explanation

AI solves equations and chops code, but continues to crash with PDFs: the explanation shows its limits

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It’s probably happened to you. You upload a PDF to an artificial intelligence chatbot in the hope that it will summarize a report, extract a table or find a specific piece of information for you in a matter of seconds. And, sometimes, he succeeds. But other times, the result is disconcerting: mixed columns, footnotes embedded in the middle of the text, tables converted into an illegible block or answers that do not faithfully reflect what the document says. The paradox is evident. Systems that already demonstrate clear advances in mathematics and programming They keep stumbling upon something as everyday as a PDF. And there is more than a simple punctual failure. Change of mentality. Although for us it is a document with well-defined paragraphs, titles and tables, for the system that processes it the situation may be very different. PDF is, first and foremost, a way to visually describe how a page should be rendered. And when a chatbot like Gemini either ChatGPT If you try to work with it, you do not always access an ordered structure, but rather a set of graphical instructions that you must first reconstruct before you can respond coherently. And that difference is better understood when we look at how a PDF “saves” information. How you actually organize information. Unlike a web page, where the content follows a logical order defined in the code, a PDF can store text as independent fragments placed at specific positions on the page. Many times, the file retains coordinates and placement instructions, but not necessarily explicit relationships between one sentence and the next. This implies that the order in which the text “appears” when extracted does not always coincide with the order in which we read it. If your document includes multiple columns, tables, or overlapping elements, the system must figure out how they fit together. And that deduction is not always trivial. {“videoId”:”x9hhg44″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”The TRUTH of AI – This is how ChatGPT 4, DALL-E or MIDJOURNEY works 🤖 🧠 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”, “tag”:”webedia-prod”, “duration”:”1173″} What happens with HTML. On a web page, the content is organized in an explicit hierarchy– There are tags that indicate what a title is, what a paragraph is, what a table is, and how those elements relate to each other. This structure is part of the file itself and makes it easier for other systems to read, index and process it. In a PDF, as we have seen, that semantic layer may not exist or be clearly defined. Therefore, in practice, extracting information from a website tends to be a more predictable process, while doing it from a PDF is more complicated. So what about OCR? It is the first solution that comes to mind. If the problem is that the text is not well structured or even “drawn” like an image, optical character recognition should convert it into something machine readable. And in part it does. OCR has been used for decades to transform images of words into text, but converting an image to text is not the same as reconstructing the logic of the document. When there are varied elements, the system can recognize each word without knowing exactly how they fit together. The result is not a failure in reading characters, but in the organization of information. In Xataka Dario Amodei founded Anthropic because OpenAI didn’t take the risks of AI seriously. Now you are going to give in to those risks Why don’t we abandon PDF? The answer is more pragmatic than technological. As reported by The Verge citing the person responsible for the PDF Associationthe format became established precisely because it allows a document to look the same today as it would in ten or twenty years, regardless of the device or software with which it is opened. A web page can change depending on the browser, an editable sheet can be modified or overwritten, but a PDF maintains its appearance and visual integrity. That stability is precisely what lawyers, engineers, public administrations and any organization that must maintain reliable records need. The challenge is not to replace the format, but to learn to interpret it better. Images | Xataka with Nano Bana In Xataka | Three AIs clashed in ‘War Games’. 95% of them resorted to nuclear weapons and none ever surrendered (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news AI solves equations and chops code, but continues to crash with PDFs: the explanation shows its limits was originally published in Xataka by Javier Marquez .

The F-35 cannot be hacked like an iPhone. The explanation is the same why Spain and Europe cannot go to war without the US.

