Europe

Spain has filled Europe with excellent tomatoes that do not know anything. It’s time to step further

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The story is known: last year, the reputed French socialist policy Ségolène Royal gave a television interview in BFM.TV in which I accused Spanish tomatoes of being “false bio”to “deceive the consumer” and come to say that they were “surable.” Government, agricultural associations and personalities Like Jose Andrés They went out in Tromba to defend the Spanish product. So and today, the controversy should be to ask ourselves if there is something to learn from all this. But let’s start with the obvious. Spanish tomatoes are excellent. For decades, in fact, Spain has been the international reference of this product, and doing so is not easy. Remember that tomato is the fruit and vegetable culture more valuable What world. Only in 2021 they were consumed in the world More than 189 million of metric tons and represents 31% of all the vegetables that occur in Europe. That is, there is a lot of money in the tomato and there are many countries behind that money. Spain would not have been for years One of the great exporters of tomatoes from the world, nor would it have conquered all European markets, without extremely high quality and standards. Well know in Almería that a small failure It takes you out of the market in a matter of days. The kings of tomato … commercial. In fact, if we go down to detail, Spain nails three main types of best -selling tomatoes internationally: the balls, the Saladette and the cocktail. Within these typologies, the varieties of the Spanish field continue to excel in color, size and useful life. The problem is not that. The problem has never been that. The problem is that we have given Europe (and the rest of the world) just what they wanted: colorful tomatoes, good size and easy to handle “post-recreational.” And we have done it at a good price. That is, we have given them the best possible commercial tomatoes. The problem is that these tomatoes do not know Tomate. And commercial tomatoes lost the taste. In 2017, a team of researchers from the University of Florida led by Harry Klee They analyzed 398 different varieties of tomatoes with the idea of ​​tracing the genetic bases of their organoleptic qualities. His conclusions were that, while the smell-for-the balance of fruits such as banana and strawberry depend on a single volatile compound (or very few), “the tomato needs about 25 different compounds to build its unmistakable organoleptic identity. “ The composition. That are dozens of amino acids, sugars and well -balanced volatile compounds. A chemical balance that on the way to find better colors, sizes and durability, became something very difficult to maintain. And that, in fact, it has not been maintained: it is a common place to say that the tomatoes no longer know tomato, but the investigation He supports it. According to Klee and his team, commercial varieties only have 13 of the 25 volatile compounds that give the smell of tomato. There is life beyond commercial varieties. Faced with these varieties of great views, productivity and durability, we have other types of tomatoes: what is called ‘Heirloom’ (of ‘inheritance’ or ‘family relic’). A tailor drawer to talk about local or regional varieties, with little circulation, whose development process has allowed them to maintain a well-balanced flavor. It is not a miracle. We talk about less productive tomatoes (the plant can ensure more sugar in each fruit) and that, being little resistant to post-harvest handling “, have shorter distribution chains that allow greater maturation in Mata. That is, their technical limitations play against their commercialization, but in favor of their flavor. As is obvious, Spain is full of tomatoes of this type. Not only Barbastro’s pink tomato or Tudela’s ugly, no. The list is endless: the Montgrí de Girona, the Cor de Bou, the Mutxamel of Alicante, the Galician monfortes, the Avoa de Osdo, the tomatoes of the Sierra de la Culebra, the black tomato safe, the Mallorcan Valldemassa and a long etc. . No one in their healthy judgment can bite a well -matured mutxamel and take seriously that Spanish tomatoes do not know anything. I don’t know if Ségolène Royal compared a Spanish commercial tomato with A French Heirloom variety or simply I was doing politicsbut it is true that beyond all The inaccuracies and tone outputsthere is something interesting about what we can reflect as a country. Spain and the tomatoes of the future. In 2022 and for the first time in history, Moroccan tomato sold more than Spanish. And not a little: sold 21.3%. Gradually, the United Kingdom and especially France have begun to replace Spanish tomatoes for those from the other side of the Strait. There are many reasons behind this, but few solutions. And, although Spain is still very strong in the rest of Europe and is opening a hole in the North American market, the ‘sorpasso’ is a warning to navigators. The regulatory advantage of belonging to the EU is getting rid And what we started to see is an agricultural giant with mud feet. And it’s time to take it seriously. We know that to continue being an international reference in the sector we will have to launch one of the “agricultural transformations” more important in history, the question is whether we take advantage of our competitive advantage to lead these changes or engage in an international war that We don’t seem like we can win. Image | Josephine Baran In Xataka | We have a problem with pesticides in agriculture. And a bigger one with the panic they generate In Xataka | To save Spanish wine, government and producers have come to a conclusion: you have to start starting vineyards *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2024

