Extreme

FIFA has managed to distort football to the extreme and the proof is the disconcerting half-time show

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As a preamble to a soccer game, the truth is that it was all very strange. Hollywood’s most famous actor rambled on about sport in the abstract in front of thousands of spectators (or many millions, if we count the television broadcast) who essentially wanted to see the World Cup final that faced Argentina and Spainif possible without too many additives. And it was just the beginning: the anthem of Spain performed by a group of wind instruments, María Becerra singing that of Argentina… Just the appetizer. TheCruise. What did the protagonist of ‘Mission: Impossible’ talk about? He reviewed the “more than thirty days” of the tournament and stated that football is “a language that is spoken without words.” It was not his first foray into this type of staging: the actor had already starred in an acrobatic number at the closing of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The reaction on networks was immediate: many spectators They described the intervention as “shameful” and “ridiculous”; other international media spoke directly about the famous “cringe“. The anthems also had a great presence: Jennifer Hudson sang the United States anthem; the Spanish Brass band performed the Spanish anthem based on metals; and then María Becerra intoned the argentine anthem. Previously, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger had performed ‘Desire’, the official FIFA anthem, with Laura Pausini joining in for the Spanish part. Back to the intermission. FIFA had insisted in which the halftime show would not exceed eleven minutes. When the show ended, the complete break had been around 27 minutes, almost double the limit of fifteen minutes set by the regulations. The poster had generated skepticism even before anyone took the stage: Robert Smith, leader of The Cure, was once again the best of us all in summing up his opinion on the band’s official account with a laconic “Aaaaaaaaagh”, followed by hashtags such as “panycirco”, and the BBC confirmed in advance that would not broadcast the show, just as he had already done with the opening ceremony of Qatar 2022. What happened. Madonna opened the show from inside a giant ball and then climbed into a vehicle piloted by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, in a feverish version of the Mystery Machine. BTS performed ‘Dynamite’, Shakira the de rigueur anthem and The Electric Mayhem, the Muppet band in which Animal is a member, played ‘Seven Nation Army’. Justin Bieber sang an acoustic ballad that was very out of keeping with the general violent vibes of the final and The Muppets from Sesame Street returned with Coldplay and a Staten Island children’s choir to close the show. My sleep paralysis demons Why all this. The final is FIFA’s second attempt to introduce soccer in the United States, and as El País tellsthis time instead of “footballing” Americans, it has been the country’s cultural codes that have ended up imposing themselves on soccer. The highly criticized hydration breaks, unprecedented in sports and presented as a medical measure, are in practice advertising breaks similar to those of sports with roots in the United States. That cultural tension was staged on Fox Sports broadcasts, where former American soccer player Alexi Lalas and Frenchman Thierry Henry came into conflict with opinions about how the game should be understood. Things are clear. FIFA has never hidden its pecuniary intentions with this World Cup, no matter how much they dress it up with children’s choirs. Gianni Infantino, the president of the organization, has openly compared the tournament to the Super Bowl, bragging about an audience equivalent to “104 Super Bowls” in one month. Throughout the tournament, hydration breaks intended for medical reasons turned into more than six hundred minutes of additional advertising space, such as we already talked at the time. The extension of rest time, criticized for violating the IFAB limitalso adds a real medical risk for footballers: muscle cooling after such a long break. FIFA had been trying for three decades to get soccer into the American public without completely succeeding. Having seen the final, he has decided that football should be a little more similar to what that public already consumes. At the moment, Spain is the champion of the title without any doubt, but there are questions about the future of the tournament that will be resolved, precisely, in Spain in four years. Let us remember that for the 2030 and 2034 editions, Netflix, Disney and YouTube They are already negotiating retransmission rights. And many things can be blamed on FIFA, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t put its cards on the table. In Xataka | You don’t need an earthquake to move a seismic needle: a goal from Spain is enough

