earth

NASA shows the real appearance of the Earth according to gravity… and it is deformed

by

This July, NASA has made public on its website an interactive and updated image in the way that gravity would give our planet and the result has not left anyone indifferent. The simulation not only moves away from the idealized myth of the perfect, blue sphere, but also goes far beyond what we learned in school about the sphere flattened by the poles. According to this three-dimensional representation from the US space agency, the Earth’s shape has giant lumps and dips and is not uniform at all. And we owe it all to gravity. The geoid. What this NASA simulation shows is an irregular structure with enormous elevations and depressions, similar to a “potato”which is called geoid. This concept is a 3D mathematical model which serves as a reference surface to measure the elevations of the surface of our planet and the intensity of the forces of gravity according to the variations in the Earth’s mass. NASA defines it as an equipotential surface of the Earth’s gravitational field and, therefore, the reference of zero lift. The secret is in the water… To better understand this geoid, we must imagine the effect that gravity would have on the oceans and the enormous masses of earth water if the wind, waves, tides and currents did not exist. That is, if water, which covers 71% of our surfacewas completely still – something only possible in a simulation like this. …and also in gravity. Our planet is a very rugged celestial body whose mass is unevenly distributed. Those variations in density in the Earth’s mantle, such as mountain ranges on one side or valleys and places like the anomaly of the Indian Ocean “hole” in the other, they affect natural forces. They do it by producing changes in the gravitational field attracting water with greater or lesser intensity and causing those prominences and basins that NASA now shows us. Iceland and India, the two extremes. In order to show these differences on the surface, the scientists who designed this image of the geoid have exaggerated its vertical scale. between 7,000 and 10,000 times relative to zero elevationas explained by Heraldo USA. They do it this way because the variations are not appreciated in reality, since they only reach a few tens of meters on a planet whose radius exceeds 6,300 kilometers. The American media reports that, in this way, they have been able to verify that the point with the highest elevation is in Iceland, where the surface would rise more than 80 meters above the zero level. At the other extreme, southern India would sink about 106 meters below the same reference. More than 15 years of data collected by satellite. The development of this fascinating model has been possible thanks to the observation work that 19 space satellites have carried out over 15 years. Among them, according to the NASA website, are the Grace space mission from NASA or GOCE European satellite. Image | POT In Xataka | The paradox of artificial gravity: Einstein told us how to do it, engineering tells us it is almost impossible

