explains

science explains why it is the worst possible idea

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Chances are, if you’re faced with a jellyfish sting right on the beach, someone in your group of friends will quickly suggest an eschatological solution: piss on the sting. This advice is, without a doubt, one of the most widespread home remedies in popular culture and on internet forums. Much of the blame lies with one of the most successful comedies in the history of television. In 1997, the series Friends aired the episode titled “the one with the jellyfish.” In an unforgettable scene, Monica is stung by a jellyfish and Joey quickly suggests that someone pee on her leg, claiming that he saw it on a Discovery Channel documentary and that ammonia would numb the pain. Faced with Joey’s “stage fright,” it is Chandler who finally performs the unpleasant task, leaving the trio deeply traumatized by the experience. The anecdote made millions laugh, but it also burned a supposed medical cure into the collective imagination. Fact or fiction on the seashore? Despite its television fame, science is blunt: Urinating on a jellyfish sting is an absolute myth and doesn’t work. Far from alleviating the bather’s suffering, this bodily fluid can drastically worsen the situation and increase the victim’s pain level. Various scientific studies and medical specialists completely rule out this practice. In fact, the prestigious publication Scientific American He already took care of denying this false remedy in 2007, warning of its dangers. The anatomy of a mistake. To understand why Joey’s advice is so dangerous, you first have to understand how does this animal attack. Jellyfish have thousands of specialized cells in their tentacles called cnidocytes or nematocysts. These structures work like tiny harpoons loaded with venom that, upon sensing a mechanical stimulus (such as the touch of a leg) or a chemical change, are fired in fractions of a second, injecting their toxins. The logic behind the myth is based on the fact that urine It contains compounds such as ammonia and urea, which could theoretically neutralize pain. However, human urine is composed mostly of water, so the amounts of ammonia are ridiculous and insufficient to stop stinging cells. Because it’s not a good idea. Urine is a freshwater-based liquid, and that sudden change in salinity causes the “harpoons” still attached to the skin to activate, injecting even more poison into the bloodstream. Additionally, the force and speed of the urine stream acts as a physical stimulant that agitates the residual tentacles. As jellyfish biologist Lisa Gershwin explainsthe poison is neutralized with acids, but the acidity of human urine is variable; If the pH is alkaline, it will cause 100% of the stinging cells to fire, turning this remedy into a dangerous “urinary roulette”. So what should we do? If urine is discarded, how should we act in the sand? Experts and medical institutions recommend following this first aid protocol: Wash with salt water: The area should be rinsed immediately with sea water or saline solution. Fresh water should never be used, as the change in osmotic pressure will burst the remaining stinging cells. Removing the tentacles: Remove visible remains using fine tweezers or the edge of a plastic credit card. It should never be rubbed with bare hands or rubbed with a towel or sand. Apply temperature: To relieve pain, it is very effective to immerse the area in hot water for about 20 minutes. You can also apply cold using ice, but always wrapped in a towel or plastic, never directly on the skin. Use of vinegar (with caution): The acetic acid in vinegar helps neutralize the tentacles of certain species, such as the dreaded sea wasp (Cubozoa) or the compass jellyfish. However, it is totally contraindicated in bites from the Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis), as it will make the reaction worse. Immediate medical attention: If things get complicated and symptoms appear beyond simple stinging, such as difficulty breathing, pressure in the chest, nausea, vomiting or muscle cramps, then you should seek medical help or go to the emergency room as soon as possible. The idea was a joke that looked good on screen. Pop culture is a wonderful tool for entertainment, but shows like Friends They should not be used as clinical survival manuals. When faced with a jellyfish sting, science asks us to forget beach myths, stay calm and trust in sea water, tweezers and heat. As Dr. Elias Hyams humorously summarizesa urologist at Brown University, warning about the ineffectiveness of this false home remedy: “It is always better to urinate in a bathroom than on a friend on the beach.” Image | Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash Xataka | The silent condemnation of “visual snow”: 3% of the world’s population sees the world with interference

