooding. “It is a high material in minerals, in the Canary Islands it has worked wonderfully. If the sand can have a second use and create a green space with the sand of the palm, it will be wonderful,” Recognize Hernández. Why does it take so long? Simple: bureaucracy. The Cabildo had already prepared a document with the details of the donation, but now it is time to modify it: instead of allocating the sand to sports uses, it will be dedicated to the parks and gardens of Madrid. “Being a donation between public institutions, it requires a lot of paperwork. With this, we believe that we can put an end to management in one or two weeks,” they explain to EPE after specifying that a few days ago new documentation was requested. While the procedures advance in the offices, in the Torrelodones ship follows the one that is probably the most traveling sand in the history of the palm. Images | The Government of the Canary Islands (X) In Xataka | The Canary Islands have seven islands, but only one has escaped from the … Read more

Drought is a real threat after an extremely warm, and also dry June

July 10, 2025 by usatoday24

The month of June has been the warmest since we have records, as confirmed by the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet). Perhaps more striking is the fact that, despite successive storms interspersed among the warm episodes, the first summer month of 2025 has been drier than average. Warm and dry. Aemet has published Your meteorological summary of the month of June. In this confirm something that we already sensed: last month it was extremely warm, with an average thermal anomaly of 3.6º Celsius above what would be common at this time. It has also been drier than usual, with 68% of the rainfall that would be expected from the sixth month of the year. 23.7º. According to the published summary, the average temperature during the month of June was 23.7º in the Peninsula, which implies the aforementioned anomaly. June 2025 has become the hottest in the historical series for a wide difference: 0.9º above the previous record, marked in 2017. The Balearic Islands also saw a month “extremely warm”, with an average 3.1º above the average. The Canary Islands however remained in a somewhat less extreme record: with an anomaly of 0.7º, its June was listed as “very warm.” Returning to the Peninsula, in some areas of the northeast thermal anomaly in this month exceeds 4.5º. Lack of water. The Meteorological Summary Results With regard to heat they are expected, but there is another important detail and is referring to rainfall. Last month it was also drier than usual in peninsular Spain, with average rainfall of 21.7 mm, more than 30% below the average June. This can be striking if we take into account the various stormy episodes seen throughout the month. These storms were interspersed, serving as relief among the successive warm episodes that occurred during the month. Balearic Islands, with hardly any water. But the most extreme case was not that of peninsular Spain but the one lived in the Balearic Islands. In the Mediterranean archipelago, rainfall fell about 99% compared to the average. During the past month the archipelago received only 0.1 mm of rain. Without reaching such an extreme, the Canary Islands also experienced a dry month: 0.7 mm, 27% of what would be conventional in June. In the peninsula some isolated areas saw rainfall higher than average, especially in the northern plateau and in the Ebro valley. Change in the trend? Between the past fall and the last spring, the high rainfall managed to get a good part of the country out of the drought situation in which it was. Swamps and reservoirs before under minimums saw their volume of water significantly grow. Great news that was welcomed with a certain degree of skepticism after more than a year of drought. June is not the first month dry than usual we see in the last year, but the less a reminder that the hydrological bonanza era will not be eternal and that we must prepare for when the drought prevails again. In Xataka | “Clouds of fire”, the phenomenon that makes escape from sixth generation fires can make it impossible Image | Aemet

This is how the capital of Spain wants to become the capital of the dry fruit

March 9, 2025 by usatoday24

Seven years. Remember that figure because it will be key. For now, let’s talk about the great agricultural boom in recent years: the pistachio. Because yes, it is not only a “gastronomic fashion”, it is also an agro -productive trend that Spain has become The fourth country with more hectares. Until now the stain has been the great pistache power, but Madrid wants to dispute it. What does a plant like you in a place like this? The history of the Spanish pistachio is very curious: we know that the pistachios arrived in Spain in the Roman Empire, prospered during the Middle Ages (references can be found In the works of San Isidoro and in the Andalusian manuals) And then, simply, they disappeared. As explained by Pablo García Estringanaresearcher at the Madrid Institute for Rural, Agrarian and Food Research and Development (IMIDRA), “in the 70s and 80s there were attempts to reintroduce it in Catalonia and Aragon, but they did not work.” We had to wait at the end of the 80s, when “two other essays began, one in Castilla-La Mancha and another in Antequera, in the province of Malaga, the result of which it was seen that it could be a promising crop.” It was not a simple path. José Francisco Couceiro began cultivating pistachios in the “El Chaparrillo” Agro -Environmental Center from Ciudad Real in 1987. It took 10 years only to dominate the crop and that the site was ideal. The pistachio tree asks Warm climates, low humidity and many hours of cold to fruit. There, right there, is where Madrid enters. Because, although the pistachio has grown especially in the stain (where “The hectares have multiplied almost 16 in the last decade“), Nothing prevented other communities from betting on it. It is what they have done from the capital. And they have done something late, in fact. Because the IMIDRA began working with these trees in 1999 and since 2001 has been trying to introduce it to the province. But only in recent years the situation has exploded: in 2020 there were about 400 hectares of pistachio in the region, today they have multiplied almost four to 1,700. Moreover, As Victor Rodríguez points out rightly“Only in the last year, in fact, they have doubled with respect to the around 800 at the end of 2023”. The golden egg tree … And, on paper, the pistachio is the great fashion product: with an average of 6.5 euros per kilo, it is not for less. There is still much to unseat Castilla La Mancha, but Madrid farmers are determined to try. In fact, the pistachio has just overcome the almond tree in planted hectares. Especially in the Las Vegas region. And this has done nothing but start. … but with a huge ‘but’. Since the first guns are planted and until the first harvest occurs, seven years pass. That is, the product is more profitable than normal, but it is not easy to take a production plantation. As explained in the newspaper of Spain“an initial investment of about 5,000 or 6,000 euros per hectare and annual expenses of between 1,500 and 1,800 euros per hectare” is needed. That is what is changing the rules of the game. Because the sunk cost of all this is huge. And although the demand remains superior to the supply, nobody knows what will happen exactly within ten years. It is not uncommon for the imidra trate to shorten the timesbut that is just part of the problem. We are seeing how olive groves, Limoneros either bananas They cross enormous problems due to lack of demand. How many pistachios are enough? What will happen when we reach that limit? What will happen to all those who in the midst of their “seven years in the desert”? Image | Dall · e In Xataka | The most coveted merchandise in the black market is no longer the paladium or gold. They are the pistachios

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