eat

We have stuffed the Gibraltar monkeys with Doritos. His solution has been to eat dirt as if it were omeprazole

by

On the Rock of Gibraltar, one of the most classic scenes that can be found without a doubt is that of the Barbary macaqueswho seem to be the absolute kings of the entire terrain. Here it is quite likely to see tourists end up stealing a piece of sandwich, chips or a sweet that they have in their hands, especially when the rules are not followed that are marked. But this, which may have its funny point, the truth is that it generates quite a few alterations in the animals, to the point of needing to eat dirt. It has been studied. That a macaque takes a bag of Doritos from a tourist and begins to eat it, among many other types of junk food, is something that has focused the attention of science. And it has reached such a point that it has materialized in a study published in Scientific Reports where numerous continuous episodes of geophagy have been documented among these primates. This is nothing more than the usual consumption of red soil, which is known as terra rossa, and even, in some specific groups, a strange mixture of dirt and tar. Its consequences. What at first glance may seem like simple animal curiosity is actually a survival mechanism, as researchers have found a statistical correlation between the consumption of this junk food, loaded with sugars, salt and dairy, and the frequency with which they eat the earth. In fact, the data shows that this practice increases in summer, when there are a greater number of tourists in the area, and decreases drastically when the influx of people and, therefore, the availability of junk food in the area decreases. Why do they do it? Here we must take into account that the stomachs of these macaques are not prepared for the junk and processed food that humans consume. This is why the earth can act as a gastric cushioning system and can be compared in our minds to a stomach protector. After a heavy meal, macaques use clay to purge themselves, absorb toxins and relieve the digestive discomfort caused by our diet. In addition to providing them with certain minerals that junk food lacks, scientists point out that swallowing dirt helps them try to rebalance an intestinal microbiome that has been altered by the excess of salt and sugar. A cultural tradition. The most interesting finding of this research is that eating dirt is not a mere isolated instinct, but has become an anthropogenically induced tradition of primates. That is to say, we are dealing with a behavior of social transmission, since the macaques learn from each other that eating dirt relieves the belly pain after stealing an ice cream from a tourist. This, logically, is a cultural component of self-medication that has arisen purely and exclusively due to the alteration of their environment at the hands of human beings, demonstrating the great capacity for adaptation that they can have to any situation that comes upon them. Images | wirestock 8photo In Xataka | We have been believing for 50 years that the Strait of Gibraltar was “closed” with an apocalyptic cataract. Now we have nuances

Sterilize your cell phone in the dishwasher and eat steaks that last 10 days in the refrigerator: Haier redefines household appliances

