Extreme

When a mountaineer experiences extreme experiences on the mountain, his brain begins to imagine something: a “third man”

by

Not all adventures have to be successfully resolved to become epic. It happened with what is known as Imperial Transantarcticthe expedition that left England in August 1914 under the orders of explorer Ernest Shackleton with an enormous purpose and not for the faint of heart: cross Antarcticafrom Vahsel in the Weddell Sea to Ross Island at the other end. Due to the harsh conditions at the South Pole, the ship Endurance ended up trapped between ice and Shackleton saw how his plans became complicated until they dragged him into a real feat that took his endurance and that of his colleagues to a limit level only achievable between icebergs, glacial temperatures and extreme exhaustion. The explorer’s feat also served something that he probably did not even suspect: coining the expression “third man factor or syndrome”. Well known by mountaineers and which is, even today, a fascinating phenomenon. “Who is the third person walking beside you?” Ernest Shackleton (left) with Robert Falcon Scott and Edward Wilson in Antarctica, 1902. The phenomenon was described by Shackleton when he recalled the very hard two and a half days during which he advanced—along with Frank Worseley and Tom Cream—towards a whaling station located on the northern coast of South Georgia. The group walked 36 long hours between terrible conditions, with hardly any material and avoiding death. On their shoulders they also carried the responsibility of having to help the rest of their companions from the ill-fated Imperial Transantarctic. Only the three of them, Ernest, Frank and Tom, wandered through the desolate Antarctica, although if someone had asked them how many people made up that desperate entourage, they would probably have answered something different: that with them was another person, a fourth member, nameless, faceless… but undeniable. “I know that during that long and stormy march over nameless mountains and glaciers, it often seemed to me that there were four of us, not three,” the explorer wrote. That common feeling, precise Guardianoverwhelmed the three men who undertook the journey: the presence of a “fourth” that accompanied them. Such an expression must have surprised the poet. T. S. Eliotwho some time later, in 1922, after reading Shackleton’s story, picked up the idea to capture it in his popular poem The Waste Land: “Who is the third one who always walks by your side? When I count, there is only you and me together, but when I look ahead on the white road there is always another walking at your side.” Eliot’s license, which changed Shackleton’s “fourth” man for a “third” was successful and since then we usually talk about the “third man syndrome” to refer to that: the feeling of a ghost companion, a presence that in a way comforts people who face a borderline sensation. Shackleton was not the only one to describe it. Several years after his death, in 1933, Frank SmytheBritish and explorer like him, recounted an experience similar while trying to summit Mount Everest. “The whole time I was climbing alone I had the strong feeling that I was accompanied by a second person. It was so strong that completely eliminated all the loneliness I might otherwise have felt,” the explorer wrote in his diary. So vivid was the sensation that, Smythe explains, at one point during the ascent he searched in his pocket, took out a piece of Kendal Mint Cakebroke it and turned to offer one of the halves to that companion who felt so close. He didn’t see anyone, of course. You don’t have to go back that far in time. Not that far. The Madrid mountaineer Fernando Garrido wrote in his notebook the feeling that came over him when, at the beginning of 1986, he spent more than two months on the lonely summit of the Aconcaguaat almost 7,000 meters, to achieve the altitude survival record. “Today, like other times, I woke up with the feeling that there was someone outsidenext to the store. Have you spent the night there? Why didn’t he call me to let him in? (…) —said the mountaineer in statements collected for him The Confidential—He’s my brother, my brother Javier! Javi, wake up, come on, wake up! I turn it towards me. “He is dead, his head is a skull.” “A solid science” A good handful of articles and references have been written about the phenomenon, some in media within the reach of Guardian either NPRand in 2008 the writer John Geiger dedicated a monographic book to him, ‘The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible’ after spending five years tracking down similar stories. It is more complicated than collecting experiences, however, to give them a plausible explanation. Years ago, during a chat with the journalist NPR’s Guy Raz, Geiger reported that there are those who turn to spirituality, although he insists that the syndrome can be explained by “a solid science”. “Many skeptics and non-believers have had this experience and attribute it to other causes,” claims the author, who in his volume even includes the case of a 9/11 survivor. In 2009 Geiger pointed out explanations such as biochemical reactions or simply failures in brain activity. “If we understand that the third man factor is part of us, like adrenaline is… then we can access it more easily. It is not a hallucination in the sense that hallucinations are disordered. This is a very useful and orderly guide,” he reflected. Years ago, researchers Ben Alderson-Day and David Smailes commented on the phenomenon and they explained that “strong feelings of presence” do not occur only in dramatic circumstances. Cases have been recorded after bereavement, during sleep paralysis or in cases of neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease or brain damage. “The different contexts in which they occur give us some clues about what could be happening,” they say. “Understanding more about how and why felt presences occur has the potential to tell us many things about ourselves: how we react under intense mental or physical stress, how we deal with danger and threat, … Read more