remove 300,000 m3 of earth and build a tunnel under the M-40

by

Line 10 of the Madrid Metro is one of the most important lines in the entire network. According to data from 2024the last available, in this line there were almost 84 million users. Only Lines 1 and 6 surpassed the fastest connection between the southern part of the city and the north or its financial area. Although aesthetically it seems one of the most modern lines of the capital, the truth is that its origin dates back to the 60s when it was even managed by a private company called Carabanchel Suburban Railway. At that time, the route was a mix of what is known today as Line 5 and 10. In the 80s, however, the Metro network absorbed the company and it was then that part of the route was renamed with the current numbering, when the connection between Plaza de España (where the original line ended) and Alonso Martínez (then last stop on line 10) was confirmed. The next 20 years were a revolution for transport in the south of Madrid. First with the connection with line 6 in Príncipe Pío, recovering the old North Station to turn it into one of the great nerve centers of the south. And, later, with the arrival of MetroSur and the connection with line 10. And in the 90s, the section between Casa de Campo and Aluche began to connect with line 5. As a result, Colonia Jardín became the head of the renovated line 10 awaiting its connection with the south. went to early 2000s when Line 12 was completely open. A circular route that crosses Alcorcón, Móstoles, Fuenlabrada, Getafe and Leganés and that connects in the first of them with Line 10. Since then it has remained one of the major daily mobility flows within the city. An increase in passenger capacity that forces the Metro to look for solutions. And he found them removing 300,000 cubic meters of earth. One of the great challenges of the Madrid Metro With the projection of converting line 10 into one of the great axes of Madrid’s mobility, the Metro had to face such important projects as building the tracks and raising auxiliary facilities. Of these, the Cuatro Vientos garages stand out, a project that was carried out in 2002. For manage train flow and renewal of the same (in those years the current 7000 and 8000 were used), Metro de Madrid planned a maintenance and storage space for its trains. The problem is that these depots had to be close enough to the head of the line (Puerta del Sur, already in Alcorcón) but at the same time they had to be built in an extremely complicated space. And between Cuatro Vientos and Alcorcón, the M-40 (the largest ring road in the city), the A-5 highway (the exit to the southwest of the country) and the Cuatro Vientos highway, usually used by the armed forces, were planned. Entrance to the Metro garages in Cuatro Vientos Railway beach in Cuatro Vientos This complicated management of technical elements was solved by designing surface garages that, however, go underground as soon as they pass the track yard. The tunnels, They explain on the Metro page itselfwere built using the system cut and cover. That is, a false tunnel is dug and then covered to recreate it. A useful solution when working very close to the surface. The initial intention, they point out, was to build the tunnel in the mine. That is, digging a tunnel in the traditional way. However, the little space left between the M-40 (where more than 120,000 cars pass through daily) and the train tracks changed plans, finally opting to use the previous technique. And the thing is that between the road and the train tracks there was barely a width of four meters in some points. That is to say, between the passage of the trains and that of the cars there was barely more than a floor of difference. The result allowed the connection between line 10, which runs under the connection of the M-40 and the A-5and the new subway garages, for which they had to be removed 300,000 cubic meters of sand. It is a huge space of 395,441 square meters to house up to 30 trains of those that pass daily on line 10. In that space alone there are more than five kilometers of tracks. Of those almost 400,000 m2, the most important part corresponds to the garages but there is also a second auxiliary building that includes a simulation room so that future drivers can do their first tests. Photos | Madrid Metro In Xataka | 400 cameras and an ambitious goal: the first metro driven 100% autonomously in the Community of Madrid

A New Jersey neighbor kept the remains of a meteorite in glass jars. This gesture has given us new clues about the origin of life on Earth

by

On July 19, 2026, a meteorite shook New York City: Ferrán Torres’ goal in the 106th minute, against the Argentina team. Well, okay, it wasn’t a meteorite, although for many, the emotional shock wave was comparable to the physical shock wave left in its wake by the meteorite that did shake the city of the Statue of Liberty two years earlier, on July 16, 2024. That asteroid fragment broke up 35 kilometers away, releasing a multitude of debris that fell unseen in various parts of the state of New Jersey. One of them, weighing almost 1 kg, went through the roof of a house in the town of Hillsborough. Two years later, an international team of scientists has published the analysis of the composition of the New York meteorite. It is a very rare type of meteorite, known as a CM ½ carbonaceous chondrite and is characterized, among other things, because it can provide a window into the history of the origin of life on Earth. A very rare type of meteorite. The meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite. That is, a fragment of a primitive objectrich in carbon, which can be associated with different organic molecules. Generally, these meteorites are classified according to their degree of aqueous alteration. The lower the number, the more water has altered its structure in the original object from which it came. The carbonaceous chondrites that have fallen most abundantly on Earth in the form of meteorites are those of type CM 2. 20 have been documented. Of type CM 1, none are known. However, there is an iconocidal range such as CM ½, which is in the middle and had been previously found, in a meteorite that fell in 2020 in Indonesia. The Hillsborough meteorite, therefore, has been the second, but also the best preserved, thanks to the quick intervention of the owner of the house in which it fell. A hole in the roof and the smell of sulfur. The Hillsborough meteorite is actually one of many fragments left after a larger rock broke apart 35 kilometers up. He fell with such force that he managed to break through the ceiling, landing in the main bedroom of the house. Its owner stated that, upon entering his room, he saw a hole in the ceiling and he smelled a strong smell of sulfur. He then found his bed and carpet covered in debris and black dust. He decided to put on some gloves and store all the debris in glass jars with aluminum foil. Thanks to their quick and scrupulous action, the scientists were able to analyze the meteorite as intact as possible. Following the path of the Hillsborough meteorite. Before falling in Hillsborough, the meteorite crossed the skies of New York and other cities in the United States. 60 observersspread across the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, reported seeing them to the American Meteor Society. Additionally, 16 others in New York and New Jersey said they felt the shock wave. Taking into account all these testimonies, plus the detections from astronomical observatories, it was possible to follow its trajectory to the lower asteroid belt. Ingredients for life. We have already seen that this was a CM ½ emteorite. However, a more detailed analysis of the meteorite allowed us to find some fragments of CM1 rich in salts inside. This indicates that it was formed in some area of ​​the surface of the parent asteroid where liquid water evaporated and salts were concentrated. It is known that the high concentration of salt in saline fluids can create molecules crucial for life on Earth. In fact, many studies suggest that, in the past, CM carbonaceous chondrites delivered to Earth some of the ingredients that gave rise to life. That’s why the Hillsborough meteorite is so interesting. At the moment, it has been seen to have 1.8% by weight of carbon and 0.07% of nitrogen, in addition to carbon and nitrogen isotopes typical of CM type meteorites. A more detailed analysis of the latter will help understand the extent to which these objects helped life proliferate on our planet. The owner of the house was not aware when he saw that hole in the roof that it not only had a huge leak. I was also looking at a window to the past. Image| SETI In Xataka | The ship that collected the Bennu samples is now flying towards Apophis, the asteroid that will pass just 38,000 km from Earth