by

It would never have occurred to me to put a cell phone in a dishwasher, but that is just one of the things he proposed to us. Haier at a press event yesterday in Madrid. It sounds crazy, but it is not, and it joins other surprising and above all very practical ideas with which this manufacturer surprised us. Be careful, household appliances can also be eye-catching technological products. The dishwasher that looks like an operating room. One of the stars of the Haier catalog is the I-Pro Shine Series 7 dishwasher, a dishwasher equipped with technology Biovitae. This system uses visible light of multiple frequencies to sterilize without the need for water or extreme temperatures. dry sterilization. The “dry” program is designed specifically for those objects that we constantly touch such as cell phones, keys or the TV remote, eliminating bacteria and viruses in a cycle that before it was unthinkable and that it was more typical of operating rooms or dental clinics. For these segments, so-called autoclaves based on high-pressure water and high temperatures are used to achieve this sterilization, but the Haier dishwasher takes advantage of this unique technology. Three drums, one wash. While the dishwasher takes care of our devices, the Candy Multiwash solves the traditional logistical puzzle that many have with the washing machine and clothes. Integra three independent drums on a single chassis and allows the 10kg cycle to be used on the main drum for daily laundry while, simultaneously, two small onekg drums handle silk or baby clothes by UV sterilizing them. This appliance is capable of managing water, energy and detergent in the three drums independently and you can activate one, two or all three at the same time. This washing machine is now somewhat larger than the conventional standard of 60 cm, but they are already working on a model of this size to launch at the end of the year. Three better than one. Haier vacuum cleaners arrive. The firm enters the hyper-competitive vacuum cleaner segment for the first time and does so by attacking the floor cleaning market, until now dominated by robotics specialists. Its ace in the hole is Double Roller, a technology that replaces the traditional roller with two synchronized cylinders that rotate in opposite directions. The Z5 model is a wet&dry system that reaches 25,000 pascals of suction and is capable of cleaning and drying its own roller with water at 74º to prevent the proliferation of mold. There are also new robot vacuum cleaners like the v3, which is a wireless model for cleaning and disinfecting mattresses. My refrigerator is bigger than yours. The Cube 90 Water Tank Auto Ice refrigerator solves one of the big problems when installing American models in Spain: plumbing installation. It has a capacity of 706 liters, and incorporates an internal tank for the water dispenser and automatic ice production, eliminating the need to connect tubes to the general network of our house. This makes it possible to place the multi-door refrigerator in any corner of the kitchen. This model maintains the ABT Pro technology to eliminate 99.9% of bacteria, but the efficiency also rises to category C, something that represents notable energy savings. Or what is the same: a more affordable electricity bill. Magnetic fields for steaks. Every year on average a European citizen wastes 130 kg of food, but Haier has proposed a really striking solution to mitigate the problem. It is about NutriBanka technology with Haier’s own patent that, through the application of a harmless electromagnetic field, is capable of preserving the texture and nutrients of meat and fish at zero degrees without freezing them. According to the company, this system keeps 95% of the nutrients intact after ten days, so one can buy these products and keep them much longer without freezing before consuming them. This is not just about preserving, but about taking advantage of a financial tool to protect that part of the purchase that we usually spend on meat and fish. Dry pants, wet pockets? Anymore. The new Horizon range washer and dryer tower reduces the height to 160 cm so that the screen is much more accessible, but the real innovation is inside. Unlike the conventional dryers that use contact sensors, this model employs a “3D humidity scanner.” It is able to detect if the pocket of thick pants is still wet even if the surface appears dry, adjusting the drying cycle in real time. In addition, the dryer intelligently preheats 15 minutes before the end of the wash to save time and energy. I’ll tend when I can. The dryer also has symmetrical rotation, which allows drying to be active in both directions, and has another striking practical improvement: when one finishes doing the washing machine, one usually has to hang it up immediately to avoid or minimize wrinkles, but this washing machine has a system that keeps the clothes spinning and that “ventilates” them for up to 12 hours after finishing the washing cycle so that we can take them out at any time as if that cycle had just ended. Ovens that puncture food. in the ovens Series 4 Flesh Flavor Steam Air tanks of up to one liter are used to inject steam precisely depending on the type of food. Some models have the Preci Probe thermal probe that can accurately monitor the internal temperature of the dish and adjust the heat applied to ensure that the exterior is crispy and the interior is hydrated. The hON application, which already connects millions of Haier devices, is capable of notifying when the food reaches the exact point. In Xataka | The Dishwasher Door Problem: What Manufacturers Recommend to Do When the Wash Cycle Ends