extreme heat has put parmesan cheese in danger of extinction

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Summer has started strong with a heat wave that has affected all of Europe and experts are already warning that an even worse one is coming. Extreme temperatures not only affect us, animals also suffer from them and it is wreaking havoc on a very important industry in Italy, that of Parmesan cheese. what’s happening. They tell it in Reuters: Extreme heat is threatening the production of the most famous Italian cheese. The maximum temperatures, which can exceed 40 degrees, cause the cows to eat less, spend more time lying down and consequently produce less milk, the main ingredient in this cheese. Specifically, up to 10% less. Cool cattle. Livestock farmers decades ago only had to open the windows of the stables at night so that the livestock could cope better with the heat, but now this is no longer enough. The windows are constantly open and some ranchers have installed fans with water misters to lower the temperature a little more. The energy cost. The problem with installing these fans is that farms have seen their electricity bills increase. It is also being a problem for the companies that store the parmesan wheels, whose air conditioning systems have increased energy consumption by up to 30% more to maintain the optimal storage temperature, but the expense goes beyond the refrigeration itself. Giancarlo Ravanetti is the director of one of these facilities, known as “The Bank of Parmigiano”, and stores half a million wheels of parmesan worth 300 million euros. Speaking to Reuters, he indicated that “To make our facilities as energy efficient as possible, we have improved our cooling and boiler systems, modernized building insulation and increased renewable energy production.” Without grass, there is no parmesan. There are still more problems. Authentic Parmigiano Reggiano is produced in five provinces within the Emilia-Romagna region. To receive the designation of origin, the cows must be fed with grass and hay grown in this area, but with the heat and lack of rain this is an impossible task. The president of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium laments that “If it does not rain, the grass does not grow, hay cannot be produced and it is impossible to obtain the milk necessary to make cheese.” A million-dollar industry. Parmesan is not only an icon of Italian cuisine, it is also the industry that supports much of the economy of Emilia-Romagna, where it employs thousands of people. It is estimated that it generates about 4.5 billion euros annually, of which half comes from exports, with the US being its main client. According to Paolo Ganzerli, sales director of the GranTerre food group, the situation is critical: “If extreme events become longer and more intense, they will undoubtedly have an impact on both the quantity and quality of milk, but above all they will cause an increase in costs.” And he adds that “Parmigiano Reggiano has been around for more than 800 years. We don’t want to be the last generation to eat it.” Image | Unsplash, edited Direct to the Palate | How Italians have made Parmesan cheese known (and imitated) all over the world

“I have chosen automobiles as a symbol of extreme freedom for man”

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“The upper classes dedicate their leisure time to sports or activities that often involve bizarre risks. (…) The upper classes of the liberal order, among whom there are no bricklayers, love any leisure activity that involves challenging time, one of the capitals they have in abundance. And one of the ways to challenge time is speed. In turn, speed (which has nothing to do with haste) is synonymous with status“. Raquel Peláez in I want and I can’t: a story of the posh people of Spain. Enzo Ferrari was born in the 19th century. Yes, in the death throes of the century, but still in the 19th century. It was 1898 and less than a decade remained for the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti collected in The Figaro he Futurist Manifesto. This most likely explains much of Enzo Ferrari’s life. Il Commendatore He was born in Modena and a year before a handful of artists subscribed to the aforementioned text he was able to see his first car race. It was 1908, I was ten years old. In the next eight years he would lose his brother and his father and would join the ranks of the army in the Great War. In those days, Enzo Ferrari had already done his first jobs as a mechanic and tried to get his skills taken into account to fix military vehicles although he was unsuccessful in the attempt. Upon his return to a destroyed Italy, he headed to Turin with the dream of joining Fiat, where he was rejected. Despite everything, it didn’t take him long to find a place as a mechanic and with the money he saved he bought an Alfa Romeo and modified it to fulfill one of his dreams: competing. He was then part of the staff of CMN (Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali) where he was promoted to racing driver, which was a springboard to Alfa Romeo, for whom he competed until the early 1930s. Only the birth of his son Dino removed him from competition and put him in charge of managing the company’s competition department. Enzo Ferrari in his years as a driver A running escape Those years, as we said, coincided with futurism and all kinds of avant-garde movements. The West had entered a wild race that was betting on speed, on the development of faster and more capable machinery. The races multiplied. In 1924 the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in 1927 the Mille Miglia. Fascist culture carried this search for technical perfection and the cult of movement to its maximum expression, to the point that in Germany the Rekordwoche were born, races on huge highways with closed traffic to show who was faster. In those first Autobhan, Mercedes even proposed reach a top speed of 750 km/h with your Mercedes T-80. The crazy race for speed attracted, of course, the wealthiest classes. Thorstein Veblen already in his Leisure class theory of 1899 puts on the table that the wealthy need to prove that they have money. That is, it is not enough to have it, you have to show it to the world. Much of that demonstration was done by showing that one had free time. The worker, he worked. The rich man had free time and enjoyed it. And in those early years of the 20th century it became fashionable to demonstrate it by driving cars at full speed. It is no coincidence that the aforementioned Mille Miglia was an endurance race open to traffic. That love of speed was doubly attractive because it triggered the risk and the sensation of going beyond the limits that humans had had until then. Man moved faster than ever, speed records on the ground or in flight were constantly being broken. The Second World War only accelerated everything. The States put all their resources to overcome the rival with more capable vehicles. Without a doubt, without the advances of those days, the technical demonstrations that arrived in the 50s cannot be understood. In between, The Scuderiathe racing team created by Enzo Ferrari when he took over the competitive side of Alfa Romeo, broke ties with his mother at the beginning of the race. His work was therefore suspended but he recovered it very soon and Already in 1947 it appeared in a minor race as its own team separate from the clover mark. The following year, The Ferrari 166 Inter was launched as the company’s first road car.. It was also the first of the historic 12-cylinder Ferraris. “I have chosen automobiles as a symbol of extreme freedom for man”Enzo Ferrari would say in some words recorded by Vincenzo Borgomeo in The myth of the Rossa as stated in the Italian encyclopedia Trecanni. That phrase perfectly sums up what the Ferrari brand became over time. The Maranello company occupied its own space between aristocrats and the nouveau riche who wanted to drive faster than anyone else. Pure muscle that exploded in the 1950s with the development of some of the fastest cars in the world. Risk, speed and the supposed search for freedom coincide in the death of Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Ángel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, Spanish pilot better known as Alfonso de Portago and (as you can imagine) Marquis of Portago, who would lose his life on Italian roads aboard a Ferrari that burst a tire while traveling at 250 km/h. His accident was, in fact, the death of the Mille Miglia, which would not be run again in the wild conditions of the time, at full speed dodging cars in open traffic. The Spanish was the living image of playboy that Enzo Ferrari could have in mind when he sold his cars. He drove for the company in five Formula 1 grands prix and had moved to the endurance team when he took the wheel of the Ferrari 335 Sa beast for the time with V12 engine and the ability to reach 300 km/h top speed. … Read more