The extreme stress of the Spanish water network explained from within

by

The images have flooded social networks this weekend: the Aldeadávila dam “turbinating at full capacity” with the Duero river descending with enormous force, or the Iznájar reservoir recovering its splendor in a matter of days. They are hypnotic images that hide a much more tense and calculated reality. While the citizen sees natural spectacles, the engineers see a fight against the disaster. In the midst of this “festival” of storms that has shaken the peninsula this month of February, One phrase sums up the situation better than any other. It is pronounced by José María Sanz de Galdeanodirector of Hydrological Planning and Works of the Basque Water Agency (URA): “The dams were not designed for floods, but today they are key to cushioning them.” These infrastructures, designed decades ago so that water comes out when you turn on the tap or to turn on the light, have become—almost by historical accident—the last line of defense between the perfect storm and the safety of the populations downstream. A winter concentrated in a few days. To understand the magnitude of the event, we must first look at the Basque Country, where the orography and intense rains have tested the system. As explained by Sanz de Galdeano in the SER ChainEuskadi has faced a winter marked by episodes of very intense rain concentrated in very few days. The situation has forced the activation of the two major Basque regulatory systems. On the one hand, the Zadorra system composed of the Ullibarri-Gamboa reservoir and the Urrunaga dam. On the other hand, the Añarbe system is responsible for supplying the Donostialdea area. It is not a local phenomenon. It is a symptom of a broader hydrometeorological pattern that has affected the entire peninsula. While in the Tormes system, reservoirs like Santa Teresa are close to 80% and release water preventively to defend the city of SalamancaIn the south the situation has been even more drastic. In Andalusia, the Iznájar reservoir—the giant of the community— has doubled its reserves in just two weeks, going from a critical 25% to exceeding 50%, something that had not been seen in a decade. The intensity has been such that the AEMET even warned of scenarios of soil saturation with impacts “some of the highest in the world”, causing water to gush directly from the ground in places like Grazalema (Cádiz). forcing preventive evacuations. From supply to “lamination”. The relevant thing about these weeks is not only that it has rained, but how we have managed that rain. Sanz de Galdeano puts his finger on the sore: “These infrastructures were built primarily for water supply, not specifically to laminate avenues.” However, its immense storage capacity has made it possible to change its function on the fly. Dams have acted as giant shock absorbers. “They have sufficient volume to play with reserves, create space and retain water at the most critical moments,” says the director of URA. Sanz de Galdeano’s warning has scientific support. A study on the effectiveness of dams in the face of climate change confirms that infrastructure designed with “historical data” They are operating blind to the new reality. Old models did not account for this extreme variability; under severe warming scenarios, the risk of large dams overflowing could multiply by up to 17 compared to historical records. The conclusion is technical but terrifying: the effectiveness of a dam decreases dramatically under extreme hydrological regimes if adaptive management is not applied. This excess water has had an unexpected side effect on the energy market: Spain’s “battery” it’s so loaded (117% more stored hydroelectric energy than last year) that nuclear energy is no longer competitive. The Trillo plant, for example, has been disconnected from the grid because, given such an abundance of turbineable water, the numbers simply “did not add up.” Choreography of floodgates. The precision mathematics that decides how much water reaches your home. The management of these crises is a precision choreography that Sanz de Galdeano graphically defines as working “with one eye on the river and another on the sky.” The technical key lies in the “reservoir”: the empty space that is deliberately left in the reservoir before the rain arrives in order to swallow the flood. The director of URA details how it is applied this differently depending on the capacity of each system: In the Zadorra (High regulation): These dams control 60% of the upstream basin. This allows for drastic intervention. The figures from Sunday night are the best example: 260 cubic meters per second of furious water entered the system, but the floodgates only let out 54. That difference (more than 200 m³/s retained) is the flood that was avoided. In Añarbe (Less regulation): Here the dam only controls 23% of the basin. Most of the river water circulates freely, so there is less room for maneuver. Even so, the strategy is the same: when the river goes high, floodgates are closed to retain “as much as possible.” All this is done under administrative coordination complex but fluid between URA, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation and that of the Cantabrian Sea. Not all barriers are the same. In this context of saving dams, a reasonable question arises: why then are some dams on Basque rivers being demolished? Sanz de Galdeano makes a crucial distinction between large regulatory infrastructures and small weirs. “These are not large infrastructures like those of Zadorra, but rather low-rise structures that have no real capacity to manage avenues,” he clarifies. The elimination of these small obstacles responds to two logics: Environmental: they allow fish and fauna to ascend the river, improving ecological health. Hydraulics: Although it may seem contradictory, these small walls can raise the water table in local floods, worsening the problem instead of solving it. However, large dams have their own silent enemy: sediment. Experts and organizations like Greenpeace warn that torrential rains They drag tons of mud that accumulate at the bottom of the reservoirs, subtracting their real capacity (that “hole” that Galdeano spoke of) and … Read more