Three years after the beginning of the war, Europe wants to enter. The problem is that there is only one prepared nation: Ukraine

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Europe has decades without a direct armed conflict in its territory, with the exception of Yugoslavia wars in the 90sthe last great episode of violence in European soil. Since then, security in the continent has been marked by A strategy based on deterrence and diplomacymore than in military confrontation. And, suddenly, the conflict in Ukraine recalled that fireworks It is not the same as direct fire. Europe before Ukraine. As we said, the European armed forces have been reserve for a long time. In fact and how we will see, mostly they have been reduced and adapted to a context of stability, with investments limited in defense and a focus on Peace maintenance and humanitarian assistance operationssuch as missions in Balkans, Africa or the Middle East. Despite the growth of NATO and its presence in Eastern Europe, European armies have been more accustomed to acting in controlled scenarios that to prepare a direct confrontation against a weight opponent such as Russia. Fireworks. In fact, this approach has led to many military operations from European countries being Mainly exercises, joint maneuvers and drills in allied countries such as Slovakia, Poland or Latviabut without the real experience of a conventional combat against a military power. And it is not the same to deploy troops for an exercise in the Baltic countries to face in battle against a force like the Russian army. Enter the war. Under all this context we arrive at this week. A few days ago several European leaders have gathered in Paris to discuss the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine as part of A possible peace agreementalthough the viability of this measure depends largely on the support of the United States. In fact, the summit was promoted by the decision of the Trump administration of exclude Europe from negotiations They started in Saudi Arabia between Washington and Moscow, although Trump has suggested that Europeans could perform “a peace maintenance role.” Plans and divisions. And then Europe seems to have realized that the “defense” had it careless. According to The Washington Postsome European countries consider The deployment of up to 30,000 soldiersthat, yes, they would not be on the front line, but as a deterrence in case of a resumption of the conflict. Another option, or plan B, is the one that They have called “resettlement force” destined to protect Ukraine from future Russian attacks in case a peace agreement negotiated by the United States is reached. That said, France is the country with the most advanced plans estimating that could contribute almost 10,000 soldierswhile the United Kingdom, through its prime minister Keir Starmer, has opened The possibility of a British contribution. And so far, because the rest of the countries have shown a more ambiguous position. Sweden and the Netherlands, for example, They do not rule out the shipment of troopsbut they have not made a specific decision. Germany, Poland and Spain have rejected the idea, At least for now. Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz emphasized that Any solution should be based on a strong Ukrainian forcewhile Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, said that Warsaw “does not contemplate sending Poles soldiers to Ukraine.” For its part, the Spanish government was blunt when pointing out that Peace is still far and only depends on Putinmaking it clear that any military mission should define objective, participants, mandate and leadership. Strategic objectives. If the “plan B” is given, with a peace agreement underway, the main mission of this eventual “resettlement force” would be guarantee the safety of Ukrainian airspaceallowing the reopening of commercial flights, and protect maritime trade in the Black Sea, fundamental for grain exports and other essential goods for the Ukrainian economy. It would also be prioritized The protection of key infrastructure such as Public Plant and Public Servicesthat have been constant target of Russian bombing since the beginning of the war. Ukraine proposes a broader approach. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky stated that Ukraine’s security does not necessarily require foreign troops in his territory. Proposed The creation of “Armed Forces of Europe”capable of responding on land, sea, air and artificial intelligence before any Russian aggression. He also stressed that advanced air defense systems would be effective measures to strengthen security without requiring permanent foreign troops. The elephant in the room. No doubt, Europe’s plan faces important diplomatic obstacles, the first of all: United States support It is, at the moment, uncertain. Although the Trump administration has insisted that European troops must guarantee the security of a future peace agreement, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made it clear that They must be part of a mission not related to NATO and not be protected by article 5 of mutual defense. Not just that. Even in the uncertain scenario of a peace agreement, the mission and role of Europe would require an American “backstop”that is, a support from the United States in case of a military escalation. Although there are no specific details, this support is expected It focuses on aerial power with operations based on Poland and Romania. In this regard, Starmer and Macron will travel to Washington next week To press Trump and ensure that the United States provides this strategic support. “Old” defenses. In the background, what is showing is a great weakness in its defenses, possibly oxidized. In fact, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, warned this week at the Munich Security Conference that Ukraine is making weapons faster and less cost than any other country in Europe. It is not a trivial detail. It does so despite being at war, which shows the slowness of the continent in strengthening its military capacity. Frederiksen urged to reduce bureaucracy and increase arms production in collaboration with the United States emphasizing that Europe can no longer act as if it were in peacetime. The rise of the Ukrainian military industry. From the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has exponentially increased its armament productionmanufacturing missiles, obuses and large -scale drones. In 2024, 30% of the military equipment used … Read more