NASA is looking for four people who want to live a year on Mars without leaving Earth

by

Space travel can leave no room for improvisation. Especially if the destination is a place as inhospitable and unexplored as Mars. Or even the Moon. Therefore, before the first astronauts set foot on the red planet and a new batch of humans walk on our satellite, NASA has decided to carry out a dress rehearsal here on Earth. Of course, it will not be done with astronauts, but with a group of volunteers willing to spend a year in a simulated environment of both the confinement conditions of the trip and the subsistence with limited resources that will mean staying at a base in either of these two places. The mission is expected to begin in 2027, no earlier than August, so the search for volunteers is still underway. Two missions in one. The mission, named by NASA as Moon and Mars Exploration Analogis a mix of two other previous missions: HERA and CHAPEA. Both consist of the use of facilities that simulate the extreme conditions of a trip to Mars or the Moon. CHAPEA’s facilities are larger (158 m2), as they simulate what the installed base would be in either of these two locations. HERA, on the other hand, consists of a smaller environment (60 m2), which simulates the confinement conditions of space travel. Therefore, what will be done is to dock the vehicle, based on HERA, to a larger, but isolated environment, in which there is everything from private accommodation for the crew to a common work space, including a recreation room, cultivation area, medical room, food preparation area, airlock and two bathrooms. They are not astronauts, but almost. NASA has announced that it is looking for volunteers, possibly because its astronauts are busy with other tasks. However, not just anyone can apply. To start, they must be US citizens or green card holders, between 30 and 55 years old, with a good command of English and a height that does not exceed 1.88 meters. On the other hand, they must have a degree in engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences or mathematics. Basically, just like astronauts. In fact, it is preferable that they have these qualifications at an advanced level. Finally, they should not have special dietary needsnor require help to sleep. Furthermore, in relation to sleep, they should not be sleepwalkers either. Of course, added to all this is that they will have to pass a series of tests, both physical and psychological. Come on, they’re not astronauts, but almost. Training for a fake trip to Mars. The four selected volunteers will have a pre- and post-mission phase dedicated to data collection. Additionally, before embarking on this year-long simulation, they will have to train and prepare for what will come next. In total, all this will last two months. All simulations. For one year, these temporary astronauts will live and work in isolation and confinement while simulating both interplanetary travel and operations on the planetary surface, including spacewalk simulations. It is expected that the results will be useful for missions as imminent as those of the Artemis programbut also for future even more exotic trips, including the long-awaited Martian colonization. Image | Magnificent | POT In Xataka | We knew there was water on the Moon, but not why some craters were empty. Finally we have the answer