Air conditioning is the new great political weapon in France: why environmentalists and the extreme right are fighting over it

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The suffocating heat waves that are punishing Europe have caused something unthinkable a few years ago in France, since air conditioning has become a state weapon. In a country historically reluctant to artificial air conditioning, the extreme increase in temperatures has had the ceiling fans and blinds drawn are no longer enoughand in the face of the stress of a population not accustomed to temperatures around 40 ºC, promises have appeared. A debate. According to a recent analysis of the BBCthe debate on air conditioning has dynamited French political lines. On the one hand, the political party led by Marine Le Pen has put on the table a “climate plan” that defends almost universal air conditioning. On the other hand, the green block, historically opposed to these devices due to their environmental impact, has had to swallow saliva and admit that, in certain cases, air conditioning is already an “inevitable” measure. What is promised. To understand the magnitude of the debate, you have to look at the numbers. Le Pen’s party, called the National Group, has proposed a zero-interest loan fund of 20 billion euros so that between 30 and 40 million homes can install air conditioning systems such as reversible heat pumps and improve their insulation. And we are facing a great political strategy, because logically, in the midst of suffocating heat, promising aid to have a tool that reduces temperatures at home is a magnet for votes. However, these measures clash with the climate adaptation plans that are in force in the French country. In Xataka France has been determined to rob Spain of its position as a data center power in Europe The climate problem. The environmental bloc is at a crossroads, since massive air conditioning triggers energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions if the network is not 100% renewable or nuclear. But denying air conditioning to the vulnerable population, such as in hospitals, is political suicide and an unaffordable public health risk. Hence his speech has veered from prohibition to resignation to the “inevitable.” The poor adaptation. If we go to the more technical side of this debate, local media such as, for example, Le Monde or the Institute of Climate Economics have been categorical in classifying the mass adoption of air conditioning under the term “maladaptation”. This means that a short-term solution to climate change is being proposed that will end up aggravating the problem in the long term. Air conditioning is the textbook example, since, as experts point out, an air conditioner does not “destroy” heat, it simply removes it from the interior of the home and spits it out onto the street. A vicious circle. Climate models in dense cities like Paris have shown that if all buildings turned on the air conditioning at once during a heat wave, the temperature outside could rise by an additional 1°C to 2°C, further exacerbating the problem. But also, while people who can afford it cool off in their living rooms, people without resources find themselves on a much more aggressive “urban heat island.” In Xataka In the midst of an extreme heat wave, the French have started painting their windows with white chalk. It makes perfect sense France’s plan. Beyond the electoral promises that are made at a time when we are approaching the country’s presidential elections, France’s road map works under the premise of preparing the country for a +4 ºC warming scenario. To address this, the possibility of renewing the insulation of buildings, replacing asphalt with trees and creating urban cooling systems with centralized underground cold water networks that are more efficient and less harmful than having millions of individual devices on facades is being considered. In Xataka |AEMET asks that we prepare because “starting on Friday” a rise is expected that will put Spain “eight degrees above normal” (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 Air conditioning is the new great political weapon in France: why environmentalists and the extreme right are fighting over it was originally published in Xataka by José A. Lizana .