There are more and more intrusions of Saharan dust in southern Europe. Now we know that fungi and bacteria are accompanied

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Since 2021, Calima’s episodes They have been increasingly frequent and intense. In fact, in these few years, the intrusions of Saharian dust in Spain have doubled. We already knew that this was becoming A huge public health problem And that, at the same time, it was a key factor in fertilization of large areas of the planet. What we just discovered is, in addition to dust, there are many more things in that calima. How are “more things”? A joint research team of the Blanes Advanced Studies Center (CEAB-CSIC) and the Ecological Research and Forest Applications Center (CREAF) He has discovered that “bacteria and fungi from the soils of the deserts of North Africa occupy the skies of southern Europe continuously.” They do, in fact, “even long after the great injections of Saharian dust produced by the episodes of Calima.” Analyzing 30 years of rains. To discover it, researchers They have studied Rain samples between 1987 and 2014 and have compared the results with the soils of the deserts of North Africa. In addition, they have recreated the main atmospheric dynamics that are in charge of dispersing microorganisms globally. And this is important? The truth is that yes. Until now It was thought that the microbiota present in a specific ecosystem was basically derived from that ecosystem and its neighbors. Now we have experimental record that continental distances can travel without major problem. On a practical level, all this not only has an impact on soil fertilization, but also on the spread of antibiotic -resistant genes or allergies. Could it be that the growth of allergies among the population was linked to that growth in dust intrusions on the peninsula? The increasingly small world. During the last decades we have believed that new information and transport technologies have made the world smaller and smaller. And it’s true. What we did not know is that the world was already very small before all this. And that changes the preconceived ideas we had been handling. Therefore, it is getting clearer, that we will have to assume the complicated task of manage comprehensive all ecological systems of the earth. And we better be prepared to do it well. Image | Copernicus In Xataka | More pollen, more deaths behind the wheel: the unexpected effect of the allergies season on traffic accidents

A Polish called the police for a fallen tank from heaven. It is from a spacex rocket that rented without control in Europe