There is an underlying reason that explains it, according to Bloomberg

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The agreement between OpenAI and Apple, announced at WWDC24brought together all the ingredients to become one of the most refined movements in the sector. The artificial intelligence company of the moment landed with its star product in the ecosystem of the technological giant where practically everyone wants to be. ChatGPT began to occupy a privileged position within the devices compatible with Apple Intelligence– The user could take advantage of its capabilities from Siri and Writing Tools, and even link their account to access a more complete experience. And yes, unlike other Apple Intelligence features, like the new Siri, that ended up being delayedthe integration with ChatGPT did end up being deployed on the apple company’s different platforms. What did not materialize, according to Mark Gurmanwere the results that OpenAI expected. The startup led by Sam Altmanexplains the Bloomberg analyst, was confident in an avalanche of new paying subscribers that would translate into billions of dollars in annual revenue, at a time when every dollar counted. Two years after that agreement, even the possibility of legal action begins to appear on the horizon. The agreement, furthermore, was not exactly frozen in that first photo from WWDC24. Bloomberg points out that the integration ended up expanding with new entry doors: users could subscribe to ChatGPT directly from the iOS settings, Apple incorporated it as an option to create images in Image Playground and also used it to analyze on-screen content. On paper, it was no small feat. The problem, always according to the sources consulted by Gurman, is that these expansions were simply not enough. An alliance without money involved, but with many expectations The economic key to the agreement helps to understand why the disenchantment weighs so much. The American media already explained in June 2024 that Apple was not paying OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its systems. Nor was it considered, at least at that time, as an operation in which OpenAI would buy its place within the iPhone. The payoff lay elsewhere: Apple offered distribution, visibility, and potential access to a gigantic user base. For a company that needed to turn popularity into recurring revenue, that promise was apparently worth as much as a check. Now, the reality was much less brilliant. Bloomberg says user studies conducted by OpenA suggest that Apple customers turned much more frequently to the standalone ChatGPT application than to the integration within Siri and other system services. That information changes the reading of the agreement. If the user already has the habit of opening the app, the presence in Apple Intelligence stops working as an entrance door and it becomes something more secondary: it is there, but it does not necessarily drive the business. The shape chosen by Apple would not have helped much either. The use of ChatGPT within their systems remained limited. The reproach attributed to OpenAI has a quite concrete logic. Bloomberg notes that the company hoped Apple would put ChatGPT in a more prominent place, not just as an option available if the user knew where to look for it. It also relied on broader integration with in-house apps and more intense promotion within its platforms. But the matter goes further. Gurman assures that OpenAI lawyers are working with an external firm on different legal options that could be executed soon. One of them would be to send Apple a notification by alleged breach of contractwithout this necessarily implying filing a lawsuit from the first moment because it aims to resolve the conflict outside of court. It should be noted that there is no official information, and that Apple and OpenAI did not comment following the request of the American economic media. Apple, for its part, doesn’t seem very comfortable either. The company reportedly maintained reservations about OpenAI, including whether the startup did enough to protect user privacy. Added to this is a more recent tension: OpenAI no longer wants to limit itself to software and works on devices with several former Apple peopleincluding Jony Ive. For Cupertino, according to Bloomberg, the signing of engineers from its hardware teams would also have been especially annoying. That scenario is going to change even more. Already at WWDC24 Apple announced that it would open the door to integrate other AI systems in its ecosystem. So everything seems to indicate that it is a matter of time until OpenAI rivals such as Google with Gemini either Anthropic with Claude land within the apple company’s ecosystem. It would not be an expulsion from ChatGPT, but it would be an obvious loss of prominence. We have to wait to see how this agreement and the relationship between both companies will evolve. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana In Xataka | The ‘Chinese Netflix’ has designed a plan for AI to generate the majority of its content within five years. It sounds risky