Exact time left for Earth in the habitable zone before ocean collapse

by

For as long as humanity has been aware, it has wondered when and how the end of the world will come. Far from apocalyptic prophecies, science has a much more calculated, cold and inevitable response, since it is clear that the Earth has an expiration date, or at least its capacity to host life as we know it does. It has been calculated. A classic study published in the magazine Astrobiology In 2013 by researcher Andrew Rushby, he calculated the “habitability window” that our planet has left. The magic number, popularized from these physical and climate models, is around at 1.8 billion yearswhich is the average value that we find in the range between 1,750 and 3,250 million years. The problem is that this date is not entirely real, since within 1.8 billion years there will be no type of life on our planet, but for human beings and complex life the expiration date is much earlier. The culprit. To understand how scientists arrived at the figure of 1.8 billion years, we must look at the Sun. And, like any star of its type, our Sun is subject to a process of stellar evolution that means that, as it consumes its nuclear fuelits core contracts and heats up, causing the outer layers to expand and, therefore, its luminosity does not stop growing. Here Rushby’s team did not make a simple random prediction, but rather their methodology consisted of combining models of this evolution of solar brightness with parameters of the greenhouse effect and the energy balance of the Earth. What they were looking for was to calculate the exact moment at which the Earth will leave the so-called “habitable zone.” A little further. The habitable zone is that orbital strip around a star where temperatures allow the existence of liquid water on the surface of a rocky planet. But as the Sun becomes brighter and hotter, that fringe moves toward the edges of the solar system, while the planet does not move from its orbit. And that is a problem. All this means that when the Earth crosses the inner limit of this zone, the increase in solar radiation will trigger a runaway greenhouse effect, similar to what Venus suffers today. The effects of this will be the evaporation of the oceans, which will contribute to the greenhouse effect, trapping heat even more and accelerating the process until the Earth loses its liquid water irreversibly. And with it life. Different types of life. It is crucial to differentiate what “habitable” means in astrobiological terms versus what we consider “habitable” in our daily lives. A very important fact is that the Earth is approximately 4.545 billion years old, and life in its simplest forms emerged surprisingly early about 3.7-4.3 billion years ago. With all this we mean that the end of life will be staggered, starting with affecting complex life like us, which are extremely fragile to thermal variations. This makes the authors emphasize that the conditions for animal and human life will be greatly lost before reaching those 1.8 billion years. The last to die. The Apocalypse of 1.8 billion years refers to the last breath of the planet. In that final scenario, when the oceans are evaporating, only the most resistant extremophile microorganisms will be able to survive in isolated niches such as pockets of groundwater at very high temperatures before facing total extinction. Looking to the future. At this point, one might wonder what point it is to calculate exactly when the oceans will dry up eons from now if humanity today has more pressing problems. And the answer lies in the search for other planets, since by perfectly understanding how the “window of life” evolves in our solar system, astronomers have tools to apply to exoplanets that we are discovering thousands of light years away. In this way, knowing how long a planet’s habitability lasts depending on its host star helps us know where to look. We may find a planet in the “habitable zone” of its star, but if calculations reveal that it has only been there for a few million years, it is likely that complex life has not had time to evolve yet. Images | Javier Miranda In Xataka | Ryan MacDonald, astronomer, on the future of the Earth: “The death of the star is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter”