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The second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket of Spacex rented last night without control over Europe, illuminating the sky of several Central European countries with flashes as they burned in the atmosphere. Not all the rocket disintegrated. This morning they found a deposit in Poland. Night show. From Germany, From Denmark, From Poland itself. They were not even 5 in the morning, but on social networks they began to appear videos of the Metal remains Burning with drama in the night sky of central Europe. Atmospheric resentments are a show that we are increasing 13.8 meters long by 3.66 meters in diameter. A tank fell in Poland. It is not usual for a Spacex rocket to resent without control, so it is even less common for him to do so in a place as densely populated as Europe. But the rocket did not disintegrate completely and part of the remains fell, without causing damage, on the outskirts of Poznań, a city of half a million inhabitants west of Poland. At 9:20 in the morning, an employee of an industrial plant He warned the police that an object had “fallen from heaven” in its facilities. It was a pressure tank coated with carbon fiber (COPV) identical to the one that appeared on a Washington farm in 2021. Trajectory of the reentry of the rocket on Europe according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell On that occasion, it was confirmed that it was A helium deposit of the second stage of a Falcon 9. The object, of a meter and a half of length, is pressurized to 400 bars and is capable of resisting extreme conditions, including the reentry. In the Washington farm left a crater of 10 centimeters deep on the earth, a sample of the speed at which he re -entered the atmosphere. It was a rocket failure. Spacex is the Ryanair of Space, the company that launches most rockets with a difference: two to three per week. Does this mean that we will have to go out with a helmet to the street? Not necessarily. Like most rockets (China has notorious exceptions), The second stage of the Falcon 9 fuel reserve to exorbitite on the ocean with a motor re -desence once the load is deployed. In this case, the remains that fell on Europe are due to a technical failure in the launch of the Starlink 11-4 mission, which He failed to readece his engine to exorbitar on February 2. The rocket spin around the earth to enter the atmosphere naturally due to gravity. He did it on February 19, 3:43 UTC, in a trajectory extended to Ukraine and that coincides with the remains found in Poland. Images | Ludi-e, Adam Borucki (X) In Xataka | A strange object appeared in a Glamping of North Carolina. They were the remains of a Spacex spacecraft

To survive in Europe, our Paleolithic ancestors turned to an extreme practice: cannibalism

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More and more evidence is that our ancestors resorted, at least occasionally, to cannibalism. We are not speaking in this case of other human species, such as Neanderthals, who could have practiced dozens or hundreds of thousands of years but also Homo sapiensthat had already become the only humans in Europe and the rest of the world. New tests. A recent study led by researchers from the Catalan Institut of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolved (IPHES-CERCA) He has shown New indications of cannibalism among humans. They found them in the Polish site of the Maszycka cave, whose remains would go back about 18,000 years ago. Europe in the Magdaleniense. This places the finding in the context of the Magdalenian period in Europe. This period that owes its name to the French site of the Madeleine covers various European settlements between 19,000 and 14,000 years old, they explain in An article for The conversation Some of the members of the study responsible for the study: Francesc Marginedas Miró, Antonio Rodriguez-Hidalgo and Palmira Saladié Ballesté, researchers from the IPHES-CERCA and CSIC. The period follows an era of important changes in Europe, mainly derived from the end of the last era era. The ice setback left behind an ideal environment for a change in ecosystems, and with it the expansion to the north of modern humans. From burial to the table. As the team continues, the Magdaleniense, to others of his cave paintings, also stands out for careful funeral rites, burials “with care and offerings”, at least for some of his dead. Because to others what expected them was the flint of the tools with which they were expired. 63 bones. The new analysis studied more than fifty remains found in the Polish Cave of Maszycka, located near Cracovia. They belonged to half a dozen individuals, both adults and children. The remains found together with animal remains and many with signs of having been manipulated. Despite this, the hypothesis that this manipulation responded to simple funeral rites had not been ruled out. The new analysis has incorporated new 3D microscopy techniques in the study of brands, which has allowed distinguishing brands caused by humans from others, such as those that would have caused other carnivores. “The location and frequency of cutting marks and intentional fracturing in skelet added in a press release Marginedas. The details of the work were published In an article In the magazine Scientific Reports. To the core. The study revealed other details that can give us some clues of the context in which this consumption of human flesh was produced. For example, the team points out, the bodies were prosecuted shortly after death, thus avoiding the decomposition of tissues. In Xataka | We have been looking for the mysterious ancestor town of the Indo -Europeans. We have a new track in DNA Image | IPhes-Cerca

The largest campus in Europe will arrive with an investment Emiratí multimillionaire