The US has such a big problem with Asian carp in its rivers that it has decided something extreme: electrocute them

by

Back in the 70s in the United States someone had an idea to control the growth of algae, weeds and parasites from aquaculture farms in the southern states: introduce four species of carp from Asia, more specifically the bighead carpthe black carpthe grass carp and the silver carp. If you know a little about biology or ever fishing you have come across a tremendous catfishwhat happened next will not surprise you: he got into a mess. Tonight we cross the Mississippi. These four voracious “natural herbicides” released in Arkansas were colonizing the river network, first ascending the Mississippi River and its tributaries and helped by floods to reach open rivers until threatening the Great Lakes located in the northern United States, this chronology of expansion and reproduction details it the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The impressive Mississippi basin or how carp left Arkansas for the Great Lakes. Via Shannon1 They are true titans. Carp are a great example of adaptive management of invasive species: they are able to withstand different environments, can live for several decades and lay millions of eggs. Carp are in their element at the bottom of lakes, ponds or rivers and they swallow everything, since practically any organic matter will do, from plankton to small fish. So they gobble up food that native species could eat. Destination: Great Lakes. Present in every state of the continental United States, the northern Great Lakes are a destination as desirable as it is devastating. In addition to the damage to the ecosystem, a large-scale invasion would cause a catastrophe to the local economy while decimating the fishing industry, which generates approximately 7 billion dollars a year. So the Administration, scientists and environmentalists have been drawing up plans for years to keep them out of there. The grass carp has already been sighted in the lake erie. How many Asian carp can you catch? The first measure they implemented was to encourage the increase of their fishing, with tournaments such as the Redneck Fishing Tournament so that those who participate try to capture as many as they can. The problem is that fishing is not enough to decimate a species with such a reproductive desire. Michigan DNR Aquatic Species Expert Seth Herbst concludes that It would be necessary to get rid of 80% so that its population does not recover. If you can’t handle it, eat it.. In 2022 the Illinois Department of Natural Resources had an idea: use large-scale commercial fishing as an aquatic management tool to reduce population pressure. In other words: encourage human consumption of carp, which renamed “Copi”. Carp meat is rich in protein and is consumed in China and other Asian countries, so why not in the United States? The campaign is still alive and well (like the tents): on the campaign website there is a long list of recipes and restaurants in different states where you can try them. And speaking of recipes, this one from “Can’t Beat ‘Em, Eat ‘Em” (if you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em) gives more ideas for cooking this and other invasive species. The delicious Asian carp taco Chicago’s electric wall. Since 2013, the United States Army Corps of Engineers A series of permanent electric barriers are operational in the Chicago area waterway system with a direct current field of 2.3 Volts per square inch (about 0.35 Volts per square centimeter). This spark does not kill the carp, it only paralyzes them so that they do not advance and remain downstream. Of course, this method is not infallible: changes in water levels or the salt used for defrosting can alter the conductivity of the water and, therefore, the effectiveness of this method. In addition, smaller specimens can escape into shelters that form between boats. And one obvious thing: it affects carp and non-carp fish, thus altering their behavior. And yet, it continues to be used. Looking for the infallible system against carp. In the river basins of Illinois they have tried walls of bubbles made from a pipe, thus obstructing their vision. Its sound also serves as a warning. The problem? That also affects native species. And one step further, a variant in the form of cavitation curtains in which the bubbles are broken to disturb the fish. This method was the winner of the contest Carp Tankwith a succulent reward of $500,000 to whoever came up with the definitive idea. Brandon Road Dam Project The chaos zone. Since electricity is not 100% infallible, in 2024 they allocated 858 million dollars to build the dam project. Brandon Road Interbasind which has everything: improved electric barriers, acoustic deterrents (the silver carp jump when they hear the noise of the engines) and bubbles to obscure their vision. The objective is to prevent the carp from crossing the dam at all, minimizing damage to the rest. In Xataka | The Iberian Peninsula is being invaded: more than 1,200 exotic species have come to stay In Xataka | The coypu, one of the 100 most harmful invasive species in the world, is at the doors of Barcelona Cover | Flickr