This is how well the Artemis astronauts eat on their trip to the Moon

by

During a space mission, Everything that is loaded on the ship must be chosen very well.. The fuel depends a lot on its final weight, so it must be calculated carefully, taking into account every last drop of water. That also includes food. That’s why the crew of Artemis II carry with them a menu that was painstakingly designed weeks before launch. Now, just because precautions must be taken does not mean that astronauts do not eat well. It is important that they eat properly, with a balanced amount of nutrients and, of course, including foods that they like. In fact, to guarantee the latter, the crew itself actively intervenes in the design of the menu. Be careful with the crumbs. Food loaded aboard a spaceship must meet a series of requirements. To begin with, crumbs must be minimized, since they could float around the ship due to microgravity, potentially damaging electronic devices if they enter through its cracks. It is also important that the food is vacuum sealed and, if possible, dehydrated. Thus, food security is guaranteed during the days of the mission. In the case of Orión, it has a water dispenser, so that it can be transferred directly to the sachets in which the dehydrated foods are included just at the moment in which they are going to be consumed. Finally, it is important that they are nutritious foods, according to the requirements at each moment of the mission. Two key points. The water dispenser cannot be used during launch and landing. Therefore, meals eaten around these two key moments must be ready to eat, without the need for hydration. The all-round tortillas. Historically, astronauts have had the option of choosing at least one beloved food to take with them on their missions to space. Therefore, in 1985, Mexican astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela He asked to bring wheat tortillas, like those used to make fajitas. Later, what began as the culinary whim of a single astronaut became one of the most in-demand foods on space missions, since it does not release crumbs, is very versatile and can be stored safely for many days. Tortillas need accompaniment. Precisely because of this custom of including tortillas on menus, over time accompaniments have been added to make their consumption more pleasant. In the case of Artemis II, for example, They carry five different types of hot sauce on board.and. Hot or cold food. Although all food on board can be eaten cold, astronauts have at their disposal a hand warmer, contained in a type of briefcase, in which they can heat the food if they wish. Again, this would not be possible during landing and launch. In that case you should eat as quickly as possible, without preparations. Each astronaut with their personal tastes. Astronauts help prepare the menu before the mission, trying different options and choosing the ones they like best. In fact, the dishes are distributed so that each person will have their own prepared in the ten days they remain on the ship. A single container contains two to three days of meals for each crew member. That includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Artemis II Menu. Some examples of foods on board Artemis II are vegetable quiche, broccoli gratin, nuts, beef brisket or macaroni and cheese, among others. As for drinks, in addition to the water that can be obtained from the dispenser, the astronauts have 43 cups of coffee, to be distributed among the entire crew, during the 10 days of the mission. You can also flavor chocolate, vanilla or strawberry drinks. Each astronaut is assigned two flavored drinks a day. It doesn’t taste the same. Without a doubt, the menu of the Artemis II astronauts seems most pleasant. Unfortunately, they will not taste it the same as they did during the tests on Earth, because It is proven that food in space tastes different. Still, I’m sure they enjoy it. As Christina Koch explained in a video for NASAeating those highly packaged foods, together with other people, in such a different place, is a kind of camping picnic with friends. In Xataka | NASA has been racking its brains for years to figure out what we will eat on the Moon. Answer: Madrid stew Image | NASA | freepik

Data centers have eaten up the world’s RAM. Now they threaten to eat the batteries

by

If the question is “what are data centers hungry for,” the answer is a simple “yes.” We hadn’t talked about the RAM memory crisis not because would have finishedbut because it was nonsense keep repeating it. The summary is that things are still as bad as they were a few weeks ago and, although the machines are at full capacity to create more, everything is going to the same place: the AI ​​platforms of the data centers. But it is no longer that they have broken the market for RAM, SSD, hard drives and everything that has to do with chips: it is that they are now going after batteries. The Panasonic case. The Japanese giant advertisement a few hours ago its plan to triple its lithium-ion cell production capacity. They are going to expand their facilities dedicated to this, but they will also adapt some of their manufacturing plants for elements for the automotive industry to manufacture more batteries. All the extra batteries they can make will be few, to the point that they not only propose the change for Japanese plants: also for foreign ones like the one in Kansas. Because? The short answer is because of AI. The long answer is that AI can’t stop working for even a second, and that’s why computers need backup power sources. That energy comes from batteries that are installed between the racks and which, in the event of any outage or specific peak, they ‘pull’ in order to continue operating. And since the equipment requires an insane amount of energy to operate, many, many backup batteries must be made. They are still modules with hundreds of “stacks” that are embedded in the racks All sold. The forecast is such that the Japanese company estimates that, for the next fiscal year, it can sell batteries worth 800,000 million yen, about 5,000 million dollars. It would quadruple its current sales and that implies something else: everything is sold. Its customers have already bought 80% of Panasonic’s output, leaving non-customers to fight for just a fifth of the volume. That will increase prices, generate shortages and cause the same thing that is happening with RAM and other components: there are no units, prices skyrocket, companies see that there is demand and allocate their production to creating that product and the consumer market suffers the consequences. It’s exactly the same thing we’ve seen with HDDs, with Seagate and Western Digital pointing out that what they were going to produce during the next few months was already sold. And it has also happened with RAM. The situation with them became so desperate that the main manufacturers have begun to ask for payments three years in advance. Because as the boss of SMIC – one of the largest foundries in China – pointed out a few days ago, everyone wants to have the infrastructure of the next decade by… yesterday. Supercapacitors. Aside from the “bad” news, Panasonic is also working on something new. Compared to traditional capacitors, the Japanese company is developing supercapacitors for data centers. These are capacitors that can store more energy, but also deliver it more slowly. They are denser than batteries and are expected to be high-fidelity elements to support data center equipment during outages or peak loads. They wait have them ready by 2027. The renewables. In the end, these Panasonic batteries (and other manufacturers) are simple safety elements to ensure that uninterrupted flow of power in the hyperscalers’ racks. How does it affect us? Well, because the capacitors and equipment manufactured by Panasonic are also found in consumer hardware and if they now focus on data centers, the same thing will happen as with NAND chips and everything that uses a memory chip. And, in the background, there are also the most conventional batteries to store a large amount of energy from renewables. Because we have already mentioned that data centers consume a lot, so much so that even has turned to coal, gas is a common resource and there are companies that are opening its nuclear power plants. But if you opt for renewables, it will be necessary to equip data centers with tens of hundreds of batteries capable of absorbing the energy blow. In fact, there are already car battery manufacturers that they are converting. In short: everything bad… except for companies that manufacture those components. Images | panasonic In Xataka | If you were thinking about setting up a NAS to create your own cloud, we have bad news: AI has other plans