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There was a moment, probably towards the end of the Cold War, when the concept of Western military superiority stopped being measured solely in tons of steel or number of divisions and began to depend more and more on lines of code, networks and invisible architectures. As the decades passed, that technological transformation redefined not only how war is fought, but who really has control of the tools with which war is waged. Europe is realizing that that train has missed it. The jailbreak myth. Last year we already have that the possibility of an “off” button on the American F-35 it wasn’t exactly like that. Now, the comparison launched last week by the Dutch minister when suggesting that the fighter could “break free” like an iPhone It simplifies to the absurdity what is, in reality, a combat system defined by software and armored by cryptographic architecture. The F-35 is not designed for the operator to modify its code, but only to run software authenticated by keyscontrolled supply chains and closed validation environments, which means that physically accessing the aircraft is not the same as controlling its system. It is therefore not a consumer device on which alternative applications are installed like those on a mobile phone, but rather a platform whose integrity depends on digital signaturestrusted hardware modules and a support infrastructure that validates each update before the aircraft executes it. ODIN and structural dependency. They remembered in the middle The Aviationist that the real core of the problem is not in “hacking” the plane, but in keeping it outside the American ecosystem that keeps it operational. The F-35 depends on ODINthe logistics and data network that manages maintenance, mission planning, software updates and threat files, all under the control of infrastructure and processes largely managed from the United States. Disconnecting it does not turn it off immediately, but it initiates a progressive loss of capabilities that transforms it from a fully integrated fifth-generation platform to a combat fighter that is increasingly less relevant in the face of modern threats. So yes, exactly the same as a phone that stops receiving critical patches and updates. The same European dependence. Curiously, or perhaps not so much, this logic does not end with the plane, but runs through the entire European military architecture. The Financial Times recalled this morning in a piece that tried to answer the big European questions, that the continent’s armies depend on American software, clouds and systems for secure communications, data analysis, command and control, intelligence and platform maintenance. We are talking about platforms with contracts that involve giants like Google, Microsoft or Palantir and fundamental systems such asl Lockheed Martin Aegis integrated into, for example, European ships. The European military commanders themselves they recognized in the report that an abrupt break would generate operational gaps, fragmentation and loss of effectiveness, because a good part of the digital “back-end” on which its capabilities rest is not under European sovereign control. Digital sovereignty vs reality. Now that Washington is going through a phase where the word “ally” does not fit to the profile, the political speeches that advocate accelerate technological sovereignty in defense they collide with a structural reality: replicating the entire ecosystem that supports platforms, networks, encryption, AI and cloud services is not as simple as moving servers to European soil or changing providers overnight. And it is not because data localization does not equate to real sovereignty when that same software, updates, cryptographic keys and interoperability depend on American supply chains and regulatory frameworks, and where European generals themselves warn that a hasty decoupling would put daily operations at risk. Same explanation. In the end, the F-35 can’t be hacked like an iPhone has the same explanation why Spain and Europe cannot aspire to full digital sovereignty or resort to a high-intensity war without the United States: the structural dependence of the North American technological ecosystem. In the air, that translates into a fighter whose effectiveness rests on updates, threat data and logistical support controlled from Washington. On the ground, in militaries that operate on digital infrastructures, critical software and command architectures deeply intertwined with American suppliers and standards. If you also want, it is not so much a question of political will, but rather of technical architecture: whoever controls the software, controls the capacity. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | “It’s not what we need”: Germany has just put the finishing touches on Spain’s great military dream, the European anti-F-35 is disappearing In Xataka | The Netherlands has just activated panic in Spain and the US allies: the F-35 can be “released” like an iPhone

If the question is whether there was life on Mars, NASA has a new explanation: it depends

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NASA’s Curiosity rover has been shedding light on Mars since August 2011, making authentic discoveries on its surface, in your clouds and of course, about its potential habitability. And if its younger brother Perseverance found a few months ago “the clearest sign of life we ​​have seen on Mars”, one of Curiosity’s latest discoveries is not so clear. What Curiosity found. Since 2012, Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater, a place where there was a lake billions of years ago. In March 2025, while the rover’s integrated laboratory was analyzing a clay rock there, they found the presence of decan, undecan and dodecan. What’s that? Alkanes, that is, long chain hydrocarbons formed by hydrogen and carbon atoms. Why is it important. Because Curiosity’s discovery is the largest organic compounds ever found on the red planet and its size is such that its existence can hardly be explained by simple chemistry. On Earth, these types of hydrocarbons are usually fragments of fatty acids produced by living beings. However, on Mars, its origin is not so clear: it is reasonable to think of a biological origin, but with current evidence there is no confirmation. Biology or geology? The degradation of fatty acids causes the appearance of these hydrocarbons one way or another, but their presence does not imply that they necessarily come from a living organism. In fact, on Earth they can also be generated by geological processes. In short: detecting organic molecules on Mars does not mean finding life. Correlation does not imply causation. A “reasonable” hypothesis. So they analyzed the known non-biological sources of these organic molecules looking for an explanation for these quantities found. Since none of them fully explained this abundance, in this recent study published in Astrobiology that the research includes have raised a “reasonable” hypothesis: that living beings could have formed them. Among the known sources are molecules from meteorites that crash into the surface of Mars, cosmic dust, geological chemistry such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis plausible on early Mars or ultraviolet radiation, which in addition to destroying organic components can also form them, are some of the candidates. The method. To reach these conclusions, the team of scientists combined laboratory experiments, mathematical models and data from the rover, which allowed them to go back in time 80 million years to estimate how much organic matter existed at the beginning, before cosmic radiation destroyed it. The amount they were able to reconstruct far exceeds what unknown non-biological processes can generate. Of course, it does not affirm that there was life, nor are there fossils or biomarkers of course. In fact, their conclusion is clear: more studies are needed to conclude on the absence or presence of life on Mars. In Xataka | There are those who believe that 50 years ago we found life on Mars (and then accidentally destroyed it) In Xataka | China is getting closer to surpassing NASA in its Martian mission. And just invited other countries to join Cover | NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Cooking for an entire family on Christmas Eve is a dying tradition. And the explanation is in Mercadona