We believed that a vegetarian diet guaranteed longevity. In extreme old age, the data says just the opposite

by

There are many positions in nutrition about what food It is the one that will give us a better old age. One of the positions that you have surely heard is the need to reduce meat consumption to prioritize vegetables for everyone the benefits that they contribute. But now science is pointing out that what works at age 40 may not be ideal at age 90. The change of course. A published study this same year in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shaken the hornet’s nest of gerontology after analyzing thousands of elderly people. The conclusion they have drawn is that among those over 80 years of age, those who consume meat are more likely to become centenarians than strict vegetarians. But before you rush to cancel your salad order, read the fine print: the key is not the meat per sebut weight, fragility and the fight against muscle loss. The data. In order to reach this conclusion, the study analyzed data from a longevity survey in the Chinese population carried out between 1998 and 2018. In total, the researchers followed 5,203 participants who were over 80 years old, classifying them based on omnivores or vegetariansincluding vegans and ovolactovegetarians. The results. Adjusting for age, gender, and baseline health, the study yielded a surprising finding: vegetarian diets were associated with a 25% lower chance of reaching age 100 compared to omnivorous diets. A correlation that was statistically significant mainly in the elderly who were already thin. Thinness. This is a really important point to present one of the nuances of this research. And the advantage of carnivores disappears in people who have a weight within the established normality. Thus, the negative association between being vegetarian and extreme longevity was observed almost exclusively in participants with a BMI lower than 18.5. That is, extreme thinness. This reinforces what is sometimes known in medicine as the “paradox of obesity in old age“. While in youth overweight is a risk factor for almost everything, in extreme old age, having energy reserves and muscle mass is life insurance. This is why the authors of the study emphasize that the consumption of foods of animal origin seems to act as a protective factor against malnutrition and frailty in these vulnerable individuals. Because. The biological explanation that suggests that meat is good in old age is based on the constant fight against degradation. One of these events is the dreaded sarcopeniawhich occurs when the natural loss of muscle mass accelerates over time. One of the objectives here, as we have repeated many times, is to maintain muscle with highly bioavailable proteins that are in meat, eggs and milk. In addition to this, the study suggests that strict vegetarians, especially thin ones, may not be ingesting enough total calories to maintain their physiology in stressful situations. And it is not crazy now, but previous studies have already pointed out that, although restricting meat reduces mortality in young people and middle adults, this effect was reversed in old age. They don’t cast a shadow. Logically, this study does not negate the many benefits of a plant-based diet for the general population. In fact, there are studies that suggest that for the vast majority of the population the priority continues to be preventing serious chronic diseases such as diabetes. However, this work suggests that nutrition must be dynamic, since the requirement in middle age is not the same as in the last years of life. Images | Simon Godfrey Kile Mickey In Xataka | Being bored is psychologically positive but it has an undesirable consequence on your body: it makes you gain weight.