53% of Spaniards prefer to eat the tortilla undercooked. Salmonella has been waiting patiently for years to do so

by

He 52.9% of Spaniards prefer the potato omelette is undercooked and is not a harmless preference. In Europe, the main cause of food outbreaks has a name and surname: Salmonella. But in Spain the situation is worse because, despite the strength of its poultry sector, it is not able to stably meet the European objective for Salmonella in layers. And that, added to hygienic conditions that are not usually met, turn that cultural preference into a ticking time bomb. When we change the law. Historically, this preference for low-set tortillas has been so strong that, in recent years, the regulations have become more flexible. Since 1991, every product that will not set completely the egg required what is called a heat-treated “egg product.” More changes. But, with the passage of time and improved controls, salmonellosis cases decreased. Between 2005 and 2009, the European Union saw the number of cases fall by half. And, in December 2022, a new decree allows you to work with fresh eggsas long as 63 degrees are reached for at least two seconds and consumed immediately. It is a very complex balance because the egg white curdles at that temperature: if the technique and work is done very rigorouslythe usual thing is that any undercooked tortilla has not met the regulatory requirements. And there, Salmonella appears. In 2024, Spain had 11,173 reported cases of salmonellosis. In principle, according to the ISCIII854 foodborne outbreaks were identified. It’s not a very common thing, really. Luckily. But the upward trend has not stopped growing since the pandemic and, therefore, the risk is always there. Up. In Spain more than in other places because, as I said, we have serious difficulties in maintaining the prevalence of Salmonella serotypes in laying hens below 2%. The country appears to have religiously met the standards between 2013 and 2018, but since then there have been years that have and years that have not. It is important to keep in mind that industrial chickens are vaccinated; but those for self-consumption, no. So? Is it dangerous to eat undercooked tortillas? As I said Miguel A. Lurueña“today the risk is much lower than decades ago; the main risk is poor handling.” AND matches Gemma del Caño“do it if you want” (if you meet all the conditions and are not a risk group), but be aware that the risk is never zero. Image | Iker Merodio In Xataka | “We all have a bacteriological bomb at home” and they are called a chopping board: this is how we can minimize all risks