that of wanting to defend the Earth from an asteroid

by

There are titles that are not earned only with rockets, budgets or scientific missions. They are also built over decades in the collective imagination. The United States has long been the power that we associate with big technology, with NASA, with Hollywood and with that very recognizable idea that, if something threatens the planetsomeone in an American control room will find an answer. What we are seeing now is that China also wants to occupy that place, even in a field as cinematic as defense against asteroids. That leadership was not held only on aircraft carriers, universities, laboratories or companies capable of changing entire industries. It also relied on something more difficult to measure: the ability to convert its progress into a global story. Joseph Nye popularized the idea of soft power for explain that influence that does not depend solely on strength or money, but on cultural, political and technological attraction. For a long time, the United States not only made things that the rest of the world looked at: it also got the rest of the world to imagine them from its own point of view. That is the context in which China’s latest announcement comes. According to Global Timesthe China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that the country will establish a coordinated system of nearby asteroid monitoring to Earth based on both terrestrial and space infrastructures. The objective is to detect possible threats earlier, follow their evolution and provide information for future planetary defense actions. In other words, Beijing wants to develop a permanent capacity to observe, evaluate and react to objects that may represent a risk to our planet. China wants to have its own place in Chinese defense In practice, a planetary defense system begins long before thinking about deflecting an asteroid. Its first mission is to locate near-Earth objects, follow them for years and calculate their orbits as accurately as possible to determine if there is any risk of impact. The sooner a potentially dangerous object is detected, the more options there are for responding. Therefore, continuous surveillance and early warning constitute the basis of any defense strategy against this type of threats. The second part of the plan comes when the most difficult question arises: what to do if one of those objects poses a real threat. In statements to the aforementioned media, expert Song Zhongping mentioned techniques such as kinetic impactwhich consists of crashing a ship into an asteroid to modify its trajectory, and other methods aimed at altering its orbit with sufficient advance notice. Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Chinese lunar exploration program, said that China plans to carry out an impact test against an asteroid located tens of millions of kilometers around 2027 to evaluate whether it can change its course. The Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, in Hefei, is part of the Chinese ecosystem linked to deep space exploration The inevitable mirror is NASA, because the US does not start from an intention, but from an architecture already in place. The agency created in 2016 The Planetary Defense Coordination Office coordinates the search, tracking and characterization of near-Earth objects, and has tools such as Sentry to monitor impact risks. Also proved with DART that a kinetic impact could alter Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos. Added to that NEO Surveyoran infrared space telescope designed specifically to detect potentially dangerous asteroids and comets, scheduled for launch no earlier than September 2027. That American leadership was also built in cinema. For decades, Hollywood accustomed the public to imagining space threats with a very recognizable pattern: an asteroid or comet endangered the Earth and the response came from American scientists, engineers and agencies. Movies like ‘Armageddon‘ either ‘Deep Impact‘ they turned that idea into part of the collective imagination. Although it was fiction and many of its solutions were far from scientific rigor, they helped strengthen the partnership between the United States, space exploration, and the ability to protect the planet from extraordinary threats. The Chinese movement fits with a broader trend. Beijing has been trying for years stop being seen only as a manufacturing power to occupy leadership spaces in sectors where prestige, autonomy and technological power are at stake. We have seen it in electric vehicles, batteries, artificial intelligencetelecommunications, chips and space exploration, with programs like Tiangong, Chang’e or Tianwen. Planetary defense is now added to that list as a particularly visible area: not because it promises immediate benefits, but because it allows us to project the image of a power capable of undertaking missions of global reach. The point is not that China won that race. He hasn’t done it. The point is that you have decided to enter a field that until now It had a very clear technical and cultural owner. The US had already occupied it with NASA, with DART and with decades of stories in which the response to a space threat came from there. China is still in another phase, but its message is beginning to be similar: it also wants to detect, calculate, test and, if necessary, divert. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana | CNSA In Xataka | Ryan MacDonald, astronomer, on the future of the Earth: “The death of the star is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter”

NASA has managed to make a satellite “understand” what it sees, without sending a single photo to Earth

by

The role of satellites is simple. They take data, send it to Earth and, once here, it is analyzed. So far, that is being viable. However, the process is getting complicated. There are more and more satellites (Hello, Elon Musk), which means more information flowing to Earth. There are not enough people, energy or time to analyze so much information. For this reason, NASA and the startup LoftOrbital have developed NAVI-Orbital, software for satellite observation that is capable of describing what it sees and even searching for what it is ordered to do. A model of vision and language. NAVI-Orbital works with Gemma 3a series of vision and language models belonging to Google DeepMind. As their name suggests, they are capable of processing both images and text, so that, with proper training, they can describe images and respond to simple text commands. Before, a multitude of complex computer commands had to be used for a satellite to follow orders and even then the results had to be analyzed by humans. Now, all you have to do is ask him to obey and analyze the results. Find what you ask for. A clear example of what NAVI-Orbital can do is search for objects, buildings or geographical features. If you know what a river is, you can search and display all the rivers in a given area. You can also locate all bridges or roads. But, in turn, it can identify anomalies in those places. For example, you may find rivers about to overflow or roads where there has been an accident. much faster. Most artificial intelligence algorithms send information to data centerswhere the result is processed and returned. In this case, however, what is known as edge AI is used. That is to say, the entire model runs directly on the same device that captures the data. The satellite in this case. Civil or military applications. In April, the first tests were carried out with the YAM-9 satellite, which already has the new software incorporated, with very good results. It was the first time that a satellite managed to describe what it “sees.” That’s why NASA and LoftOrbital are already excited about their applications. They consider that satellite constellations with NAVI-Orbital could be used to monitor the planet for civil or defense applications. They can search for oil spills, for example, but also study possible military attacks. The difference with what we have so far with any of these purposes is that nothing has to be analyzed. That is, you don’t put a satellite to take photos of the sea and then here on Earth a team of people or a computer algorithm analyzes them for oil spills. It is the satellite itself that saves sending thousands of photos without spills and directly analyzes what it sees. The result is much faster, cheaper and more efficient. It may even be the future of satellite observation, although it is still too early. We will have to see how these models that have already begun to undergo the first tests evolve. Image | LoftOrbital In Xataka | Ukraine’s military has a problem almost as important as Russia: Starlink belongs to Elon Musk