Science explains why your brain prefers paper to keyboard to learn

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In an era dominated by mechanical keyboards, touch screens and cutting-edge tablets, the ancestral gesture of slide a pen over the paper seems like an anachronism reserved for people who haven’t updated. And this is a reality in areas of study such as, for example, universities, where it is rare to see someone studying by hand. But the reality is that, to be much more productive while studying, it may be best to put the laptop aside and start writing. The ‘magic’ of the pen. Here science, in its different disciplines, has concluded that taking notes by hand significantly improves retention and comprehension compared to actively using digital devices. And it’s not a question of romanticism, it’s a question of neural processing. A transcription effect. One of the pillars of this evidence is in a study published in 2014 which pointed out that students who use laptops to take notes become authentic transcribers of what the teacher says. And we have reached the point where many people can write faster than teachers speak and become “transcription machines” without processing the information. and stay with what is most important. I have even seen that even jokes end up being copied. On the contrary, who writes by hand You can’t write it all down. This requires you to engage in active cognitive processing: you must listen, digest, synthesize, and rephrase the idea in your own words. This “desirable difficulty” generates a much deeper encoding in memory that lasts even a week after the study. Better paper. Beyond the transcription effect, neuroscience has confirmed that the benefit is not only strategic, but also physical. Here, a study from 2021 published by the University of Tokyo demonstrated using electroencephalograms that handwriting activates brain areas critical for memory, language and fine movement. This is why, when using a pen, it has been seen that the hippocampus is significantly activated, which is essential for memory and spatial coding of information. But it does not stop there, since up to 25% more neuronal connectivity has been detected in complex tasks when the analog method is used. This explains why students in highly demanding careers tend to perform better cognitively when they opt for neural methods such as engineering. Less distractions. Beyond neurons, paper offers a competitive advantage in the study environment, since it is a closed system. This is very important because a tablet or laptop It is also a tool with open doors to notificationssocial networks and messaging apps that can be a temptation when it comes to interrupting the study quite easily. In addition, it facilitates word recognition and visual memorization, something vital for competitive exams or high-level exams such as a competition. And while well-designed digital notes may be superior for quickly remembering a single fact, paper wins by a landslide in conceptual understanding. Images | yanalya in Magnific In Xataka | The 2-7-30 method has become one of the fashionable systems to study faster. Science has doubts

science explains what happens to your body (and your brain) depending on the time you choose

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In social circles, the truth is that there are sometimes very interesting debates about common customs, such as whether it is better to shower first thing in the morning or just before getting into bed. Here, while there is a group of people who defend tooth and nail the revitalizing power of water in the morning to “start” the day, others say that there is nothing like hot water at night to conclude sleep. And here science has something to say. It makes us sleep better. If you have trouble falling asleep, the science here suggests that a nighttime shower may be a good idea, and explained in a meta-analysis published in 2019 in the magazine Sleep Medicine which analyzed 17 different studies. Here it was concluded that bathing or showering with hot water between one and two hours before going to bed reduces the time to fall asleep by approximately 36%. Because? Here hot water is our main ally, since it warms the skin and, therefore, increases blood flow to the extremities such as the hands and feet. From here, when you get out of the shower, that heat dissipates quickly, causing a drop in the body’s core temperature. And this is the key, because this thermal drop mimics the natural cooling that our body experiences before sleeping, which sends an unequivocal signal to the brain to release melatonin, which is the sleep hormone, and reduce levels of cortisol, which is related to stress. It depends on the time. From a psychological point of view, morning and night showers fulfill completely opposite functions and it depends precisely on the time at which we take them. In the case of the morning showerthe goal is increase performance with the activation of the sympathetic system by stimulating muscle tone and, above all, preparing us for the stress of the day. In the case of the night shower, as we have said before, an attempt is made to activate the parasympathetic system with a longer and more leisurely duration of the shower with the aim of reducing the accumulated physical and mental tension, fulfilling the function of an authentic ritual of transition and disconnection. According to psychology. Here we enter territory that is not so clear, but which indicates, for example, that people who prefer a shower at night do so because they have a lower tolerance for dirt, which is why they prefer to remove all the sweat of the day before going to bed. But it is also noted that people who prefer solitude tend to prefer nighttime showers, precisely because, after a day full of stimuli, the bathroom becomes a capsule of sensory disconnection. In the end, it is a way to relax from everything that has happened throughout the day. Images | freepik In Xataka | Cooling down is the forgotten step in our exercise routines. And that affects how we shower