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If they ask us what place in the world concentrates the largest number of companies from Artificial Intelligence (AI) known, the most obvious response would be the United States. The North American country is the home of OpenAi, Microsoft, Google, goal, among others. Europe, on the other hand, does not have such recognizable names in the sector. And it is no accident: if the continent wants to compete from you to you with its main rivals, including the thriving Chinese marketyou need to bet more strongly for this industry. Along these lines, some governments are already implementing certain initiatives. At the community level, Brussels has announced an investment of 52 million eurosSpain has laid the foundations for an “public and open” With a strategic planand France wants to lead with the largest IA campus in Europe From the hand of the United Arab Emirates. The latter has been released recently by both governments and promises to arrive accompanied by a multi -million dollar investment. Betting on artificial intelligence France aspires to play a leading role in the rise of algorithms. This week, Paris was the epicenter of a World Summit on AIwhere experts from around the world entered the threats and promises of this technology. Within the framework of this event, President Emmanuel Macron and Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of the United Arab Emirates, They witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between their countriesa pact that promises to enhance the development of joint projects. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed al Nahyan, leader of the United Arab Emirates (up to the left), Emmanuel Macron, president of France (above right) As the Emirates news agency collectsthe alliance includes an investment by the nation rich in oil in France, as well as “the acquisition of avant -garde chips, the infrastructure of data centers and the talent development, and by establishing virtual data embassies to allow Sovereign AI and cloud infrastructure in both countries. ” The French government, meanwhile, has pointed out that the initiative contemplates the construction of a huge data center. Its exact location has not yet been revealed, but what is known is that it will be a 1 Gigavatio installation within a largest IA campus in Europe. This ambitious project, with an estimated investment of between 30,000 and 50,000 million euroswill be led by a Franco-Emirati consortium, with the MGX investment fund, backed by United Arab Emirates. We will have to wait to see how this initiative develops and if it manages to reinforce the position of the European country, home of companies such as Mistral AI, in an increasingly competitive sector. Images | Emmanuel Macron in X | Zayed al Nahyan in X | Xataka with Grok In Xataka | Companies that violate the AI ​​law will have a very fat problem: one called 7% of their income

A van full of solar panels has been circulating in Europe for four months. The result is as good as doubtful