German scientists have discovered that the Earth has been receiving radioactive fallout for more than 100 million years due to the violent “kiss” of two supernovae.

by

Planet Earth is home to the ocean depths a radioactive plutonium deposit that could only be formed in space, during a violent cosmic cataclysm. Although there are reserves of this radioactive dust at great depths, it has been proven that it continues to rain down on us today. That would lead one to think that it was a recent cataclysm in astronomical terms. However, according to a recently published study by German scientistsit was hundreds of millions of years ago. Two isotopes to understand everything. Plutonium-244 does not exist naturally on Earth. In fact, the only isotope of this element that can be produced naturally in some geological processes is plutonium-239. and it does so mostly in the form of traces. Plutonium-244 is the heaviest isotope of this element. That is, the one with the most neutrons. It is known that it is usually formed by cosmic phenomena during something known as the r process, where lighter atoms quickly absorb neutrons into their nuclei. Generally, the event that usually gives rise to this phenomenon is the kilonova, an explosion resulting from the merger of two neutron stars. In the process, curium-247 is also formed, which is why these scientists have also analyzed its levels. Taking this data into account, they have discovered that the explosion in question must have occurred more than 100 million years ago, but less than one billion years ago. And, also, that the radioactive fallout has not stopped since then. The key is in the ferromanganese crust. Ferromanganese bark It is a layer of the ocean floor which is formed when metals dissolved in sea water, such as iron and manganese, are deposited and solidify. This occurs at a fairly slow rate, with growth of between 1 and 10 millimeters per million years. The deposits do not only have iron and manganese. Mixed with them are other substances that have fallen into the sea at that time. Therefore, this crust is a perfect chemical photograph of the history of our planet. A section with surprise. The authors of this study analyzed a section of this crust extracted at a depth of 4,830 meters in 1976. This had already been analyzed previously and had pointed out something surprising. And, in addition to plutonium, iron-60 was also found, another radioisotope associated with supernova explosions, which has a fairly short half-life of 2.6 million years. This figure means that, every 2.6 million years, half of the initial atoms of this isotope will have decayed. In another 2.6 million years half of what remained and so on. Since it is a fairly short half-life, it was concluded at the time that the kilonova that caused the fall of radioactive dust took place about 3 million years ago. However, the authors of the study just published debunked that hypothesis. Half-life of the study isotopes Curio to the rescue. The formation of plutonium-244 when neutron stars merge is always accompanied by the formation of curium-247. The plutonium isotope has a half-life of 81 million years, while that of curium “only” has a half-life of 15.6 million years. When analyzing the ferromanganese bark sample, these researchers found no curium. Therefore, it must have completely disintegrated. That places the explosion more than 100 million years ago. Be careful, remember that the half-life is the time it takes for half of the radioactive material to decay. Every 15.6 million years, half of it disintegrates, so in 100 million years there should be no curium left, but a lot of plutonium, which only lost half of it 19 million years ago. For plutonium to completely disappear, it would take 1 billion years. What about iron? The reason why there is iron-60 in the sample, despite having a lower half-life than that of curium-247, is that they originated in different events. In fact, the level changes of iron do not coincide with those of plutonium. On the other hand, it has been seen that plutonium continues to appear uniformly in the upper layers, hence it has been concluded that the radioactive fallout has not ended. At least it hadn’t ended in 1976 and that in astronomical terms was before yesterday. And now what? These scientists think that the cataclysm that released this long radioactive fallout must have been immense. Possibly even affected life on Earth. But at the moment it is something that cannot be known. We will have to continue investigating to have the answer. Image | University of Warwick/Mark Garlick | B. Schröder/HZDR/NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll/ASU In Xataka | Gravitational waves work their magic: we are closer to revealing the enigmas of neutron stars