In the midst of an extreme heat wave, the French have started painting their windows with white chalk. It makes perfect sense

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Yes, we are in 2026. Yes, there are air conditioners, very effective fansair conditioners and even paintings ultra-white (literally) with such a reflective capacity that they help refresh the surfaces on which they are applied. And yet, despite all that, in France there are people who are opting for a very simple method to withstand the heat: painting their windows with chalk. So much so that the demand for blanc de Meudona calcareous clay extracted from the quarries of Meudon, near Paris, has been shot in hardware stores. Looking for solutions at 40ºC. In the middle of the heatwave and with the Paris thermometers fooling around with 40ºCthe logical thing is that people start buying air conditioners, fans, fans and ice bags. In France, however, there is another item that has been as or even more in demand these days: the blanc de Meudona white powder made up mostly of calcium carbonate. The new toilet paper. It is so requested that a few days ago Le Parisian dedicated an extensive report in which he explains that there are craft stores that are depleting their supplies of blanc de Meudon and businesses that have run out of stock. Even people who order it online receive it late. “My wife went to all the DIY stores in Auray and couldn’t find it,” confess to Western France Philippe, a Frenchman who had no choice but to go to another town to buy white chalk. There are those who already compare their compulsive purchasing with what they experienced with toilet paper during the pandemic. @daphneblt I have tested the astuce of the blanc de Meudon 🕵🏼‍♀️🥵 Comme vous j’ai vu passer cette astuce partout sur mon fil d’actualité, although je n’arrivais pas à en trouver, tous les magasins étaient en rupture de stock 🫠 Le dosage : 1 dose of pour + 1 dose of water and form a small liquid to apply on the fenêtres to reflect the light (in théorie) ☀️ And the white of Meudon c’est de la craie donc réduire en poudre des craies ou bien utiliser de la poudre d’argile blanche c’est la même chose 👀 Mon verdict: c’est mieux que rien et je suis passée de 36/37 à 35 degrés dans mon appartement parisien sous les toits (cc Yann Barthès 🤠) orienté sud 🤔 Bon c’est mieux que rien, évidemment si vous avez des recos je suis preneuse, parler de l’aluminium qui apparemment colle aux vitres et de la couverture de survie qui visibly réchauffe les voisins d’en face 😭 Bon courage à tous et allez voter en 2027, vu l’état currentuel des choses c’est le geste avec le plus d’impact qu’on puisse faire (avec le fait de manger moins de viande 🥩) ✨🗳️ One of my first thoughts to Bernard Arnault who probably passed all the same since we are on a yacht, on a private jet, in a climatized villa or on a private island. ☠️ #responsibleconsommation #consommermieux #cunning #blancdemeudon #ecoresponsible ♬ are original – daphneblt Why’s that? He blanc de Meudon It is not a new product. On the contrary. It has always been marketed, although it is normally used in houseworksuch as cleaning cutlery or marble. Also it’s usual that merchants use it to cover their store windows during renovations. Basically the blanc de Meudon It is a calcareous material that is mixed with water to form a whitish paste with a milky texture. These two peculiarities (composition and color) have made it a popular and cheap resource to cool homes in the heat of the heat. It is not a new remedy, but in the last month it has gained followers thanks to articles and videos that sell their supposed benefits. Of course, the method is simple: the clay is mixed with water until it forms a paste and then, with the help of a brush, it is spread directly on the windows. The result is not what is called aesthetic, but its defenders say that it helps to refresh the houses. A couple of degrees less. In reality, there is little surprising about it. White surfaces are known to reflect sunlight and heat. In fact, commercial paints can cool at 1.7ºC the opposite side of the surface on which they are applied and there are researchers working on ‘ultra-white’ versions able to reflect 98% of social radiation. Some studies claim that, with an appropriate combination, daytime temperature could be reduced in more than 7.5º. @abou.addict J’ai testedé un truc à 3€ contre la chaleur, maintenant c’est en rupture partout.. Une astuce simple et qui marche partout: dès que tu as une fenêtre exposée plein sud que tu ne peux pas protéger avec des volets ou un store, le blanc de Meudon fait office de bouclier anti-chaleur. On dilute, on apply on the glass, and the remaining piece beaucoup plus fraîche. Ça marche also bien dans une école, une mairie, un bureau ou chez soi: partout où il ya du vitrage qui prend le soleil toute la journée et qu’on ne peut pas équiper autrement. On availability I posted this astuce l’an dernier et elle a fait plus de 600 000 vues, donc on la repartage avant la prochaine vague de chaleur (et pendant qu’on en trouve encore, parce que ça part en rupture de stock). #canicule #cunning blancdemeudon maisonfraîche #fraicheur ♬ âm thanh gốc – Coach sportif – Coach sportif “An excellent option”. Added to these advantages are those offered by calcium carbonate. “Chalk is primarily composed of CaCO3. It absorbs very little sunlight, even in the visible range, which gives it its white color. Additionally, it does not absorb UV radiation and very little near-infrared light, making it an excellent choice,” comment Xiangyu Li, Purdue researcher, told the BBC. On the France3 channel they assure that only covering the windows with blanc de Meudon can be earned between two and three degrees of indoor comfort. It is not the same as an air conditioner, although it is also much cheaper. … Read more