This is one of the most extreme northern lights hunts in Norway

by

There are nights when northern Norway does not promise anything, and that is precisely why it is so attractive. Close darkness, sustained cold and a landscape that, for hours, barely offers references beyond mountains, snow and silence. In this context, the idea of ​​going out to search northern lights It stops looking like a conventional tourist plan and becomes something else, a conscious wait in a unique environment with epicenter in Narvik. What is offered here is not a themed train or a rolling observation deck, but rather a nighttime experience organized around a real railway journey. The call Northern Lights Train It uses an existing line to get away from the city and take travelers to areas with very little light pollution, where waiting is a central part of the plan. The train is the means, not the end, and the proposal is structured around moving, getting off, waiting and returning. Everything is designed to increase the chances of seeing auroras. A trip designed to pursue something unique Traveling on the Ofoten line means crossing one of the most unique railway corridors in northern Norway. In the context of this experience, the journey functions as a process of gradual disconnection, Narvik is left behind and, with it, artificial lighting and the feeling of an inhabited environment. The train enters a mountainous landscape where the sky begins to take over. The itinerary has two proper names that organize the experience. The first is Bjørnfjella station located next to the border with Sweden, where the train makes a brief stop before continuing its ascent. The final destination is Katteratabout 374 meters above sea level, a former railway enclave with no road access. That detail is not minor, getting there is only possible by train, and it turns the place into a particularly secluded point. Once in Katterat, the experience shifts from journey to waiting. Travelers get off the train and move on foot through the immediate surroundings, where a meeting point is organized around a bonfire. There is a hot drink and some simple food, not as a gastronomic attraction, but as support against the cold and the waiting time. The pace consciously slows down and the night takes over as the group remains attentive to the sky. Here the guides fulfill a more strategic than spectacular function. They are the ones who interpret forecasts, explain why it is expected at a specific point and adjust the plan if conditions change. They are also those who lower expectations, remembering that the dawn does not light up on demand and that the night can be resolved without major apparitions. This balance between information, prudence and support is an essential part of the product offered. Auroras are not a local or spontaneous phenomenon, but the visible consequence of processes that begin much further away. The origin is in the solar wind, a flow of charged particles ejected by the Sun constantly and It takes around 40 hours to reach Earth. When this material interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, it is deflected towards the poles and collides with oxygen and nitrogen at high altitudes. If we talk about the price, the train trip, the organization of the wait, the hot drinks, the snack and the guide’s explanations are part of the same package, whose cost starts at 1495 Norwegian crowns (about 127 euros). The model is clear, to shape an unpredictable night within an organized experience, where the value is not in the result, but in the set of elements that make the attempt possible. The journey ends as it began, on rails, with the train returning to Narvik as the group leaves Katerat behind and the mountain once again closes in darkness. Heaven may or may not have answeredbut the experience has already been completed on another level. What remains is the feeling of having participated in something that cannot be forced, where the journey, the wait and the context weigh as much as the result. It should be noted that an image that does not correspond to reality has been built on these types of experiences lately. On social networks and some media circulate images and videospossibly generated or altered with artificial intelligence, showing supposed luxury Norwegian trains with wrap-around glass roofs and perfect views of the sky. Those trains do not exist. The real experience, as we have seen, is very different from those recreations. Images | Norwegian Travel | Visit Narvik | Arctic Train In Xataka | Marbella is no longer the favorite destination of Russian millionaires: it is now a paradise island in China where they are not held accountable

Before, advertising was to monetize. Now it is to punish you and YouTube has taken it to the extreme

by

About fifteen years ago, online advertising was the implicit deal: you saw a banner or a pre-roll fifteen seconds and you had free access to everything. It wasn’t ideal, but it was logical: someone paid for the content you consumed so you didn’t have to pay for it. It worked because the discomfort was proportionate. That exists less and less. What we have now is something else: the platforms have discovered that advertising serves less to monetize than to push. To degrade the free experience until paying premium stops being a whim and becomes the only tolerable way to use the product. And no one does it with more brazenness – or mastery – than YouTube. That’s how he hunted me. If you use it without paying, you know: increasingly longer and more frequent ads, several before starting the video, the same shady spot repeated three times in ten minutes. Ads that cut sentences in half, destroy the rhythm of a song, or appear just when you got to the part you were interested in. It is that way by design. YouTube doesn’t need to show you so many ads to monetize. You would probably earn more with less, better targeted advertising. But it’s not about that. It’s about making the free experience so unbearable that you end up paying to stay sane. I don’t pay YouTube Premium for what it offers me, but for what it takes from me. And more and more people pay not because they want extra features, but so they don’t end up crashing their phone on the ground. Other platforms do the same but disguise it better. Netflix with shared accounts, Disney+ with the video quality on the cheap plan, Spotify putting ads on you and forcing random mode. They are visible tricks, but at least you have less and what you have works. YouTube has gone further: it doesn’t take away your features, it poisons them. The catalog is still complete, but the experience is hostile. You pay with your patience and with your fragmented attention. The curious thing is that YouTube is pretty honest. It doesn’t talk about Premium as an “improved experience” or “exclusive content.” It basically tells you: if you want this to stop being hell, check out. They don’t deceive. They tell you what the deal is. Forks the Internet model in the 1920s. Platforms no longer build something so good that people want to pay for it. They make the free plan so bad that there is no other option. The logic is identical: friction is no longer a side effect. It’s the lever. This also says something about us: a decade ago, ads were annoying but bearable. Today they are intrusions that we cannot tolerate. We have normalized that the Internet should be fluid, without interruptions or waiting. The platforms know it. They know that we have lost the ability to endure any friction. So they make it, multiply it, and then charge you to remove it. YouTube has perfected something that other platforms may not want to admit: The ad no longer sells products. Sell ​​your own absence. And that is perhaps the only advertising that really works. In Xataka | I’ve been paying for YouTube Premium for years and I don’t regret it. The problem is that going back is impossible. Featured image | Xataka with Mockuuups Studio