You don’t need to buy ‘Flight Simulator’ to explore the world. Google Earth has just put it at our fingertips

by

I have long been a fan of ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator‘. That is why I followed with special interest his arrival in PS5: I wanted to try it beyond the PC, not only because of the possibility of piloting an aircraft, but because of something that has always attracted me to the game: exploring landscapes, looking for frames and using the photo mode almost as a small tool to explore the world from the screen. And that fascination makes sense precisely because Microsoft has worked for years to make ‘Flight Simulator’ much more than an airplane game. The company speaks in ‘Flight Simulator 2024‘ of its most detailed recreation of planet Earth to date, with improved elevation maps, more than 500 cities recreated with 3D models based on irregular triangular networks and more than 100,000 square kilometers of rural photogrammetry. The novelty is that now there is a much lighter way to get closer to that experience without going through a full game or installing anything on your computer. Google Earth announced last Friday that his flight simulator It is now available for all users. Fly without installing anything, directly from the browser Google Earth is not trying to sell us a full-fledged flight simulator, and that works in its favor. On their help pageGoogle describes the feature as experimental, available only in Earth on the web, and geared toward a casual exploration experience. He also warns that the flight physics is simplified, so if what we are looking for is a simulation in its most demanding sense, this is certainly not it. But it may be interesting to try it, draw our own conclusions and discover another way of exploring the world in images. If you want to start trying it, the path is quite simple. You just have to open Google Earth on the webenter Explore the Earthdisplay the Tools menu and click on Flight Simulator. The option appears within the menu itself. In a matter of seconds you go from the traditional map to a flight view, with the interface ready to start moving over the terrain. Once inside, the management also focuses on the immediate. Google allows you to control the plane with the keyboard: Page up to accelerate, Page down to reduce thrust, the up and down arrows to change the altitude and the side arrows to tilt the aircraft. You can also turn mouse control on or off by clicking inside the simulation. And if things go wrong, which can go wrong pretty quickly at first, the option to start over after impact appears. The most attractive part is that Google Earth dynamically loads 3D buildings and high-resolution images while you fly. This allows us to turn a very simple function into a quite interesting visual experience, especially if we choose recognizable areas and we change the basemap to Satellite when necessary. However, Google also warns that flying at extreme speeds or with a slow connection can cause temporary delays in loading. There are, in addition, known problems in some areas of the field, so it is best to assume it for what it is: a light and still experimental function. Then there is the other option, of course: taking a real plane. In specific searches on services such as Skyscanner we have seen flights from Spain for less than 40 euros, always depending on route, date and availability. Looking at an image from the browser is not the same as looking out the window and seeing how the landscape changes under the clouds. But that is precisely why it makes sense to bring it here: we are talking about different experiences, different ways of moving, looking and playing with the idea of ​​traveling. The interesting thing about Google Earth is taking a tool that many of us have used for years to explore the planet and adding a simple playful layer to it, free and accessible from the browser. It doesn’t always take a complex simulation to spark that curiosity. Sometimes a small, well-placed function is enough to make us look at the map again and want to get lost for a while. Images | Screenshots In Xataka | After marathons and combats, humanoid robots already have their next challenge: climbing Everest