OpenAI wants to eat Microsoft’s toast with its own GitHub

by

The relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft has gone through better times. And when their technological alliance began, it was one of the first examples that indicated to us that all this AI was going to last for a long time. And here we find ourselves, in a much more delicate and powerful panorama in equal measure. However, now this alliance is going through one of its most tense moments, and the culprit has names and surnames: OpenAI would be developing its own code hosting platform, rivaling GitHub, which belongs to Microsoft. We tell you all the details. Why does this matter? GitHub is one of Microsoft’s crown jewels in the technology ecosystem. If OpenAI continues with this project, it would be attacking one of the most strategic businesses of its main partner and investor, the same company that has injected billions of dollars in its growth since 2019. And over the last two years, their relationship has gone from being symbiotic to being, on certain fronts, directly competitive. What exactly happened. According to account The Information, several OpenAI engineers would have been fed up with the constant GitHub service outages in recent months. So they decided to consider building their own alternative. As the medium shares, the project is still in the initial phase, so it could take months to see the light (if it ever does), but the medium assures that the possibility of selling it as a product to OpenAI clients is already being considered. At the moment no company has confirmed or denied it. Renegotiations. The crazy idea of ​​​​building your own GitHub arrives in full renegotiation of the terms of that same alliance that they forged a few years ago, a process that, according to the Wall Street Journalhas become extremely tense. As the media reports, OpenAI wants to reduce dependence on Microsoft in computing and distribution, and is also trying close the acquisition of Windsurfthe AI ​​startup from which Google also got involved to keep a good part of the talent. The problem: Microsoft has access to all of OpenAI’s intellectual property under the current agreement, and OpenAI doesn’t want that to include the purchase of Windsurf. Microsoft, for its part, offers its own AI programming tool, GitHub Copilotwhich competes directly with what OpenAI is trying to build. Media fight. According to the WSJseveral OpenAI executives have gone so far as to internally debate what they describe as a “nuclear option”: publicly accusing Microsoft of anti-competitive behavior and seeking a federal regulatory review of the contract. That is, take the fight to the legal and media arena. That this possibility is on the table says a lot about the level to which the conflict has reached. Both companies have also been fighting for some time over the percentage of participation that Microsoft would have in the new for-profit entity which OpenAI wants to become. OpenAI has until the end of the year to complete that transformation or lose $20 billion in funding it had committed to. How we got here. Microsoft first invested in OpenAI in 2019 with 1 billion dollars. In exchange, it gained the exclusive right to sell OpenAI’s tools through its Azure cloud and preferential access to its technology. For years, it was a sweetheart deal for the two: Microsoft positioned itself as a leader in enterprise AI and OpenAI got the infrastructure and money to grow. But now the market has changed a lot, and what was a relationship of mutual dependence has become a race in which the two compete on almost the same fronts: consumer chatbots, productivity tools with AI, solutions for companies, etc. For now, both companies maintain the official speech of optimism about their ability to continue building together. But the cracks are increasingly difficult to cover. In Xataka | Aragón is becoming a Spanish data center giant thanks to Amazon. There is still a big unknown

Neuro-sama is the AI ​​that has dethroned all human streamers on Twitch because it doesn’t need to eat or sleep