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The usual thing at this time of year is that most family gatherings become a single topic: What to have for dinner on Christmas Eve? And on New Year’s Eve? Is the menu repeated from other years? Is the entire purchase completed or are there still issues pending? That was the usual. At least until, in one country at a time less fond to cook and more to the already prepared foodanother question began to form: Why spend hours in the kitchen on the afternoons of December 24 (and 31) if we can order dinner to a restaurant, catering or the super trustworthy? It may seem like a simple anecdote, but it says a lot not only about Christmas but about how homes and our consumer habits are changing. An afternoon locked in the stove? That Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are special events, no one doubts it. Neither do they both basically revolve around the table. However, that is one thing and quite another that we are willing to spend hours locked in the kitchen to prepare appetizing dinners for a regiment of relatives, something not so strange just a few decades ago. In 2019 the German supermarket chain Aldi made a poll in which he asked the Spaniards the same thing: how much time we spend preparing Christmas lunches and dinners. Their conclusion was curious: although on average we dedicate 137 minutes to them, the vast majority of those interviewed (62%) aspire to cut that time between stoves, leaving it at 112 minutes at most. Who cooks then? Others. It’s that simple. It is not easy to measure the trend, but a Google search is enough to find articles from regional newspapers that talk about how more and more families order the main Christmas meals and dinners from restaurants, hotels or catering companies. It occurs in the Community of Madrid, Galicia, Aragon, Catalonia, Castile and León either Estremadurato cite a handful of examples of a trend that actually transcends communities. Not only that. In addition to families willing to pay to get rid of the burden of preparing dinners for 10, 12, 14… diners, we find companies willing to cover that growing market niche, some as relevant as Mercadona, the supermarket chain with higher quota of the country. Christmas Eve ‘made in Mercadona’? That’s how it is. Since the end of November, Juan Roig’s company has announced its ‘Ready to Eat’ oriented towards parties, a section that allows you to order canapés, stuffed chicken, suckling pig, lamb… in advance to be served during the nights of December 24 and 31. “Just heat and serve,” Mercadona boastswhich highlights how the service allows families to save time “without having to worry about the kitchen.” It makes complete sense if you take into account that the Valencian company has been betting for years precisely because of that line of business and Roig himself has publicly acknowledged who is convinced that in the middle of this century kitchens will disappear from Spanish homes. His prediction points in a clear direction: supermarkets will no longer be just the places where we shop, they will be the food references where we will buy dishes and even where we will consume them. Don’t we cook anymore? Not quite. We continue cooking, although it is true that we do it differently and less and less. He gave us a clue recently a study published in TIJGFS which leaves out a revealing piece of information: 59.1% of Spaniards We still cook practically every day, which means that most of us still use our ovens and vitro. The other side of that figure is that there is 40.9% who never cook or do it very rarely and that percentage has been growing in recent decades. The CIS has also confirmed that the majority of their respondents (46.5%) believe that home cooking is losing ground to fast food. If that were not interesting in itself, there are other indicators (from the food industry) that suggest changes in consumption: for example, we increasingly demand less fresh bread and fisha latter product that begins to associate to leisure outside the home. And what happens at Christmas? Beyond our general eating habits, Christmas has its own peculiarities. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve dinners are not ‘normal’ dinners. Firstly, because a higher degree of elaboration than normal is expected of them. Second, because it involves cooking for many more people than those who are part of the usual family nucleus: on December 24 and 31, cousins, in-laws, brothers-in-law, nephews sit at the table… Which ends up easily translating into groups of more than ten diners. Is that important? Yes, if we take into account that we increasingly live in smaller apartments and families are smallerwhich translates into a series of practical complications: How to cook for 12 people in a tiny kitchen with a two-burner vitro? Where to store so much food? Where the hell can you seat 12 or 14 people in a room where there is furniture for one couple, who is the one who really eats in that house the rest of the year? It was done until now, right? Yes. But times change. And that is something that is easily observed when going out into the street. looking at statistics. The fact that there are more and more single-person households or households made up of two people and fewer than three, four or more members means that there are fewer people accustomed to cooking for groups. We are also less willing to spend hours in the kitchen, as stated in 2019 Aldi and confirm the boom of ‘Tardebuena’ and ‘Tardevieja’. We enjoy the afternoon more the 24th and 31st because we spend less time between pots. There is another factor and it is economic. In restaurants and catering establishments there are different rates, but they usually guarantee two things: fixed prices and menus and guaranteed product. Nothing about being surprised that the kilo of lamb has … Read more