How to see the warnings for extreme cold and snow anywhere in Spain

by

We are going to tell you how to see the AEMET weather warnings, with which you will be able to know every day when and where extreme cold or snow is expected to fall. This way, you can get this information directly from the main source. On this website you will be able to see a map with the weather warnings indicated with colors, depending on whether they are yellow, orange or red alerts. You will also know if the alerts are due to wind, waves, extreme temperatures or snow. Check weather warnings To check the weather warnings throughout the Spanish territory you have to enter the website aemet.es/es/eltiempo/forecast/notices. On this web page, at the top you will see a map where weather alerts are indicated. On the left you can choose to see only a specific type of alerts or on specific days. Below the map you will have a timeline, so you can review the status of the alerts hour by hour by clicking on the one you want. And below, you will first have a list with all the notices in a color code, indicating towns and showing you icons so that you know the main notices that are in each of them. Furthermore, below you will have the details of the notices. In them you will be given specific information about each of the notices, such as their level, expected values ​​or probability, as well as comments and start and end times. In Xataka Basics | Personal weather forecast in Gemini: how to use it to ask the weather today and how to schedule forecasts to appear for you

There are eight million Airbnbs, but only one where the disconnection is so extreme that there is fine print: risk of death

by

At the beginning of the year, the figure by Bryant Gingerich began to circulate in many media. In a secluded corner of the Ohio wilderness, Gingerich, a 34-year-old engineer, seemed to have found an opportunity to transform his professional life by converting a simple cave in a successful vacation rental business. However, if we talk about places far away from the world, none like the one in this story. Stay at the extreme. I told the story a few days ago BBC. In the Kulusuk Fjords of eastern Greenland, the Floating Glacier Hut It has established itself as one of the most remote accommodations, if not the most, in the world. The cabin, installed on a floating hexagonal platform and anchored to the surrounding rocks, it is located in an area where the distances between settlements are enormous and the human presence is minimal. Access is made only by boat and the infrastructure responds to the idea of ​​offering a space completely removed from any urban dynamics, in a territory dominated by glaciers, icebergs and an unpredictable climate. This approach fits with the rise of the so-called as “quietcations” and hyper-remote destinations, which seek to satisfy the growing need for total disconnection that many travelers express in the face of the accelerated pace of daily life. Disconnect without technology. The cabin dispenses with the internet and reduces outside communication to a satellite phone, which forces us to live real isolation throughout the stay. The Finnish-made module is thermally insulated and has a glass roof that allows you to observe the polar sky and phenomena such as the northern lights without leaving the interior. The equipment it’s basic: a small stove, a toilet, a minimal kitchen area and a double bed. The lack of a shower is part of the design, and some visitors resort to quick dips in the frozen sea to clean themselves. This austerity is proposed as a central feature of the experience, focused on the observation of the environment and sensory immersion without digital interference. Views from the accommodation Caution and logistics. Extreme isolation coexists with reasonable vigilance against the risks inherent to the Arctic. According to the local guide Nicco Segretoresponsible for the project, the cabin acts as an effective refuge from potentially deadly fauna like polar bears (there is a sign that warns you before entering), as long as you stay inside. However, the operator warns that weather conditions may prevent the arrival of the boat in charge of transporting guests, an element that is part of the operational reality in the region. The landscape offers opportunities for activities such as glacier hiking, exploring ice caves formed by subglacial rivers, and ice fishing through a small hole prepared in the structure. These excursions show the dynamics of ice and the visible effects of melting, reinforcing the educational value of the trip. A tourist project. Secret discovered a decade ago a glacial cave that today is part of the activity offerand that discovery was the origin of his initiative to develop low-footprint tourism in the area. In addition to generating employment in the Tasiilaq community, the project aims to attract travelers interested in geology, the behavior of ice and the magnitude of the polar landscape. The Floating Glacier Hut It is the initial phase of a broader plan that includes a future retirement of greater capacity, Vision Lodgeaimed at structured stays of several days. The accelerated retreat of the glaciers, visible even year after year, becomes a central component of the experience, which allows us to observe climate changes on a human scale. An exclusive model. The stay, designed for two people, has an approximate cost from 1,000 to 1,200 dollars per night and includes private boat transfers, dinner prepared by the guide himself, and breakfast. Despite the price, remembered the BBC that the accommodation It has received very positive reviews for the combination of isolation, landscape and silence, elements that guests point out as difficult to find in other destinations. Thus, the general perception is that it is an experience designed for those who seek to completely disconnect (from humanity and devices), observe the environment without filters and face a slower pace, where nature is the central axis of the room and the passage of time seems to acquire another scale. Image | Vision Lodge In Xataka | An engineer left his job to transform a cave into a vacation rental. He’s making a fortune a year without Airbnb In Xataka | Italy vetoes one of the great symbols of mass tourism: the use of key boxes for self-check-in is prohibited

Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Extreme, Characteristics and Technical Card

by

For a long time, choosing a Windows laptop meant moving inside the world X86with Intel and AMD as absolute protagonists. But the photo is changing while the ARCHITURE ARMdifferent at its base and that until now we associated mainly to mobiles and tablets. In computers, the proper name is Qualcomm, which with its Snapdragon seeks to offer a real alternative. The difference is not alone in whom it manufactures, but how the instructions are executed, which implies another way of understanding power, autonomy and compatibility. The arrival of ARM to the laptops is not explained without a change of priorities in the market. It is increasingly real autonomy and the possibility of executing artificial intelligence at a local without depending on the cloud. There, the NPU enter, who enable experiences of the co -senses focused on creativity and productivity. Qualcomm was among the first to align with Microsoft in this field, and Since May 2024 its Snapdragon They appear among those who can fully take advantage of these functions. Technical sheet of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme Manufacturing process 3 nanometers 3 nanometers CPU ARCHITURE ARM ARCHITURE ARM Up to 18 nuclei 5.0 GHz GPU Adreno Adreno artificial intelligence NPU Hexagon 80 tops NPU Hexagon 80 tops modem Snapdragon X75 5g Snapdragon X75 5g connectivity and location Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800 Mobile Wi -Fi 7 compatible Bluetooth 5.4 le Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800 Mobile Wi -Fi 7 compatible Bluetooth 5.4 le ARM as a way to rethink the Windows laptop The change of approach is perceived in the way of talking about performance. It is no longer so much to boast maximum or nuclei frequency, but about the ability to maintain fluidity throughout the work session. Qualcomm processors point there: that opening several applications, editing a video or continuing with the laptop Without a plug, do not suppose a speed downturn. This stability is combined with autonomies of several days, a land in which ARM wants to mark distance in front of X86. In Copilot+ laptops, artificial intelligence becomes another component of experience, not an isolated addition. The NPU It allows to execute models locally and support functions such as summarizing texts, separating voices in a recording or improving the sharpness of the live camera. The key is in the possibilities of computation at home and in the lower dependence of the cloud, all without the energy consumption shooting. Beyond performance and battery, the choice of a laptop with Snapdragon is to review what programs are used daily. In ARM not the entire Windows catalog works natively: much yes, but there are still exceptions that force emulation. This means that for the common user the difference is minimal, but for whom It depends on specialized software or concrete drivers it is convenient to verify compatibility. Qualcomm places the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme in the range of range with 3rd generation CPU Oryon, of up to 18 nuclei, and with the first CPU compatible with ARM in reaching 5.0 GHz, in addition to an NPU of 80 tops. The company speaks of “up to 75% more CPU yield that the competition at the same power ”and of an adreno GPU with improvement of“ 2.3x ”in performance per watt against the previous generation. It is oriented to professional loads and experiences of the concurrent in co -pilot+ in fine and light laptops. They are official promises pending independent verification. The Snapdragon X2 Elite maintains the NPU of 80 tops and the 3rd generation CPU Oryon, manufactured in 3 Nm, with figures that Qualcomm defines as “up to 31% more performance at the same power” and “up to 43% less consumption” against the previous generation. Add the connectivity ecosystem (5g x75 option, Wifi 7) and an ISP Spectra for higher quality cameras on PC, in addition to Snapdragon Guardian for remote management. On paper, it is designed for demanding multitasking and thin designs that are used away from the charger. Qualcomm describes these chips as a basis for “Ultra-Premium Windows PCS” and advances that the first teams would arrive in the First half of 2026. There is no public confirmation of brands, chassis or prices, so any list would be speculative. What is clear in the note is the type of product: fine and light portables that are committed to sustained yield, the local and long -term batteries. The rest of the variables, from materials to ports, will depend on each launch when the OEM make their configurations officers. Images | Qualcomm | Xataka In Xataka | HP omnibook X Flip 14, Analysis: the versatility and power of a convertible greatly designed with Core Ultra 2