by

2026 already has its first milestone in the history of streaming: for the first timethe channel with the highest number of active subscribers on Twitch does not belong to a human creator. Neuro-sama, a VTuber generated entirely by artificial intelligencereached 162,459 active subscribers at the beginning of the year, dethroning all flesh-and-blood streamers on the platform. This figure places the channel vedal987from where Neuro-sama emits, in an unprecedented position: an artificial entity that surpasses established rivals in paying audiences. More human than humans. The origin of Neuro-sama dates back to 2019, when the British developer known as Vedal designed an artificial intelligence system initially aimed at running games of the rhythm video game ‘osu!’. Three years later, in December 2022, the project evolved into its current format: a VTuber that combines multiple technological layers to simulate the presence and activities of a human streamer. According to its creator, Neuro-sama’s visual infrastructure is developed in C# using the Unity engine, while the artificial intelligence systems work in Python. It is expressed. Neuro-sama’s architecture rests on a LLM (Large Language Model), technology that processes billions of parameters to generate coherent conversations in real time. These models form the basis of chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot, and operate by predicting sequences of words according to patterns learned during their training. Added to this conversational core are voice synthesis systems that generate the characteristic high-pitched tonality, and an avatar animated using Live2D technology that reacts visually to interactions. The result is a digital entity capable of maintaining dialogues, playing video games and responding to chat without direct human intervention during broadcasts. Audience records. Neuro-sama’s upward trajectory in terms of viewership is completely unusual. In January 2025, during its second annual “subathon” (a continuous broadcast format whose duration depends on subscriptions received), the channel set a world record by reaching level 111 on Twitch’s Hype Train system, an indicator that measures the intensity of subscriptions and donations over concentrated periods of time. That milestone, which surpassed the 106 levels of the previous record, seemed difficult to match. However, just eleven months later, in December 2025, Neuro-sama pulverized its own brand. The channel completed a level 120 Hype Trainaccumulating 118,989 subscriptions and 1,000,073 bits in a limited period of time. This figure makes vedal987 the only channel that has managed to break the global Hype Train record twice in a row, a distinction that earned him a global Twitch emote usable by any user of the platform. You peel them. lThe economic implications are notable. According to data from TwitchTracker, with 162,459 active subscribers and applying Twitch’s standard revenue split (which varies depending on individual agreements, but is usually around 50% for the creator), the channel would generate approximately $400,000 per month exclusively from subscriptions, not counting direct donations, additional bits or advertising deals. Currently, vedal987 occupies the 3rd place in the historical ranking of channels with the most Twitch subscriptions. He has a sister. In March 2023, Evil Neuro was born, presented as the “twin sister” of the original character. Vedal conceived this second entity so that Neuro-sama could interact with herself, but the project resulted in a differentiated personality with its own voice, visual model, and behavior. Both AIs have transcended the streaming format: in December 2022, Neuro-sama premiered ‘LIFE‘, his first original song. In August 2024 both launched ‘NEVER‘, the first duet between the two entities. The problems. The phenomenon has problematic antecedents: Nothing, Forevera series inspired by Seinfeld and generated entirely by algorithms, was suspended from Twitch after making transphobic comments. The Rubius experimented Similar dilemmas with DegenerIAa channel where ChatGPT controlled all conversations. In fact, one of the DegenerIA characters made derogatory comments about the streamer Pokimane, showing that automatic moderation systems do not always filter inappropriate content. Neuro-sama herself faced a temporary ban in 2023 for controversial statements, a reminder that the conversational autonomy of these systems carries risks. The rise of VTubers with AI. Conventional VTubers, until now, were humans controlling virtual avatars in real time through facial and body motion capture systems. Hololive, the Japanese agency that dominates this sector, manages figures such as Gawr Gura, whose YouTube channel exceeds four million subscribers. These creators choose to represent themselves through animated characters for reasons ranging from protecting privacy to building digital identities. Neuro-sama represents a qualitative leap: here there is no human behind the avatar. The VTuber industry has experienced sustained growth that YouTube quantified like this: Between 2022 and 2024, VTubers-related content generated an average of 50 billion views annually on the platform. The market for tools to produce this type of content has also become democratized: platforms such as Akool, HeyGen and VTube Studio allow creators without advanced technical knowledge to generate interactive avatars with a very small investment. Doubts about the future. What is clear is that this boom of technology-driven VTubers is full of imbalances. Continuous broadcasting without the need for rest gives these entities a structural advantage over human streamers who need to sleep, eat or simply disconnect. The question of whether this constitutes unfair competition or simply technological evolution remains without a clear answer. In Xataka | We have a problem with AI. Those who were most enthusiastic at the beginning are starting to get tired of it.

The judge has allowed it to eat up the inner courtyard of the block

by

The elevator is a necessary element in any building, but there was a time when it was not so common. Many old buildings face a problem: they want to install an elevator, but it doesn’t fit in the stairwell. It is not usually common, but there are cases in which installing the elevator involves “eating” part of the homes. The conflict. Our colleagues tell it Xataka Home. Given the lack of space in the common areas, a community of Madrid residents unanimously agreed to install the elevator, occupying part of the private patios of the ground floor homes. One of the two affected homeowners took the case to court, claiming that installation in the stairwell was possible. The judge agreed with him and the community’s decision was annulled, but it didn’t end there. The sentence. The community of neighbors appealed to the Provincial Court, which ended up agreeing with them. The problem with installing the elevator in the common areas is that it did not comply with the regulations, but it also meant causing great damage to the building because the staircase had to be demolished, in addition to blocking access to the homes for a long time. The criterion was based on the general interest of the community and the fact that the installation in the courtyard was much more reasonable from a technical point of view. The private use. In the case of this sentence, the space occupied by the elevator is the private use patio of the first floor. That is, the property belongs to the community, but its use is exclusive to one of the neighbors since access is through their home. As stated in Economist & Juristhe article 9 of the Horizontal Property Law It is clear: “a permanent easement can be built over a private space, without requiring the consent of the affected owner,” as long as it is justified and is of interest to the community. Mandatory installation. The LPH establishes that the elevator is mandatory if a resident requests the facility for accessibility reasons. The community will be obliged to install it and its cost must be borne by all owners. It can also be approved by a simple majority, which prevents the installation from being blocked if, for example, the neighbors on the ground floor or first floor refuse to do so. Sometimes they eat the kitchen. There are many buildings without elevators that do not have space in common areas and, in some cases, their installation requires invading part of the homes or a commercial premisesthat is, a private property. As stated in The Confidentialthe Supreme Court declared that it is “an easement of passage in favor of the community.” Of course, in these cases the owner has the right to compensation, which will be set based on the value of the square meter. Or the street. In Madrid it is quite common to see elevators attached to the façade of the building and that invade part of the sidewalk. This is an exceptional measure to guarantee accessibility to the building, provided there is no other remedy. According to the regulationsthe sidewalk must remain at least 1.8 meters wide, although in some specific cases it is allowed to narrow to 1.5 meters and even 1.20 meters if there are no other options. In this case, the project must be presented to the city council, which is the one who studies and approves whether to grant the planning permission for works. In other communities such as Cantabria, lThe regulations also contemplate this possibility. Image | Laura Sacristán, Xataka In Xataka | What changes does the new Spanish regulations ask to make in elevators before July 1?