A Harvard astronomer has accused NASA of hiding 3I/ATLAS images. has an explanation

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Avi Loeb, the controversial cosmologist of Harvard University, has accused NASA of withholding important data on the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, and is mobilizing the US Congress to demand its release. But this alleged concealment of evidence is not what it seems. Weeks without seeing the photos. In one post on your blogLoeb denounces that NASA has not made public images of the object taken with the HiRISE camera of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe from Mars orbit for weeks. These images, captured between October 2 and 3, when 3I/ATLAS passed within 30 million kilometers of the red planet, are, according to Loeb, “extremely valuable” scientific data. The reason is that they would have a resolution of 30 kilometers per pixel, three times greater than the best available image of the interstellar object, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This “side perspective” could be important for understanding the object’s geometry and its brightness, so Loeb asked US Congresswoman Paulina Luna to demand that NASA’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy, release it. The explanation. NASA has justified the lack of images with a very earthly argument: the delays caused by the closure of the United States government since October 1. NASA is officially on “shutdown” and with 83% of its staff on unpaid leave due to the lack of agreement in Congress on the 2026 federal budgets. Only the International Space Station control room and the operators in charge of ship and satellite security, as well as a handful of critical jobs, continue to function. The rest (a large part of science, dissemination, aid processing, etc.) is on pause. Why so much interest in 3I/ATLAS. Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object detected in our solar system. Since its discovery, it has shown behavior somewhat disconcerting which has led Avi Loeb to defend the hypothesis that it could be an artificial extraterrestrial object. The latest anomaly occurred near its perihelion (the closest point in its orbit to the Sun) on October 29, when 3I/ATLAS shone brightly in blue and experienced an acceleration which cannot be explained by the gravity of the Sun. Most likely? That the comet was degassing as it warmed up, and the sublimated ice acted as propellants. If you don’t pay attention to it you get bored. Loeb has calculated the possibility that 3I/ATLAS is a natural object: “less than one part in ten quadrillion”. The astronomer highlights the trajectory almost perfectly aligned with the plane of the planets, an unusually large mass, a very low proportion of water (only 4%) and a surprising abundance of nickel as evidence. But this is not the first time that Loeb has proposed that an interstellar object is a technological and “possibly hostile” object. In fact, it’s the second time he’s done it (the first with ‘Oumuamua), and we only know of three interstellar objects that have visited our solar system. The scientific community does not play along. Compared to Loeb’s hypotheses, the vast majority of astronomers offer much more mundane explanations. The blue glow is consistent with emissions of ionized gas from other active comets. Other physical characteristics could be explained if 3I/ATLAS were the ejection of a piece of exoplanet by a natural collision far from Earth. As for the news that “NASA” activated its defense protocol against 3I/ATLAS, it also has a simple explanation: the International Asteroid Warning Network has chosen measure the position of the interstellar comet for an observation campaign that had been planned since 2024, not with the aim of defending ourselves from. an alien attack, but to improve astrometry systems. Image | Q. Zhang and K. Dattams In Xataka | The theory that says our Universe was created in a laboratory: when science merges with science fiction