how to protect pets from heat stroke in the midst of a wave of extreme temperatures

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Nobody likes a record heat wave. Not even the summer fans who like to spend hours and hours on the beach, lying under the umbrella and with the murmur of the waves in the background. When we talk about pets, however, the heatwave can become a death trap. So much so that the veterinary colleges and even the government They remind us that we must be responsible when taking care of our animals in summer. Failure to do so can not only end in an avoidable tragedy, it also leads to consequences legal. That’s why it’s good to review some guidelines. Veterinarians on call. Few groups know the needs of animals better than veterinarians. That is why it is significant that, with the summer having just begun, the Spanish referees have not taken long to publish posts and guides on the same topic: how to care for pets during the dog days. In recent weeks, professionals from Barcelona, Lion, Madrid either Alicanteamong other regions, in addition to veterinarians on a private basis and the bosses from pet food manufacturers, ANFAAC. Even the Ministry of Social Rights launched a guide a couple of years ago “to protect pets from heat waves.” Just like him College of Veterinarians of Madrid (Covelma). The idea is very simple: make people aware that their tolerance to heat and that of their pets does not have to be the same and there are tragedies, such as heat stroke, burns or dehydration that are easily avoidable. It often comes with paying a little attention. Are they so common? There are not many studies on the subject, but we do have some data that helps us understand the insistence of veterinary colleges and authorities. There are those who estimate, for example, that episodes of heat stroke in pets they shoot up 35% during the months of July and August, although some sources say that in the clinics they see up to five times more cases of this type when the mercury shoots. As a reference, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) estimates that during the dog days of 2022 51% of the country’s veterinarians treated animals requiring treatment for heat-related illnesses. A percentage to reflect on. These are worrying data if we take into account that only survivors 50% of dogs that suffer from heat stroke, a critical situation during which their body overheats and even loses the ability to self-regulate temperature. What’s more, it only takes a few minutes (just 15) in that situation for the consequences to be fatal. As Colvema recalls, the normal body temperature of a dog is around 38.5º and at 43º the internal organs begin to fail. It is not that much of a difference: there can only be a 6º difference between the interior of a white car and a black car. What needs to be taken into account? If we want to protect our pets, it is important to keep several key pieces of information in mind. From the outset, as I remembered recently the Italian veterinarian Giuiliano Pellegrini in The Worldthat “dogs and cats have a limited ability to dissipate body heat.” Hence they are “particularly vulnerable” during episodes of extreme heat. When temperatures rise, your cardiovascular system is forced to work harder and if our pet suffers from heart pathologies, they may worsen. Heat also does not agree well with respiratory or kidney ailments, something that we must take into account with older, obese or brachycephalic. In general, to avoid heat stroke, veterinarians recommend four very simple guidelines: avoid the hottest hours, walk in shady areas, always carry water and be attentive to the animal’s behavior. If you are breathing hard, feeling down, and have your tongue sticking out, it is better to pay attention. Vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, a change in the color of the tongue and choking breathing are reasons for alarm, so you should go to a veterinary clinic. The decalogue of heat. To avoid scares, a few years ago the Ministry of Social Rights published a decalogue with very simple tips. For example, it warns of the risk of leaving animals locked in the car or approaching walks with our dogs more carefully, thinking for example where we will go, what time we will do it, how far we will travel and how to cool down. It is not a minor issue. For example, you may be wearing sneakers or sandals, but (depending on the time of day) your pet may end up walking on heated asphalt. more than 60º and end up with injuries to the pads. Below are the 10 pieces of advice from the Government: Don’t leave your pet in the car. In summer, temperatures soar and leaving your pet alone, inside a vehicle, can end very badly. “A closed car can reach very high temperatures in a few minutes that are potentially fatal,” warns the ministry. The walks, in the fresh air. Try to avoid the hottest hours and make the longest (and most exhausting) walks the first and last thing in the day. For a large, elderly or brachycephalic dog, temperatures exceeding 30º can be dangerous. From 32º, the risk increases for all dogs, so it is better that they do not do exercises that exhaust them. You wear shoes, he doesn’t. Keep it in mind. When walking next to you, your dog passes over manhole covers, paved streets, concrete esplanades, tiles… surfaces that get hot in summer. Veterinarians remember that during critical hours the asphalt can exceed 60ºC. Hydrate yourself, hydrate him. Authorities and doctors insist that in summer we must hydrate. The same thing happens with your furry companion. In summer you have to change their water more frequently and if you take them out for a walk it is advisable to take a bottle and a water bowl with you. Racing for winter. Physical exercise is fine, but during the heat of the heat it is best to avoid excessive exertion. If you want to play ball … Read more