Spaniards eat much less fish than 30 years ago and a big reason is on the horizon: laziness in cooking it.

by

The data is clear. Fish consumption has been going on for decades losing ground in the refrigerators and kitchens of Spanish homes. We eat less and less, which is already noticeable in the sector, with the loss of thousands of fishmongers. There are, however, certain businesses that seem to be weathering the storm and even your sales increaseand they achieve it basically thanks to a different bet, focused on the sale of ready-to-eat fish, online orders and home delivery. It is interesting because this reveals to us that the great fish crisis may not be so much a question of taste as much as it is a question of habits and cultural change. What has happened? That fish is not immune to the social and consumer changes that have been affecting the food industry for years. Only in his case the trend is especially interesting. Sector data has long shown that Spanish households buy less and less fresh fish, which among other things has precipitated the closure of thousands of fishmongersbusinesses that deal with other challenges, such as the lack of generational change. There are clues, however, that in reality not the entire sector is suffering. We Spaniards today may have less fish in our refrigerators or cook it less than our parents or grandparents, but the consumption associated with leisure, the away from homeis not having a bad time. Not only that. There are certain specialized businesses (such as those dedicated to the sale of ready-to-eat fish or home delivery) that they assure be selling more. Do we eat less fish? If we base ourselves on the data Regarding domestic consumption from the Ministry of Food (MAPA), the answer is clear: yes, with fluctuations. His latest reportwith data for the year from August 2024 to July 2025, shows that the consumption of fishing products has decreased by 2.1%. If we talk specifically about the purchase of fish (not counting shellfish or preserves) the puncture has been 4.4%, 5.4% in the case of fresh merchandise. They may not seem like big declines, but the crisis facing fish is better understood when the temporal focus is expanded and per capita consumption data is analyzed. In that case, a collapse is confirmed that has hit the sector squarely. own Fedepesca warns that in recent years “local businesses in general and fishmongers in particular have lost a third of their stores.” Does all consumption fall? Not quite. Recently we told you how there are certain species that have seen their consumption rebound (in the case of smoked salmon and trout) and above all how fish consumption seems to be resisting and even increasing outside the home. This is suggested by the “extradomestic consumption” report of Mercasawhich in 2023 saw a rebound of 2.6%. The last ones quarterly data They also show an increase in the demand for fish. The truth is that for years it has been easier to find establishments and even chains that serve poké dishes with salmon, sushi, sashimi or ceviche, in addition to the traditional fish offering. Year Per capita consumption of fish products (kg) Per capita consumption of fish (kg) fresh fish frozen fish 1990 30.4 19 13.6 5.4 1995 29.4 18.2 14.6 3.6 2000 24.32 14.45 11.72 2.73 2005 28.36 16.40 13.39 3.01 2010 27.3 15.38 12.05 3.33 2015 25.9 14.46 11.64 2.82 2020 24.83 13.25 10.58 2.68 2024 17.99 9.31 7.31 2 And on other channels? A few days ago the SER published an analysis which gives clues to other business avenues that seem to be weathering or even saving themselves from the decline in fresh fish consumption: businesses dedicated to the marketing of ready-to-eat foods and those focused on home delivery. That is, those that facilitate and personalize consumption. There is not much data, but SER provides two specific examples that help understand the phenomenon. The first is the Catalan supermarket chain Plusfreshwhich offers customers the option of taking home ready-to-eat fish. The company claims that they have installed ovens in all their establishments, which has allowed them to considerably increase sales of seafood products. “Five years ago, 8% of the fish we invoiced went through the oven, today it is around 16%. In these five years we have doubled the sale of these products,” precise. He is not the only one walking in that direction. In your line “ready to eat”Mercadona has included salmon and sushi poké. Are there more examples? Yes. The SER cites another case: Peix a Casaan online fishmonger that allows you to schedule deliveries and that has gone from selling a few boxes of fish a week to managing between 100 and 150 orders each day. Its owner explains that a decade and a half ago began to bet on the fish delivery service, a formula that it hasn’t gone bad: From working with fifteen well-known clients, we have gone on to dispatch thousands and thousands of annual orders with an enviable year-on-year growth rate of around 20%. Why’s that? Because the sector suspects that the problem is not that fish is no longer liked or that it has become too expensive. In fact, in the last year, domestic demand for smoked salmon and canned clams and mussels has increased. considerably. The key would be something else: a cultural change that prevents younger people from buying and preparing fish at home. “We have a special focus on the young public, those people up to forty years old, who we have seen are not having access to seafood. For us it is a key audience,” recognize from Pesca de España. It won’t be easy because in the background there is a larger trend: a growing interest in cooked and ready-to-eat food, which has even led some (among them Juan Roig) to predict the end of traditional kitchens at home. Images | Jorge Franganillo (Flickr) In Xataka | A Japanese restaurant has taken its obsession with fresh fish to the extreme: it lets you catch it yourself