science believes it has an explanation

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Walking down the street and seeing someone walking with their eyes downward can make us instantly think that something is happening to that person emotionally, such as being sad. But the reality is that walking down has many meanings and that have been proven through sciencewhich go far beyond the field of psychology and makes us rethink the thoughts we have when we see someone in this situation. The body language. One of the letters of introduction we have to the world is undoubtedly the gestures we make. It is not the same to be with them all the time. crossed arms which may indicate a more closed attitudeto be much more open in front of another person. And the look is another fundamental letter of introduction that we can understand perfectly. What psychology says. The most widespread interpretation of looking down while walking is attributed to the insecurity, shyness, sadness or low self-esteem. It is a fact that avoiding eye contact can seem evasive and, in a society like ours, is often considered a sign of vulnerability or emotional processing. This is something that has been collected in different studies focused on non-verbal communication where they reinforce this idea: the hunched posture, the gaze towards the ground and the absence of eye contact can indicate internal states such as introspection, emotional stress or the need for protection from the environment. However, the field of psychology warns that this overly simple or ‘generalist’ interpretation is inaccurate. To understand it we can go to other cultures such as the Japanese, where looking at the ground is a sign of respect or modesty, or can even be interpreted as a form of concentration or reflection. In this way, the social context, personality and frequency of the gesture make the difference between a ‘good clinical indication’ and perfectly normal behavior. Neuroscience. But beyond psychology, Neuroscience also has a lot to say in this field to thoroughly study why, in many situations, looking down is a very useful strategy. Studies published in journals such as Nature demonstrate That directing your gaze toward the ground helps adjust your balance and reduces the risk of tripping. Within these studies, brain activity and movement patterns have been specifically measured in people walking in different environments. And the conclusion is quite clear: looking down provides the brain with critical information about the terrain and allows you to adjust your step, especially if there are obstacles or the ground is uneven. In this way, if you go in the middle of the field for example, the normal thing is to look down to avoid tripping or ending up on the ground. The same occurs with a work published in 2021 that observed that this position improves stability in older people and also when the cognitive load increases, for example, when we are distracted. Thus, far from being just an emotional symptom, it is also a rational and functional response. facing physical and mental challenges. Mental health. Should every gesture of looking at the ground worry us? The clinical literature clarifies: if the gesture appears in isolation, it does not imply problems. But if it is combined with other signs such as social isolation, apathy or mood changes, it can be part of a picture of depression, anxiety or stress. The problem is that a simple look down the street is not enough to know this, but you must know that person much more. But the evidence is quite clear in this sense: ​there is a relationship between emotions and posture, but it is never a single indicator. Beyond the myth. In this way, every time we see a person with their gaze downcast, we don’t always have to think about the most negative thing, but we don’t always have to think about the most positive thing either. The reality is that if we are walking down a street Looking at the ground serves to avoid obstacles, process information while walking or adopt multitasking strategies (or even if you are lucky to find a ticket). Images | Caspar Rae In Xataka | The psychology of doomscrolling: the trap our brain is programmed to fall into again and again

May your cat ignore that appetizing food has a scientific explanation. Is called neophobia and it’s life insurance