Faced with extreme temperatures, France needs to Spanishize its roads

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A few years ago I was telling a friend that in the legendary Quebrantahuesos cycle tour that is organized every year in the Aragonese Pyrenees, I had seen the asphalt melt. He told me that it was so hot that the animals looked for the nearest bush in sight to hide in the shade and that the bicycle frame had been marked by particles of asphalt that were jumping with the rolling of the runners. I had a hard time believing this last one. But cycling lovers will remember that 2003 Tour de France in which Joseba Beloki crashed in a bumpy corner and Lance Armstrong saw one of his strongest rivals disappear from the race to win the centenary edition. That day it was so hot that, they say The Countrythe asphalt was melting. Those days of July more than 20 years ago, Europe was suffering a heat wave for which France was not prepared. July was just a warning, the month of August was even worse with days and days of chained days of temperatures so high that it is estimated that Almost 15,000 people died in the neighboring country. But from France they warn: this year looks bad. The director of Metéo France, Sophie Voirin, has already warned that this same week the maximum temperatures ever recorded in the country could be exceeded. The consequences are already noticeable in the daily lives of the French. Schools that have closed, sixty departments on alert, 70 trains canceled… and roads that are melting. Six kilometers that melt Audrey Bardotvice-president of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departmental Council in charge of Infrastructure and Mobility, confirmed to BFM that six kilometers of roads in his department were melting due to the high heat recorded. In actu They even point out that the problem with these roads melting is not only that cars throw tar in their path (which in some cases, they point out, extend it for more than a kilometer), but also that puddles of melted asphalt have formed. Meurthe-et-Moselle is located in the east of the country, almost bordering France, but in Normandy just at the other end they find themselves in the same situation. Over there, those responsible point out that the roads were repaired at the end of 2025 to alleviate the damage caused by the harsh winter rains but that the patches are melting because they are not prepared to withstand the 40ºC they are experiencing these days, instead of the usual 27-28ºC. Are extreme temperatures They represent a challenge for French infrastructure. This same year it was decided to pour a mixture of white gravel on the asphalt to reduce the temperature somewhat and prevent the heat from melting the asphalt. In 2022, the Tour de France had a tanker truck which was cooling the road to prevent the asphalt from being damaged by the passage of cyclists. This year there has been talk about how the heat will affect the most famous cycling event in the world since February. The problem for France is, as they pointed out about the roads of Normandy, that its asphalt is not prepared for such high temperatures but must also be ready to drain winter rains and face colder conditions. A more extreme climate, with more intense cold and unbearable heat, is very complicated to manage when designing roads. These roads prepared for greater porosity against rain use bitumens that perform worse when the temperature rises. They are more flexible but the point at which they melt comes sooner. On the contrary, we do not see this in Spain because We opt for asphalts that better withstand high temperatures. The problem is that they are also less flexible pathways that fracture more easily. Our problem has been just the opposite.. When we have suffered the most is when we have experienced heavy and constant rains for days. This has caused numerous damages that they continue to be repaired these days because our roads have been designed thinking about the extreme temperatures of summer and not the phenomena as humid as those we experienced last winter. Photo | In Xataka | If we already feared about the state of our roads, we have one more reason to worry: the price of asphalt is skyrocketing

“We have accumulated fuel and increased the probability of extreme fires”