is that they “hack” your brain so that you eat even more

by

The consumption of ultra-processed foods For many, it is an ideal option in the case of not having time to cook or simply because it is something they don’t like to do. The problem is that science recently issued an alert what points to the risk that exists between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and structural changes in the brain that cause us to eat even more. As if it were a true ‘vicious circle’ from which it is very difficult to escape. The study. Using data extracted from brain scans Of almost 30,000 middle-aged participants, the team of scientists has seen the relationship between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and markers of adiposity, inflammation, or metabolism. But what interests us in this case, above all, are the modifications in brain structure. For this they used the data from UK Biobankmaking the average intake of ultra-processed foods among those studied 46% of the energy consumed in an entire day. But what was also interesting is that the scans measured cortical thickness, the integrity of the white matter and the microstructure of deep areas related to feeding. Changes in the brain. High consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with changes in brain regions that play an important role in controlling appetite and the reward effectespecially the nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus, putamen and amygdala. The fact that it alters nucleus accumbens It is related to the reduction of neurons and an increase in extracellular space that is compatible with the processes associated with overeating and food addiction. But in addition, the study found that part of these changes were mediated by systemic inflammation and metabolic imbalances. An addictive loop. Although part of the effect involves increased adiposity and inflammation, the analysis suggests direct mechanisms on brain areas that regulate compulsive eating behaviors. Specifically, the brain changes associated with the consumption of ultra-processed foods could reinforce patterns of seeking out and excessive consumption of these same products, creating a loop that perpetuates eating the same thing. This fits quite well within clinical theories about the addictive nature of some processes and their ability to “hijack” brain circuits, reward. These circuits are what generate the pleasure that opens the door for us to have an addiction to the ‘stimulus’ that presses that pleasure button that we have in the brain. There are exceptions. Obviously, not all ultra-processed foods are the same. The research clearly differentiates between processed foods. There are some that are clearly positive, such as frozen vegetables, but others are negative, these being those that have industrial addictives and chemically modified compounds. Specifically, it has been seen how the harmful effects are strongly linked to additives such as emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners and other compounds that promote the intestinal inflammation that we hate so much, impacting the brain directly. And we already know that attacking the microbiota of our intestine has consequences that are increasingly important. Public health. The conclusions of the study reinforce the growing consensus in the scientific literature on the impact of ultra-processed foods on health. The accumulated evidence points to the importance of reducing its consumption and moving towards stricter regulations on the composition and also the advertising that is being done. The authors of the study point to the need to reduce the intake of ultra-processed foods and strengthen standards within the industry to improve the health of all citizens. Something that also has an impact on them having less contact with the doctor and that can liberalize services. Reprogramming brains. Faced with the question of whether ‘ultraprocessing’ reprograms our brain, there is still a long way to go to analyze the different pathways that exist. But clearly we are facing a first step in understanding food addiction. Images | Kobby Mendez Shelley Evans In Xataka | When it comes to meat, science knows there’s something better than protein shakes: lean pork

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.