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You open one of the littleirs that you have bought your cat and flips with the good f see, it almost makes you want to try it, but when you offer it, all bad. It smells it, looks at you with contempt and leaves. Yes, it has happened to me and I have thought that my cat enjoyed watching me money on food that was not going to eat. Your cat does not hate you, it is its nature. Food neopobia in cats A search on the subject returns hundreds of results of Tutors asking for advice to get their cat to eat something new and tips to get it. The most common are usually cats that reject wet food and They just want to eat their feedwhich is not recommended because it can lead to the dreaded kidney disease. What happens to cats? Neophobia is the fear of something new, in this case new foods. Although food neophabia is not exclusive to cats (It also happens in humans), it is a fairly common behavior in cats and one of the reasons that have made them win the Fame of Sibaritas. It is not a feline whim, it is pure instinct, An adaptation strategy to protect yourself from possible poisoning. It is not a feline whim, it is pure instinct, an adaptation strategy to protect itself from possible intoxication. Beyond the inheritance of its wild ancestors, neophy and domestic cats may appear for other causes and one of them is stress. Cats are very sensitive to changes. In This study They analyzed stress in cats and the consequences it can have on their behavior and health. A stressed cat tends to eat less, but it is also more prone to develop neophobia. If a new meal is offered in a stress situation, it is more likely to reject it. Cat’s food preferences In This complete article of Vet Times magazinedelve into the mechanisms that form the food preferences of cats. In his first months of life he is strongly influenced by his mother’s. In fact, this influence begins even before birth, by transfer of flavors through amniotic fluid and milk. It has been proven That the kittens whose mother ate unusual foods in the cat such as milk or banana, showed inclination for these foods. “Eat it” Genetics only plays a small role, but the food to which the cat is exposed in their first months of life will be decisive when forming their adult preferences. In this sense, a kitten that only eats a type of food is more likely to develop neophobia towards unknown foods, while A more varied diet will become familiar with more flavors and textures. Experience is another decisive factor and is the one that is defining how the cat selects food during your life. For example if they eat something and feel bad, they will create a negative association and will not eat it again. The food to which the cat is exposed in their first months of life are decisive when forming their adult preferences. Of course it also influences palatability, that is to say, how nice the smell, taste and texture find of a specific food. As strict carnivores, they are attracted to protein -rich foods and tend to reject bitter or sweet flavors. In the case of feed addicted cats several factors come together and palatability is one of them. Feed manufacturers have “hacked” the feline palate with flavor enhancers (palatal) to make them more attractive and want to eat it all the time. If we add that we usually have the feed at the disposal of the animal, the habit is reinforced to the point that some cats do not want to eat anything else. In addition, the crunchy texture of the feed further reinforces that preference, making wet food something strange to them. My cat rejects food. What I do? The first, be patient. Getting a cat with a very strong neopobia start eating new foods is a background race. The first step is Get familiar with the new food. In This study He gathered fourteen adult cats that showed neophobia towards a lamb flavor food. What they did was vaporize the smell of food while cats ate their usual food. The result was that neophobia was reduced considerably. I like this. You can start by putting A bowl with wet food by feedso that I associate that it is a safe food. It is important to offer variety, because it can be the case that we are determined to eat a single option and that it turns out that you simply do not like. If your cat does not eat any wet food, there are Nutritionists who advise starting with little cans that are unhealthy. The reason is that they usually have a very attractive and flavoring smell more similar to those of the feed. In this way, it is first familiar with wet food and little by little you can introduce healthier cans. It is also recommended slightly heat the fooddo not give it directly from the fridge because it will almost certainly reject it. To start eating something new, the obvious is important: to be hungry. I think freely is not recommended. To start eating something new, the obvious is important: to be hungry. In this sense, I think freely 24 hours is not the most recommended. You can serve food three or four times a day or use An automatic feeder. Yes indeed, A cat should never be more than a whole day without eating since it can develop Hepatic lipidosis and even die. Each cat is a world and There are many more tricks That you can use, such as soaking or crushing the feed and putting a little on wet food. Also You can use others TOPPINGS like a churu -type liquid snack and sprinkle supplements such as Fortiflora (is a probiotic) or Green lip mussel powder. In Xataka | Genetics offers … Read more

There is always a disturbing friend who never speaks in the WhatsApp group. Psychology has an explanation