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He climate change and rural abandonment have turned our mountains into powder kegs and, when a large forest fire breaks out, the problem is not only the ecological devastation, but the immense column of toxic smoke that suffocates populations located hundreds of kilometers away, as we have suffered in Spain in recent years. Faced with this scenario, researchers defend a tool that may seem quite strange to other eyes: burning the forest on purpose to create firebreaks. It is validated. A new study published in Science has put on the table the evidence that supports this practice known as prescribed burning. One of the data they collect is that carrying out low severity fires generates an immediate 92% reduction in the probability of very high severity fires occurring in that same place. Far from being a temporary patch, researchers have proven that this “vaccine effect” lasts up to 10 years and extends its protection radius up to 5 kilometers beyond the treated area. The air. One of the perhaps most important findings of the research lies in the air we breathe, since fine particles emitted by large forest fires are a serious risk to our lungs. But with this method, researchers calculate that, in the case of California, burning 500,000 acres a year can reduce the accumulated pollution of these microparticles in the air by approximately 10%. How it works. Víctor Resco de Dios, professor of Forestry Engineering and Global Change at the University of Lleida, sums it up clearly: “The fumes from prescribed burning are much smaller than those from fires.” And the key is in the continuity of the fuel, since when a forest fire that advances without control collides with an area that has been previously treated with controlled fires, its intensity plummets. The fire moves from the treetops to the ground, offering firefighting teams a vital window of opportunity to extinguish it, radically reducing the total smoke emission. In Spain. Scientific rigor requires reading the fine print, and in this case, the geographical context is decisive. The overwhelming data that we have collected comes from the analysis of the coniferous forests of California and as the expert Víctor Fernández García points out for SMC“California is not Spain.” While in the western United States or in the oak forests of Mexico, prescribed burning can be considered at a landscape scale, in Spain its use is currently “very specific” and localized. This is because in our country short and medium term burning requires surgical precision because there are native species such as the Pinus nigra or the Pinus pinaster which are very resistant to fire. But it is useful. This same expert, speaking to SMC, points out that in Spain, after several decades of rural abandonment, “we have accumulated fuel and increased the probability of extreme fires.” That is why, although we are not like California, it does offer a useful warning about these types of practices such as low-risk fire grazing or controlled burns. Images | Michael Held In Xataka | Putting out fires in summer is no longer useful: Spain has an opportunity to prevent them by betting on biomass

Against the extreme heat, the Civil Guard agents want to choose between the motorcycle or the car. And don’t let your bosses decide

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It has arrived and has placed itself at the center of the debate. The heat and what to do to remedy it is one of the hot topics every year. Whether or not to apply new measures against a summer that increasingly arrives earlier and leaves later is beginning to be a recurring part of the general conversation. From the classrooms and the children to the Civil Guard agents. The heat. Suffocating and sustained. The same one that gives very few breaks between May and September, if not October. We live in a country that is getting hot and what to do to cope with it in the best possible way is something that we repeat to ourselves starting in the month of May. The misfortunes, in fact, seem to have been the only reason that has made us reflect. One of the last major debates revolves around the how hot it is in schools. He’s not the only one. Weather alerts They have already modified the schedules of the most exposed workers, like sweepers or workers. And there is a group that already defends that it is in the same situation: the Civil Guard agents. What do they claim? The Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) is claiming to the higher commands to allow the agents who monitor traffic to decide whether or not to get on the motorcycle or, on the contrary, prefer to patrol by car. The reason is obvious: the heat. Furthermore, this association demands that they not be forced to wear the vest with an airbag when the temperature exceeds 32ºC, claiming that it is a garment that makes heat evacuation difficult. Why all this? These claims have once again gained strength because the AUGC has met with the Head of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard to send them their requests. And the latter is in charge of deciding the technical criteria to take into account to decide how to work. But the conflict, our colleagues explain Motorpassion Motorcycle comes from behind In July 2025, the PSI-08-25-OPCM report from the Civil Guard Prevention Service indicated that it was advisable not to wear the airbag vest above 32ºC. Later, in December, in the Plenary Session of the Civil Guard Council it was decided that the use of this vest and the decision to take the motorcycle or use the car would fall to the agent “according to his own professional criteria, without the need for authorization or any impediment,” according to the AUGC. And they emphasize that the Operations Command promised to put this in writing. Which have moved again from this association to the Headquarters of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard is that this commitment never materialized and that, on the contrary, a circular from May once again emphasized that the airbag vest was mandatory up to 35ºC and that It is the Operations Command that ultimately decides whether the agent gets on the motorcycle or not, instead of the latter’s criteria prevailing. The risks. The officers’ claims are based on the extreme heat to which they are subjected on the motorcycle when temperatures far exceed 30ºC. It must be taken into account that a motorcyclist faces environmental heat but is also exposed to the heat generated by the motorcycle itself and the use of safety equipment. The risks riding the motorcycle in extreme heat are evident: greater fatigue, proliferation of headaches or possible dizziness. Photo | In Xataka | “With our heads, we would all ride 20 HP motorcycles”: there is a debate brewing about how much power is too much power for a motorcycle