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The anxiety for autonomy It is still one of the great inconvenience when convincing the skeptics of the electric car. For years, manufacturers juggle the kilometers that can be traveled with a single battery charge. There are even debates on how interesting it is more interesting to increase the size of the batteries or improve recharge times. Among those juggling has been tested with solar panels as a solution to problems. An option that until now does not seem to have given the expected results but that some German researchers point out as an interesting solution to win up to 30% autonomy. What is behind this study? A solar van that promises 30% more autonomy The use of solar energy for the battery recharge of a car and the increase in its autonomy has been studying for a long time. In fact, in 2022 the Lightyear 0an electric car with solar panels that promised to extend autonomy in 70 kilometers every day. Just over a year later, the company itself announced that closed its vehicle division And that, from now on, he would stay with the only thing that seemed to have a future: his solar panels. Its history is the best example of how everything that has to do with the application of solar panels seems to work in cars. Promises of increases of dozens of kilometers of autonomyinterest is generated, it is proven that the system is not so much and ends up falling into oblivion. In an electric car, the space to incorporate solar panels is very small. It can be done on the roof, on the hood and in the trunk. However, the surface is relatively small, the curved shapes of the pieces make the solar sheets that can be incorporated and, as if that were not enough, the results are little encouraging. In fact, the Mercedes Vision EQXXthat the German company uses for its leading tests with the electric car, barely recovered 43 kilometers on a trip that lasted more than 1,200 kilometers thanks to its solar panels. The company, however, is sure that the system can be interesting and The last thing he has tried is a solar paint with which they ensure that they can suppose up to 12,000 additional kilometers per year in a medium SUV and in the light conditions of Germany. Mercedes points out that the efficiency of the system is 20% but has not confirmed what price we are talking or when they expect to be commercially available. At the moment, everything is still part of more research. Which, on the contrary, affirms the study by the Gauss Center for Supercomputing EV and the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, published in Wiley It is that a light commercial vehicle can take performance to this technology. They base their studies on a project that began in 2021. Then, they filled the body of a small van and analyzed the energy recovered between the months of April and July of that year in Hannover. According to its results, the van I could have traveled 530 km from the 1750 km circulated. That is, 30% of the total distance. However, you have to take several things into account. The van left every morning early (5:00 am) to Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin (ISFH). There, the car was detained for hours until the working day was over and the driver returned home touring, again, the approximate 45 minutes it took to his work. They ensure that with this system the van was able to take advantage of more than 60% of the recovered energy and that, in total, extended its autonomy by 30%. However, in the study it is clear that they are estimates in which the energy recovered by the regenerative braking has been discriminated against, for example. They also point out that the tests were performed in the spring and summer months, where the incidence of sunlight is much greater. But, above all, there is a great but: we are talking about a commercial vehicle that spent hours and hours detained and, in addition, strategically positioning to obtain the greatest possible radiation over time. In this way, they reduced shade areas and less efficient areas. Of course, this is not the way of working that is expected of a commercial vehicle that makes much more moved days and that travels much more than 31.25 kilometers recorded in each session. In motionit is expected that the energy collected by the solar panels will be much lower because the shadow periods on the vehicle and the plates are less exposed in their best position. In addition, if the commercial vehicle moves in an urban environment, it is very likely that the shadow areas will increase. Nor is the cost that this system can have. It is possible that in a commercial vehicle it may make more sense than in a tourism but we would have to study the added weight, the increase in temperature inside the cabin and, subsequently, how long the car would need by plugging it into a fast charger (and its cost) to estimate whether or not it really makes sense. Photo | Wiley In Xataka | The owner of a Tesla Model and has filled his roof of solar panels to load “up to 100 km”. It is not a good idea

The Chinese chatbot faces its first great challenge in Europe

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Not everything is positive for Deepseek. Although the AI ​​company is receiving an avalanche of praise for its technological advances, it is also generating restlessness in terms of privacy and safety. In fact, this Thursday we are attending the first tangible consequence of this last scenario: Italy wants to block the Chinese chatbot web version. The Italian Data Protection Authority has ordered Limit the processing of Italian user data by Hangzhou Deepseek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. and Beijing Deepseek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. We are talking about the two Asian companies that control the application that has not stopped gaining popularity Since its launch. Deepseek, before the scrutiny of European regulators The press release of the aforementioned agency, entitled “Artificial Intelligence: the Italian Data Protection Authority Deepseek”, acknowledges that the AI ​​chatbot has been downloaded by millions of people In recent days, and points out that their measure seeks to preserve Italian users from the collection of data by it. In development. Images | Michele Bitetto | Screen capture