Science explains why you leave the gym a month after starting

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The beginning of the year arrives, the gym fee is paid and you leave with great motivation religiously for several weeks. But a day appears where you can’t go due to overwork and, suddenly, you don’t play sports again for months. This is a description of what happens to many people, and although it is easy to blame a lack of discipline, the truth is that psychology points to the goals we set for ourselves. The culprits. As reported by El País, when we face To a new exercise routine, we set goals that are as rigid as if it were a new company we are creating. And this is a mistake, as a study published this year points out, showing that excessively rigid exercise plans encourage an “all or nothing” mentality. This means that if the goal is to “go to the gym 4 days a week for 1 hour” and one week you can only go two days for 20 minutes, the brain processes it as a total failure, which triggers dropout rates. But also, if they are very ambitious, great frustration can arise when you are not seeing the result because of how far away it is. The goals. We usually start the sport with a result in mind which can be “lose five kilos” or “get some good abs to go to the beach to show them off”, but science suggests that this is the wrong approach to adhering to this exercise plan in the long term. The evidence suggests that focusing on the process, such as proposing that tomorrow you will do a little more exercise than today, improves motivation. This is supported by self-determination theory, which shows that when exercise is associated with daily enjoyment and well-being, rather than achieving a number on a scale, it is maintained for longer. Flexibility. One of the great fitness myths is that you must reorganize your entire existence around your training routine to achieve results, and this can suffocate anyone. Here the science point because the goals must be individual and above all flexible in the event of an unforeseen work or social event, since sport can be seen as a real inconvenience. Autonomy. When exercise is perceived as a punishment or a medical obligation imposed to improve health, it has an expiration date that is very close. Here interventions reviewed by Infocop and publications of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (SEMFYC) they insist in the need for progressive adaptation and, above all, giving positive feedback. The WHO itself, in its guidelines on physical activityemphasizes that health promotion should not be obsessed with the “optimal goal” and maximum performance, but with the creation of a sustainable habit that focuses on doing a little exercise so as not to be sedentary. Because the reality is that with a small amount of exercise time, The benefits achieved are incredible. Rescheduling goals. In summary of all this, we must keep in mind that we must avoid strict numbers at the beginning, such as ‘lose 10 kilos in two months no matter what’, and above all be compassionate towards failure, since a day without training does not ruin progress. In addition, we must opt ​​for activities that really motivate us and not the exercises that appear on TikTok and that are fashionable. Images | freepik In Xataka | We have been debating for years whether we should exercise at night or in the morning. The answer is in our DNA