The Japanese “johatsu”, when life is so unbearable that you erase your trace from the Earth

by

When we Westerners observe the Japanese people, their habits and cultural solutions that clash with our way of life, we usually come up with an explanation: shame. If Christianity has been based on the management of guilt, the East draws on shame and honor as a motor of action. The literature has made us believe that the code bushido or “path of the hero” that marked the life of the samurai in the 11th to 14th centuries is found buried in many of the behaviors which, seen from thousands of kilometers and 700 years later, seem amazing to us. We have previously talked about karoshithat involuntary suicide of many of its workers due to work pressure out of a feeling of duty towards the company and society. We also know their tendency towards seclusion and detachment, as practiced by otaku or the hikikomoris. Today it is the turn of the johatsu (蒸発), or “evaporated people”, as the Government describes them. It is a solution that many of us have thought about applying at some point, and have even dared to explore certain works popular. Become a johatsu is to lose your identity. Your family, your job, your name. All. You become a ghost for the State, all your trace is erased and you renounce your previous life to embrace a new and marginal one as you can no longer endure the pressure that presses you. According to estimates, 100,000 Japanese a year have become johatsu in the last 40 years. How to collect a report from the Japanese policethe “faded” became a social problem starting in the 70s that had to be regulated. Some cases had already been known since after the Second World War, and following a famous event in the 60s that found a film adaptation in 1967 and a ballad performed by Ken Yabukithe term, the idea, became popular. And what pressure leads these people to leave everything? According to the statistics and testimonies collected, a good part of them succumb to work overwhelm or the shame of having been fired, something that they are unable to communicate to their loved ones. Also in many cases they are members of families who have contracted big debtseither due to gambling addiction or ruinous businesses. There are people who mysteriously, and without any justification, decide to sacrifice themselves socially. An important part of the disappearances, approximately one in five cases, has to do with gender violence: since the State was not committed (nor does he commit) to fight against these abuses (until 2001 the law dictated that the most that could be done was ask husbands to be more respectful with their wives) many women began to leave their families to live in poverty. Because that is the new life that many of its protagonists must face. The neighborhood of Kamagasaki Osaka and San’ya of the outskirts of Japan no longer appear on maps. In fact, their nomenclaturesand, if you ask for their address, many Japanese pretend to be Swedes. It’s not that they don’t know what you’re talking about, but it is an unpleasant reality that is better not to face. Men and women who disappear because of the shame they carry on their shoulders. Families who, in turn, and when they suspect that the member who has disappeared has done so of his own free will, do not report it to the authorities because they feel the same fear of being criticized by society. This is confirmed when it is verified that according to official Government statistics, only 2,000 people disappear a year without leaving a trace or without returning after a few months of his journey. According to the Japan Missing Persons Search Support Association, these figures are strongly under-representative of reality, closer to those 100,000 disappearances annuals that we pointed out at the beginning. Those close to a johatsu They do not usually warn the authorities. But, if they have sufficient funds and a genuine interest in regaining contact with the person, they do request the services of companies or private detectives. Since Japanese laws strongly guarantee the privacy of citizens (they require keeping someone’s whereabouts secret even in front of their families unless criminal complaint), it is easier to go to these agents. In practice, many spouses, children, siblings or parents let it be. They do not want to hear from the person who has left their life again. So, to the particularity of that administrative silence that characterizes Japan, is added that structure that protects the “ghosts“. The existence of these neighborhoods allows them to find a way to survive. “There, the Johatsu They live in tiny hotel rooms, often without Internet or private bathrooms,” as Léna Mauger, journalist and writer for a book focused on the lives of these people. Back in the years of the Japanese miracle, between the 60s and 80s, San’ya was the home of thousands of day laborers in industrial and mechanical jobs. The blue-collar workers who were eclipsed in terms of State recognition by their white-collar compatriots. They were informal, masculinized jobs, without great pay but that in most cases allowed these citizens to survive and sometimes, if the person affected was skilled, save a little money with which to return to society. As masculinized communities that they were, alcoholism, gambling and homelessness began to proliferate. Many never managed to overcome their addictions and harmful behaviors. The mafias began to take sides, owing their people. Today some NGOs enter the district daily to distribute food. Many residents live so precariously that they were considered dead in life. The “ghost” life that is about to fade away As technology advances, the jobs that support its population become scarcer. Added to this are two other problems: for tax purposes, and so that the debts incurred do not become a burden, since 2015 the country has been starting to track more harshly to its members. As real estate pressure increases, less well-regarded neighborhoods begin to gentrify. It is possible … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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