up to 115 inches and the most extreme color accuracy

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Sony has been quietly developing a technology for more than two decades that now, finally, has its own name and is ready to hit the living room. The Japanese firm has just presented its Sony Bravia 9 II, with which it claims to have made the most ambitious leap in its history in LCD televisions: an RGB backlight controlled LED by LED that promises color accuracy that until now only existed in reference monitors in post-production studios. Next to nothing. According to the brand itself, this new panel is not one more evolution of the MiniLED conventional blue LED, but integrates the three RGB subpixels in each LED diode, giving you greater control over the lighting and the resulting color volume. The Bravia 9 II arrives with the flagship label and new technology under its arm, but it doesn’t do it alone. Sony has also presented the Bravia 7 II with which it shares technology of True RGB display. More than 20 years cooking an idea: True RGB The history of new technology Sony’s True RGB begins in 2004, when the brand launched the Qualia 005, the first LCD TV on the market equipped with a Triluminos panel that used red, green and blue light sources to backlight the LCD panel. Twelve years later, in 2016, the brand took a new step in that evolution with the Backlight Master Drive system that I was riding the Sony ZD9which laid the foundations for the control over backlighting that later gave rise to dimming zones as we know them today. With the arrival of Bravia 9 II, the Japanese brand closes the circle of development after more than two decades, resulting in True RGB technology, which combines the RGB backlighting that the Qualia 005 brought to the table and the zone lighting control of the ZD9. Conventional MiniLED uses white or blue LED diodes grouped into dimming zones. True RGB replaces these diodes with others made up of smaller diodes that integrate a blue, green and red LED in a single capsule that are controlled independently, so that the light that reaches the LCD panel already does so with the color it should represent. This means that the light that reaches the panel is already, from the outset, purer and more accurate in terms of color, without the need for the panel’s filters to do so much correction work. In this way, the colors obtained are more intense and saturated even when very high brightness levels are reached, at which time the MiniLED technologies conventional ones suffer to maintain color fidelity. Sony Bravia 9 II, the benchmark of the range The reference model for Sony’s True RGB technology is the Bravia 9 II, which incorporates the most advanced of this RGB MiniLED technology with the lighting system RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro which incorporates new self-developed LED drivers that, according to Sony, improve the level of backlight control. This model also includes the technologies RGB Triluminos Max and Luminance Booster Pro to increase the volume of color and a softer gradation even in rooms with a lot of ambient light, something especially relevant for living rooms with windows or a lot of artificial lighting. Sony Bravia 9 II arrives with diagonals of 65, 75, 85 and up to 115 inches, making it one of the most ambitious proposals on the market in terms of size. The bet on these large format diagonals This is not a coincidence, but rather responds to one of the great advantages of RGB MiniLED technology: offering image quality and depth of blacks close to OLEDin a screen size unattainable for this type of television. On non-115-inch models, the screen includes Immersive Black Screen Pro screen treatment, a low-reflection, anti-glare coating developed with the participation of Sony Pictures Entertainment to ensure deep blacks and visible details even in dark scenes, in any lighting conditions. That is, less glare and reflections on the screen, without affecting color fidelity. A complete family with audio included The Bravia 9 II does not arrive alone. Sony presents it together with the Bravia 7 II, in which it applies the same True RGB technology, but in sizes of 50, 55, 65, 75, 85 and 98 inches, with X-Wide Angle technology to maintain color uniformity from wide viewing angles. Both the Bravia 9II and its little sister Bravia 7 II share features aimed at home theater, such as My Cinema mode, which adjusts the image and sound to your living room and image modes calibrated for platforms such as Netflix, Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core, as well as support for Dolby Vision, IMAX Enhanced and Dolby Atmos audioDTS:X. To complete the proposal, Sony presents the Bravia Theater Trioa three-speaker system (front left, right and center) developed in direct collaboration with the sound creators at Sony Pictures Entertainment. This sound system uses 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology to generate up to 24 virtual speakers and create an immersive soundstage from all directions. Sony has not revealed the price of its new products, but all the products presented will be able to rbe kept from May 27. In Xataka | Sony BRAVIA OLED 8 II, analysis: with this image quality it goes straight to the podium of the best televisions of 2025 Image | sony

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