the theory that explains why the rise in gasoline is here to stay

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Gasoline skyrockets. It is the consequence of the attacks on Iran and the country’s responses to the United States and Israel. In an enclave very exposed to any type of crisis, the Strait of Hormuz, oil transit is suffering harsh consequences. China already warns that it will not export its fuel. And, meanwhile, gasoline is rising at a dizzying pace. 20 cents. Tomorrow, Saturday, March 7, marks one week since the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Since then, hostilities in the Middle East have continued, with a response from Iran in which its neighboring countries and even the European Union have been involved. It was February 28 and gasoline was moving below 1.50 euros/liter on average. When we write these lines, March 6, the portal dieselgasolina.com which monitors the price of Spanish service stations offers a very different image: So far this month, prices have skyrocketed: Gasoline 95: from 1,495 euros/liter to 1,608 euros/liter. +11 cents/liter Gasoline 98: from 1,687 euros/liter to 1,766 euros/liter. +8 cents/liter Diesel A: from 1,447 euros/liter to 1,643 euros/liter. +20 cents/liter Diesel A+: from 1,549 euros/liter to 1,734 euros/liter. +19 cents/liter A week. Barely a week has been enough for the price of gasoline and diesel to skyrocket and, above all… there is no prospect of their ceiling. And the oil companies and service stations are already beginning to notify the Government that they are not willing to support a new gasoline subsidy, as would happen in 2022. This means that the prospects are not at all promising and the truth is that if we look at the progress of the conflict, everything indicates that we can expect the worst. Right now: Sign of the increase in price in a few days like a rocket. What we are witnessing, again, is the theory of the rocket and the pen. When the supply chain falters, the price of gasoline skyrockets. However, its descent lasts for weeks or months, reproducing the effect of a feather. And, as soon as the last war in the Middle East began, gas stations have already started raising prices. It doesn’t matter that the impact of a rise in the barrel of Brent is not immediate on the prices at which they buy oil, the truth is that there are gas stations where prices have increased by more than 10% in the first days of the conflict, as you can see in the image above. The diesel. Although the price of gasoline is rising, without a doubt the biggest loser is the diesel customer. Spain continues to be a country whose automobile fleet is made up mostly for this type of fuel and seeing an increase of 20 cents/liter, on average, in just one week is hard. Its price is already higher than gasoline. What was once a historical raritytoday it has become a certain normality. As we already observed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in this territory, diesel became more expensive because Russia was a big exporter of the same and European refineries had been reduced. That is to say, we had less fuel available on the market and for what there was we had two options: buy it at a high price or wait for the European funnel to ease. And the room for maneuver is small. But, in addition, since the War in Ukraine the State has been applying some measures that reduce the room for maneuver to try to patch the situation. Public transport is now much cheaper that then and gas stations and oil companies have already raised the hatchet against possible subsidies. A tax cut seems complicated. The State would be shooting itself in the foot, reducing revenue that also goes up when fuel prices rise. AND The European Union has been pressing for years so that diesel bonuses are eliminated and, therefore, taxes are equal to gasoline. Photo | Hamza Şamil Yavuz In Xataka | Europe has been demanding that Spain increase diesel prices for five years. And Spain is playing at being Spain

There is a graphic that explains the atrocity that has occurred in Grazalema. And it helps to understand why the people continue to be evicted.

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And that graph is Nahel Belgherzea meteorologist who covers extreme events throughout the world and who, despite being used to them, has described what has occurred in the mountains of Cádiz as “hydrologically absurd.” “Hydrologically absurd”? It is. Grazalema, according to available datahas received more than 2,000 mm of rain in the last 20 days alone. That is, more than a normal year of rain and we are at the beginning of February. It is not surprising that Spanish reservoirs accumulate 43,341 hm³ of water; that is, 5,634 hm³ more than last week. As of today, Spain is at an astonishing 77.34% of its total capacity. And, in fact, today, many reservoirs continue to drain before the arrival of more water. What do you see in the graph? The graph in question is very simple: it is the accumulated rainfall for the Grazalema station. On the Additionally, in gray, you can see the cumulates from other years. And, as you can see, the curve is almost vertical: it has rained unspeakably in a few days. Compared to normal years (when the river grows in spring and winter), there is now a totally enormous water boom. Something unprecedented. And, precisely that, is what is forcing CISC technicians to continue reviewing the Grazalema aquifer. While the City Council insists that the return of the residents will take place when a safe return can be “guaranteed”, researchers from the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) they are still on the ground. The aquifer, a geological structure 18 square kilometers in size, has been put under enormous pressure and authorities are focused on ruling out the slightest risk of collapse before the town’s inhabitants can return. The Junta de Andalucía, in fact, has been warning for days that it can go for a long time. Image | Nahel Belgherze In Xataka | Desertification is devouring southern Spain: Extremadura and Murcia face a completely dry future