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A notification illuminates the mobile screen: “Someone has created a group.” For some, it is almost a message of horror; For others, an infinite dose of laziness; And for a few, the promise of a new plan that begins to organize. In a matter of minutes, the chat begins to fill with greetings, memes and jokes. Someone remembers the reason for the group and then the chain of questions, photos and proposals opens. Meanwhile, a recognizable figure always appears: that of the silent one, the “merodeter” that reads but never writes. A classic of any group. But what really does that silence mean? Is it disinterest, rejection, shyness … or something more complex? A thunderous silence. With more than 3,000 million monthly active users, According to TechCrunchWhatsApp reigns as the most used messaging application on the planet. And with it came the explosion of groups: a function that was born as a practical way of coordinating plans and that today has become a social phenomenon, as useful as exhausting. Within that ecosystem the so -called “silent” appear. These types of people are characterized by conserving Ancient chats as digital relics “That” Vacation 2017 “that nobody dares to erase – or those who remain even if they never write, because going out means having to give an explanation. A gesture that, As The Guardian remembersit is perceived almost like a public desaira. The rapid dynamic of the groups. The conversations move so fast that, if you are not connected in the first minutes, You can miss 67 messages On a break, a dinner, a drunkenness and even series recommendations. It is easy to get behind. And if it becomes common, the user limits himself to reading or even ignoring, until he becomes a digital “lurker”, How to describe an article The Independent. All this leads to overload. According to a study cited by Time66% of adults in the United States say they feel overwhelmed by the amount of messages, and 42% ensure that following the rhythm of their chats resembles a “part -time work.” Some confess to reserve time on the agenda just to answer messages. Others simply ignore and prioritize: the urgent is answered, the rest is filed in the mental folder of “eternal slopes”. Experts have something to say. Psychology has begun to pay attention to this phenomenon, and the general conclusion is clear: there is no single correct way to participate in WhatsApp groups. From the point of view of psychologist Rebeca Cáceres, director of Tribeca Psychologists, the essential thing is not to pathologize silence. In interviews with Week and The Spanishinsists that each person manages these spaces differently. Silence, in many cases, is not an absence, but a conscious act of self -care: choose not to respond as a way of protecting energy and maintaining coherence with their own values. “Not responding in a group does not mean ‘it ignores me’ or ‘rejects me’. That is what you feel, not what the other expresses,” he recalls. Your approach connects with the Self -determination theory by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan: emotional well -being is sustained on autonomy and the ability to decide how to interact. For her part, psychologist Olga Albaladejo adds other nuances in statements to body and mind. Many people shut up because they fear being misunderstood. The lack of gestures, tone of voice or looks makes WhatsApp a more ambiguous space. “They think too much about how their words will be read, if they will seem frivolous, too serious or little ingenious,” he explains. In more extreme cases, after that silence, social anxiety can hide, which amplifies the fear of being judged in an environment where each message is already written the view of all. But it is not always a problem: there are also introverted people who simply prefer intimate conversations against the noise of the groups. The fomo and the spiral of silence. Professor Sarah Buglass, from the University of Nottingham Trent, It raises another explanation in The Independent. Many “merodiers” remain in groups even if they do not participate moved by the Fomo (Fear of Missing Out). That is, the fear of falling socially relevant information. Being in the group – although in silence – is a way of monitoring the conversation, maintaining the sense of belonging and not being out of future interactions. Along the same lines, the “spiral of silence” by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, cited in Spanish, It shows how people tend to shut up when they feel that their opinion is in a minority or can break the harmony of the group. That silence, over time, is consolidated and ends up becoming a fixed role. The problem is that this behavior is not always interpreted correctly. For those who expect an answer, the lack of interaction can become a mirror of insecurities: feel ignored, little valued or even despised. “The silence, although legitimate, is not neutral,” Cáceres warns in Spanish. That is why he recommends that, if the lack of uncomfortable response, the healthiest is not to insist in public, but to open a private, honest and unjustial conversation. And what happens if you should be? Here we enter the obligations and these work groups, created for professional purposes, which end up becoming hybrid spaces where congratulations, jokes and memes are mixed. This ambiguity generates discomfort in some participants. Cáceres insists on week magazine in which the solution involves establishing clear rules: use schedules, type of allowed messages and the decision to use a personal or corporate number. Only with explicit agreements can we talk about commitments and expectations; Without them, demanding immediate response is meaningless. Resist hyperconnection without losing links. Silence in WhatsApp can also be seen as an act of resistance. The writer Richard Seymour, In The Guardianit relates it to the “right not to say anything” of the philosopher Gilles Deleuze. In a culture that rewards hyperconnection and immediate response, refusing to participate is a way to reaffirm control over time. However, group chats also … Read more

The last case of prehistoric cannibalism found in Atapuerca only has a brutal explanation: violence