He has just launched one of the most advanced military satellites in Europe

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Spain already has one of the most advanced communications satellites of the world. Run from the United States with a Spacex rocket, the Spainsat NG 1 positions Spain as one of the NATO members with the greatest operational capacity in sovereign communications. The secret is in their antennas. The Spainsat Ng 1 communications satellite. The most advanced in Spain and the first in Europe with next -generation antennas. The spainsat Next Generation 1 was successfully deployed this morning to offer safe communications in government and military missions of the European Union, as well as its partners in the Atlantic Alliance. The satellite meets NATO’s requirements For missions and deployments, and positions Spain among the most advanced countries in sovereign communications. Adaptable to critical and emergency response operations, it is planned to remain in service until 2037, covering North and South America, Africa and the Middle East, and part of Asia to Singapore. Launch by Spacex. It is striking that a European military satellite is put into orbit by an American company. But it is not surprising, taking into account the multiple delays of Ariane 6: the only European rocket that could have launched the six -ton NG 1 spainsat. He did it Instead a Falcon 9 of Spacex From Cabo Cañaveral. The rocket loaded with 450 tons of propellants took off from the 39A platform of the Kennedy Space Center at 1:37 UTC, taking advantage of the last drop of fuel to take the satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit. His first stage was discarded without landing after 21 successful pitches, including the Japanese lunar mission Hakuto-R and the deployment of 400 Starlink satellites. Deployment in geostationary orbit. After separating from the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, the satellite undertook a solo trip until its final position in geostationary orbit, 35,786 km on the earth, a height of almost three times the diameter of the earth itself. The Spainsat NG 1 will undergo a series of commissioning tests before entering operation. The Spanish company Hisdesat will be in charge of its operations During the next 15 years, with the support of the Department of Connectivity and Safe Communications of ESA. What makes it so special. The 6.1 tons satellite, the size of a minibus, carries X Band Antennas with Beam Hopping technology, which means that they can modify the communications beam to different regions or users electronically, without moving. The antennas were developed by Airbus Defense and Space in Barajas, but A consortium of Spanish companies participated In the design and development of the satellite: Sener, Indra, Technobit, Arquimea, GMV and the Hisdesat itself. This industrial and institutional collaboration is included in the Pacis 3 project, which is in turn part of the Spainsat Next Generation program of Hisdesat, with an expected fleet of two satellites based on EUROPAR NEO DE AIRBUS technology. Images | ESA, Spacex In Xataka | In full brawl between Musk and Europe, Spacex prepares to launch the most advanced Spanish satellite ever built

LaLiga wants your biometric data to enter the field. Europe has something to say

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The Spanish soccer employer returns to the load with its intention of implementing systems of facial recognition and fingerprints in the accesses to the stadiums, despite the fact that European regulations prevent it, so they continue to work on the way of achieving it. The current situation. Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, reiterated on Tuesday in Congress his desire to apply biometric identification in the stadiums. “Within the stadiums there are people who are prohibited from entry, but the data protection agency has told us that it goes against the European regulations,” he said according to Brand. This battle is not new. In January 2024, the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) already launched a warning to LaLiga for teaching a contract to develop a facial recognition system in access to fields. Between the lines. LaLiga’s motivation is clear: reinforcing her fight against violence and racism in stadiums. The organization has filed more than 40 criminal complaints and reported more than 560 intolerant chants since 2013. Ensure that those sanctioned with the prohibition of access to the stadiums can go to the matches with the payment of another person or with a free admission is what LaLiga would seek implementing biometry. The obstacle. The General European Data Protection Regulation expressly prohibits the processing of biometric data except for very specific exceptions, such as the explicit consent of the interested party or a need for essential public interest. There are some precedents in Spain, but with many nuances. This is the case of Osasuna, which already implemented facial recognition in 2022 in the Sadar, but as a voluntary and complementary system to the traditional fertilizer. The key is precisely in their optional character: partners can choose to register their face to access the stadium or maintain their usual method. However, that did not help him to avoid a recent fine of 200,000 euros. The technology, developed by the Pamplonesa company, converts facial images into numerical codes that cannot be converted into images, thus complying with privacy requirements. Consulted by XatakaLaLiga refers to an October statement already the therabas of Thebes in Congress. In that press release, the employer stressed that “biometry would be a crucial tool for the detection and eradication of violent and racist behaviors in the stadiums.” In fact, Miguel Ángel Aguilar, prosecutor for hate crimes, supported this idea by suggesting “the reform of the data protection law to allow biometric identification, obtain evidence and condemn the people who perform the insults in the stadiums “. Deepen. The AEPD has been blunt: when there are less intrusive alternatives to verify the identity, such as showing the access title next to the ID, “it is hardly justifiable” to implement biometric systems. In addition, the agency warns that there must first be a legal basis that justifies data processing, not vice versa. For now, LaLiga continues to work with the Interior Ministry to try to find a route that allows these systems to be implemented, although the current regulatory framework seems to leave it in a difficult aspiration to materialize. Outstanding image | Gregorio Cavana in Unspash In Xataka | I have run for weeks with glasses that project data in my field of vision. The future of running will have to wait

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