What Zealand explains about climate change

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For decades, geography books taught us that the world was divided into six continents. In 2017, the scientific community made official the existence of a new “intruder” of colossal dimensions: Zealandia. With an extension of 4.9 million square kilometers —equivalent to the entire European Union—, this mass of continental crust separated from Australia and Antarctica about 80 million years ago. What makes Zealandia an absolute anomaly is not just its size, but how well it has been hidden. Unlike the rest of the continents, 94% of its body is sunk under the Pacific. Only its highest peaks manage to show their heads, forming what we step on today such as New Zealand and New Caledonia. This geographical timidity kept it as a “ghost continent” until technology allowed us, finally, to pierce the abyss. The mission to rescue the past from the abyss. Everything changed in the summer of 2017. Expedition 371 of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) It was not a pleasure cruise: the ship JOIDES Resolution set sail with a mission almost surgical. For two months, 32 scientists worked piecework, in 24-hour shifts, to extract “witnesses” from the seabed: cylinders of rock and sediment recovered almost five kilometers deep. These sediment cores are not just mud and stone. They are, in the words of paleontologist Laia Alegret, in statements collected by The Conversation, authentic “libraries of climate history”. The findings were surprising, despite being under the sea today, the scientists found pollen from land plants and spores, in addition to thousands of microfossils of organisms They only live in very warm and shallow waters. This confirmed that Zealandia was not always an underwater world, but had periods of land covered in vegetation. The “mirror” of future climate change. The relevance of Zealandia goes far beyond a geological curiosity. According to researchers from Rice Universitythis submerged continent constitutes a “critical region” for climate science, precisely because it is one of the places where current climate models show the greatest deficiencies. If models fail to accurately reproduce Zealand’s past climate, they warn, their predictions of future global warming may be incomplete or biased. The focus of attention is placed especially on the Eocene, between 53 and 41 million years ago, a time in which the Earth functioned as a true “greenhouse planet”. Carbon dioxide concentrations were much higher than today and there were no permanent polar caps. Studying this period in Zealand allows scientists to “look back at our future,” offering a glimpse of how the planet will respond to conditions extreme greenhouse effect greenhouse effects similar to those we could achieve in the coming centuries. One of the hottest spots. One of the most disturbing findings was the identification of episodes of rapid warming—rapid in geological terms, that is, on scales of thousands of years—during which ocean currents changed unexpectedly. The sediments reveal the arrival of deep water masses originating near Antarctica, a phenomenon difficult to explain in a warm world without permanent ice. This discovery, underlined by The Conversationchallenges the current understanding of how heat is redistributed in the oceans and forces us to rethink some basic assumptions of global ocean circulation. The violent birth in the “Ring of Fire.” Zealand’s history is one of a geological “roller coaster” driven by plate tectonics. According to the results published by the expedition directorsRupert Sutherland and Gerald Dickens, the continent was sculpted by two major tectonic events: The Great Divorce: First, it was torn from Australia and Antarctica 85 million years ago, stretching and thinning until it sank. The Resurrection of Subduction: About 50 million years ago, something “globally significant” happened. What scientists call a “massive subduction rupture” began, giving rise to the Pacific Ring of Fire. In simplified terms, this process caused huge portions of the seafloor to curve, parts of Zealand to temporarily rise above sea level, and then the continent to sink back more than a kilometer to its current configuration. It was not a local phenomenon. These tectonic forces altered the direction and speed of movement of many tectonic plates across the planet, in one of the largest geodynamic readjustments of the last 80 million years. Microfossils and the response of life. To reconstruct these movements with surgical precision, scientists they rely on benthic foraminifera. These single-celled shelled organisms are “diagnostics of the deep.” By analyzing its remains in the ship’s laboratories, researchers can determine whether a rock stratum belonged to a shallow beach or an abyssal plain. Furthermore, complementary technical studies, such as those presented in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology and marine Micropaleontologyanalyze the biotic response to hyperthermals (peaks of extreme heat). The results indicate that marine life does not react uniformly: the magnitude and speed of warming determine whether ecosystems adapt, reorganize or become stressed. These data are essential to improve predictive models of current climate change. A sea of ​​discoveries at risk. Zealandia’s exploration has shown that continents remain to be discovered and that the ocean floor holds the answers to the most pressing questions about our climate survival. However, science depends not only on curiosity, but on investment. Despite the scientific success of the 2017 expedition, there are countries that later do not intervene adequately due to lack of payments. This leaves future expeditions in the air that could continue to unravel the mysteries of this seventh submerged continent, a territory that, although hidden under thousands of meters of water, has a lot to say about the air we will breathe tomorrow. Image | Unsplash and World Data Center for Geophysics & Marine Geology Xataka | For thousands of years, human beings have avoided crossing the Taklamakan Desert. Now China is raising fish there