Goal has found in extreme sport a new market niche for its glasses

by

Goal has just presented a new model of its new smart glasses and does so by repeating experience with Oakley. However, instead of betting on a mounting -oriented assembly, it is committed to a niche of Very concrete user For their Oakley Meta Vanguard: the High intensity athletes who want to share their training and experiences. Although my incipient belly and the increase in my pulsations when climbing stairs betrayed That was not the user profile Objective to which these connected glasses were directed, the goal engineers let me try them equally. Although when I took them, I still did not feel like putting on Run a marathon Or pedal for 200 km, I must recognize that it is a product very well focused on its audience. Real sports design The first view makes it clear that we are not talking about glasses that fit the outfit that anyone would choose to go out with the friends of the afternoon or on vacation, as would probably do with the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer or with them Oakley Meta HSTN. They are not casual glasses, but their enveloping design already points to sports use. The first thing that surprised me when they took them was their weight. Despite being glasses with considerable glass coverage and thick sideburns that end up integrating with the frontal glass, only They weigh 66 gramswhich are 13 grams more than the Meta HSTN. While it is true that they are not as light as the “analog” sports glasses (which are around 35-45 grams) The Vanguard targets use some tricks that Oakley has applied in their design to look lighter. Instead of dropping the weight on the ears and the bridge of the nose, they distribute it along the surface of the pin that remains in contact with the head. In addition, the bridge is rubber and removable, which allows the glasses to settle correctly on the nose and prevent it from sliding with the movement or sweat. This accessory would be the equivalent of the headphones pads, but to adapt the goggles bridge to your nose. Even at the risk of being shot, I could not resist jumping and moving my head as if he were the guitarist of a rock group of the 80s. Not a millimeter moved of your position. That led me to remember the experience of my partner Javier Lacort With the Oakley Meta HSTNthey did move when it ran. The most prominent element are polarized and interchangeable prizm lenses that protect from the sun even on the sides. They are more heavy than conventional sports glasses, but the three -point adjustment system (bridge and after the ears) distributes the weight of the glasses so that it is barely noticeable. How could it be otherwise, glasses They have IP67 protection And they resist sweat, rain, splashes, dust, snow and even mud. In addition, the lenses have anti -ñazos resistance in their four glass finishes: 24k (golden), black, road (violet) and saphire (blue). If the crystal will be damaged (for a fall, for example) or want to change style, it can be replaced by another replacement that is sold separately by 85 dollars. Audio, Chamber and … Action !! So far, the Oakley Meta Vanguard could be any of the sports glasses to the use of the Oakley catalog, but it is now when it is time to discover the goal hand. Something that I realize is that, beyond the obvious design change, in reality (and with some nuances that I will designate below) the avant -garde technology does not contribute (almost) nothing new with respect to the HSTN goal, with which Share 90% of its equipment of sound, camera functions or functions of artificial goal intelligence. That makes the “wow” effect be diluted to be before a new product. Like the rest of the goal smart glasses, it has a system of five proximity microphones. That makes, although whoever is by your side also has finish glasses, when running voice commands for the goal assistant AI, only the glasses you wear are activated. Although I could not check it for myself, the goal engineers assured me that these microphones had optimized to filter external noise and wind, more than reasonable in a device with which it is possible to respond to a call while descending skiing the slope of a snowy mountain or traveling the paths of a forest at full speed. What I could try is the sound. Second surprise: They sound really good. As they told me in the finish line, the speakers are 60% more powerful than in previous models. As in the previous models of finish glasses, the speakers are located at the bottom of the pin and oriented towards the auditory pavilion, which makes the sound arrive naturally. Against all prognosis, the bass had enough presence and gave the feeling of canned sound. Again, I could not try them in a noisy or wind environment, but in a room with several people around me talking animatedly and with an average volume, the audio remained well defined. One of the details that I could see is that up to 60 or 70% nobody by your side listen to what you are listening, from that level a murmur is heard (as in normal headphones) but it is not possible to clearly identify what it sounds like. The main difference of the Vanguard target with respect to the other two models of target glasses, is that the camera is not on one side, but is located just above the nose. When working, an LED light turns on the upper edge. This location and its 122º field of vision It makes the feeling of being recording exactly what you see, since the perspective of the glasses coincides with that of your eyes. As in the Oakley Meta HSTN, this 12 megapixel camera records with a 3K resolution at 30 fps. In addition to being able to take photos, there are three … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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