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There are few prehistoric cultures that we know practiced cannibalism. Already out of ritual, famine or in a context of violent conflict, the consumption of human flesh should not have to be completely uncommon, and now we have found a new example nearby, in Atapuerca. Canibalism in the Neolithic. A study of bone remains found in the cave of El Mirador, one of the deposits of Atapuerca, Burgos, He has found Canibalism tests among the inhabitants of this Burgos cave. The remains have been dated about 5,700 years ago, during the Neolithic. The remains found would have belonged to 11 individuals of different ages: “Including children, adolescents and adults,” explains the team responsible for the study. These data, they explain, point to a “systematic consumption”, probably linked to violence between groups and not to rituals or ceremonial acts. Ethnography and archeology teach us that even in barely stratified societies there are episodes of violence where enemies are also consumption as a form of extreme elimination ”, stood out in a press release Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo, co-author of the study. Incriminatory brands.The remains, in an “exceptional state”, were found in two different sectors of the cave. The taphonomic analysis of the remains (the study of the process that leads to some bone remains to fossilize), allowed to identify in these remains of cutting and fractures that allowed access the marrowas well as cooking tests and footprints left by human teeth during consumption. The team also conducted an isotopic strontium analysis (SR), which studies the relative presence of two isotopes of this element (⁸⁷sr and ⁸⁶sr) that showed that the individuals consumed “were of local origin.” The analysis also showed that its consumption was fast. The radiocarbon analysis, meanwhile, allowed to date the remains, placing them in a time space between 5,700 and 5,570 years before the present. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Scientific Reports. Interpret the incomprehensible. Today cannibalism is abominable, to the point of being taboo in life or death contexts. That is why interpreting these past practices is difficult for those who study them. After analyzing the tests found, the team concluded that the case responded to a confrontation between livestock groups in the area. This conflict I would have concluded With the “elimination of a complete family group”, a elimination made if it can be more tangible with the consumption of the group’s meat. “Canibalism is one of the most complex behaviors of interpreting, due to the difficulty that the consumption of human beings by other human beings implies. To this it is added that, in many cases, we do not have all the necessary evidence to link it with a specific behavioral context. Finally, the prejudices of our society tend to always interpret it as an act of barbarism,” pointed in the press release Palmira Saladié, who led the team responsible for the study. Of the Neolithic at the Bronze Age. This would not be an isolated case in the history of the Cave of El Mirador, not even the most recent. The finding is linked to a previous discovery, another case of cannibalism in the same environment, only that this already in the Bronze Age, between 4,600 and 4,100 years ago. “The recurrence of these practices at different times of recent prehistory in the cave of El Mirador makes this deposit a key site to understand prehistoric human cannibalism and their link with death, as well as with a possible ritual or cultural interpretation of the human body within the worldview of those groups,” Saladié added. In Xataka | Cup -shaped skulls, cannibal practices and other things that were done in Malaga 7,000 years ago Image | IPhes-Cerca

The explanation is Rossby’s waves

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The extreme heat has undoubtedly been the defining feature of last June. However, between warm episode and warm episode, we have seen the passage of troughs that brought us some thermal relief, accompanied, yes, storms and even hails. Right now we are in full of relief, next week, the situation seems uncertain. Cold air, hot air.Meteorologists expect the beginning of the week that is standing out for an abrupt contrast between the north and center and south of the peninsula. The reason is in the presence of two differentiated air masses, a cold to the north and one of warm air to the south. Rossby’s waves. To explain what happens at the atmospheric level, it is convenient to detail before one of the phenomena involved, the not well -known Rossby waves. What exactly are these waves? It’s about Atmospheric waves of planetary scale that mark the alternation of trough and dorsal in middle latitudes, such as ours. These waves move west to this dragged by the meanders of the polar jet. In principle, waves are governed by a kind of balance, what meteorology calls compensatory behaviors: if the pressure decreases in some area, in another it must fall. “Strange dynamics ”. The problem is that we are entering unknown territory. As recently explained the physicist, disseminator and researcher JJ German Through your account in Twitterthis should imply, that as time passes, conditions such as those lived in the month of June should be “compensated” with more or less opposite conditions in the coming weeks. But there is a problem and we are in unknown territory. “As this year we have, indeed, a strange dynamic, just this will not happen: a trough with the opportunity to” sweep “the Iberian Peninsula … and it is only going to touch the north and northeast. The rest almost nor does it find out,” It points to German. That is, everything seems to indicate that after the succession of hot episodes marked by the extreme anticyclonic time, the “calm” of the troughs will not arrive or, at least, it will not arrive with the intensity that you would expect. What can we expect? The story seems to be repeated, more or less. The troughs that are now giving us a breath of heat will last little and next week the heat will return. Although not quite: during the first days of the week a mass of warm air will settle on the center and south of the peninsula while a mass of cold air will remain in the north. Meanwhile, the situation will not be far from what we have seen at other times of transition, in which the heat will coexist with the appearance of storms. The State Meteorology Agency has activated various notices today and tomorrow, both for rains and storms and by maximum temperatures. In some areas of the northwest we can see even areas where notices by maximum temperatures will share space with storms or rainy warnings. From Sunday the expected notices are only because of the high temperatures. In Xataka | A buoy in Mallorca has revealed the weather problem facing Spain: the Mediterranean Sea is in flames Image | ECMWF

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