Science explains why the cure can be worse than the disease

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At the time of want to lose a few kilos The truth is that many different strategies emerge, such as eliminate sweetsstart exercising more or eat much more protein. But, on the other hand, there are strategies that are really extravagant and that are spread by influencers of our society that do not have any solid foundation. The last one arrives from actor Matt Damon who claims to have lost a few kilos thanks to leaving gluten out of his diet. A discrepancy. And the reality is that science has a lot to say about this decision. Since the ‘gluten-free’ foods that now flood supermarkets were born as a medical necessity for 1% of the population. But now it has become a holy grail of weight loss following the following logic: ‘if I cut out bread and pasta, I lose weight. Ergo, gluten makes you fat.’ There is no evidence. Nutritional science has bad news for these peopleincluding the actor, since eliminating gluten does not have a specific slimming effect. In fact, if you do not have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity diagnosed, eliminating it can even be counterproductive for cardiovascular and metabolic health. It’s a calorie deficit. The first myth to debunk is that gluten, per sebe a metabolic villain that makes us accumulate fat. According to a systematic review published in International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciencesgluten-free diets are not associated with greater weight loss compared to normal gluten-containing diets in healthy adults. So… why do some people swear they lost weight by giving up gluten? The answer lies in the changes that accompany this diet, but not in gluten. And when you give up gluten, you automatically stop eating calorie-dense ultra-processed foods such as industrial pastries, cookies, refined pasta… In this way, you eat fewer total calories and this is what causes you to lose weight and not the absence of gluten. The effect of water. In addition to this caloric deficit, a pilot study in athletes noted that the rapid weight loss after six weeks without gluten was primarily due to loss of fluid and glycogen stores, not an actual metabolic advantage. Fewer refined carbohydrates mean less water retention. But if there was any doubt, another clinical trial in patients with a metabolic problem in their history detected reductions in waist circumference and triglyceridesbut without changes in weight. In this way, the researchers suggest that this is due more to better food selection and glycemic control than to a “fat-removing effect” of gluten. A flat stomach. Another of the great thoughts that can be heard in this sense is that people who do not eat wheat feel much less bloated. And this is real, but the culprit is not gluten, but from the fructans of wheatwhich is basically a type of fermentable carbohydrate that produces a lot of gas and bloating. In this way, the abdomen looks much flatter, but not because of a loss of fat. The cardiovascular paradox. But although gluten is seen as a demon, the reality is that it has several intrinsically good things. For example, gluten is often accompanied by whole grains, and whole grains are cardioprotective. This is evidenced in a study published in the BMJ with more than 100,000 participants who were followed for 26 years. This concludes that gluten consumption does not increase the risk of coronary heart disease. What’s more, when the data was adjusted, a higher gluten intake was associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease. That is why the authors warned: promoting gluten-free diets in healthy people can reduce the consumption of whole grains and, therefore, negatively affect cardiovascular health. And in diabetes. In this case they were three large studies that showed an inverse relationship: Those who ate the most gluten had a 13% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who ate the least. The why? Again, the fiber and micronutrients associated with the cereal that contains gluten. The problem of the accused. When we see that something is ‘gluten free’ we may think that we are looking at something much healthier. But the reality is that sometimes, to compensate for the lack of elasticity and texture that gluten provides, The food industry often reformulates products by adding more saturated fat, more sugar and reducing the protein it contains. Furthermore, gluten-free diets in non-celiac people have also been associated with a lower intake of fiber, B vitamins and a worse long-term cardiometabolic profile. Who should give up gluten? Science is quite clear in this case: who needs it, that is, the 1% of the population with celiac disease. And logically also people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity who may have major digestive problems. For the rest of the population, eliminating gluten offers no clear nutritional benefits. On the contrary: there is a risk of spending more money on products with a worse nutritional profile, reducing the consumption of cardioprotective fiber and attributing to gluten a success that, in reality, simply belongs to eating less ultra-processed foods. Images | Wesual Click Towfiqu barbhuiya In Xataka | Food has been filled with contradictory messages: a sports nutritionist helps us understand what’s behind it

China has turned the Arctic into its own “Panama Canal.” And that explains the US obsession with Greenland

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It seems like it was centuries ago, but until not too long ago the Arctic was seen as an inhospitable territory, more associated with school maps and scientific expeditions than with great power disputes. However, accelerated thaw and the changes in routes navigation have turned that apparently marginal region into one of the most sensitive spaces on the geopolitical board, one where decisions made today can define the economic and military balance of the coming decades. Stop being peripheral. Yes, for decades, the Arctic was a space remote, frozen and secondary in global geopolitics, a natural border that separated blocks rather than connecting them, but accelerated thaw has transformed that white void into a strategic corridor where trade, resources and military deterrence overlap. What was once a physical boundary is now an emerging highway that shortens thousands of kilometers between Asia, Europe and North America, and that simple climate change is reordering strategic priorities of the great powers at a speed that has caught many governments off guard. China and the Polar Route. China has identified before anyone else the potential of these new routes and has integrated them into its long-term vision as a “Polar Silk Road”conceived as a functional equivalent to the Panama Canal or the Suez Canalbut under much more flexible conditions because the rules are not yet set. Chinese research vessels, experimental freighters and icebreakers they are already browsing through the High North, collecting oceanographic data, mapping seabeds and testing routes that reduce by half travel times between Asia and Europe, while establishing a presence that, as happened in the South China Sea, begins as scientific and commercial and ends up having inevitable military implications. Submarines, data and war under the ice. The most disturbing element for Washington and its allies is not only trade, but the underground: The Arctic Ocean offers ideal conditions for underwater warfare, with layers of water, variable salinity, and natural noise making sonar detection difficult. The dives of Chinese research submarines under the ice, together with the deployment of “civilian” vessels that in practice function as covert military platforms, point to a clear objective: break the historic American submarine superiority and prepare the ground so that, in the future, Chinese nuclear submarines can operate near the North American continent with greater freedom and less risk. The Sino-Russian alliance. Chinese expansion in the Arctic is amplified by its understanding with Russiawhich provides experience, technology and access to already exploited routes along its northern coast, while receiving in return key industrial and technological support to sustain its war in Ukraine. This axis turns the Arctic into a space where two nuclear powers They coordinate in their own way air, naval and potentially submarine patrols, opening the door to a scenario that was unthinkable during the Cold War: Asian forces with the capacity to rapidly project themselves towards the Atlantic without passing through easily monitored bottlenecks. Greenland as a hinge. In this context, Greenland stops being a frozen and sparsely populated island and become the hinge that controls the eastern flank of the Northwest Passage, the gateway from Europe to that future Arctic highway. Whoever has decisive influence over Greenland can monitor, condition or even block maritime and submarine traffic in one of the most sensitive routes of the 21st century, in addition to housing radars, airports and key sensors for the defense of the American continent. The emergencies. Here comes the Trump’s renewed interest to take over Greenland, which does not respond to an eccentricity or a nineteenth-century imperial impulse, but rather to the recognition of an emerging strategic vulnerability. Washington watches how Beijing advances in the Arctic the same way he did in other settings: arriving early, coming to the table when the rules do not yet exist, and securing positions which then become almost impossible to reverse, which explains the pressure on Denmark, the enlargement of icebreaking capabilities and closer integration of the High North into NATO planning. No locks. In summary, and unlike the Panama Canal, the Arctic is not a closed infrastructure nor regulated by consolidated treaties, but rather a space under construction where the early presence defines future power. For the United States to allow China to consolidate a dominant position on these routes would be to accept that its geographic and naval advantage can be eroded without a single shot, simply by letting the ice melt and others write the rules. Greenland thus appears as the last piece of a bigger puzzle: one where it is not about buying or invading an island, but about deciding who controls trafficsecurity and the balance of power in the next great axis of global trade and war. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | A document clarifies “the Greenland thing” since 1951. Hitler’s Germany made an agreement possible for the US to do whatever it wants In Xataka | The gold of the 21st century is not in Venezuela: China and Russia know it and that is why the US wants Greenland no matter what

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