eyes

UK eyes a “hybrid navy” for the future. Navantia already has an autonomous proposal: the LASV75

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The classic image of a navy is still easy to recognize: large ships, large crews and long campaigns far from port. But the future that is being drawn around the Royal Navy adds another layer. It is no longer just a matter of building larger or more sophisticated ships, but of combining them with autonomous platforms designed to take on specific missions alongside them. That’s where it comes in Navantia UKthe British subsidiary of the Spanish Navantia, with the LASV75: a proposal for that “hybrid marine” that the United Kingdom wants to explore. The concept appeared on the scene in the Farnborough Combined Naval Eventan event for the naval sector held in the United Kingdom. According to Navantia, the LASV75 has been designed in the country and is framed in a very specific idea: combining manned warships with unmanned escorts and autonomous technologies, including drones. The announcement also comes after the British subsidiary to complete the acquisition of Harland & Wolff assetsa movement with which it has reinforced its industrial presence beyond Spain. LASV75 is, in essence, a large autonomous ship surface conceived from the beginning to operate without a crew. Naval News details that the concept is based on a 75-meter modular hull and a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, a scale that distances it from the idea of ​​a small naval drone. The company proposes it as a platform capable of accompanying conventional ships, acting as escort or serving as support in broader operations. The key is that it is not born as an adapted boat, but as a design thought from the keel to function without personnel on board. A proposal for a navy with manned ships and autonomous escorts The usefulness of the LASV75 is not understood as that of a vessel specialized in a single task, but as that of a platform that changes depending on what it carries. It will be prepared for possible missions such as surveillance, escort, electronic warfare and attack-related operations, always linked to the installed payload. This precision helps us not to oversize the concept: it is not that the ship can do everything by itself from day one, but that Navantia UK presents it as a modular base for different missions. The promise is in that capacity for reconfiguration. Thinking about an autonomous system for relatively controlled waters is not the same as thinking about a platform capable of sustain presence in tough scenarios. Simon Jones summed it up at Farnborough with the example of the North Atlantic: to have a persistent and credible capability in severe cold conditions, you think you need something of this size. The other piece of the concept is how all of those systems connect to the ship. In the mockup presented during the event, a deck prepared for different payloads, interchangeable sensors and a modular mast arrangement could be seen. Everything is designed with standard interfaces, aligned with NATO, so that the modules are as interoperable and interchangeable as possible. It is a relevant detail in an allied naval force. For a proposal like this not to remain an attractive model, something more earthly is needed: shipyards capable of manufacturing it with rhythm, precision and scale. Navantia UK is investing 157 million pounds (about 181 million euros) in its four British centers, Appledore, Arnish, Belfast and Methil, with the intention of turning them into some of the most advanced facilities in Europe. Among the improvements is an automated panel line in Belfast, designed to make large pieces of steel faster, safer and more accurately. The idea is to bring these shipyards closer to the concept Shipyard 5.0 that the company already applies in Spain. The account raised by the company is not only about technology, but also about manufacturing. If, as Navantia suggests, an unmanned vessel can be built at a significantly lower cost than a conventional one and, furthermore, be produced with a certain amount of repetition, it fits better in a navy that seeks to increase its presence without multiplying human and industrial costs. The company adds to this logic a specific objective: to reduce the usual design and construction times of large naval vessels by up to 30%. So we are looking at a ship with a date of entry into service? Not really. What Navantia UK has taught It’s a concepta proposal to enter a conversation that is already open: what navies will be like when large manned ships have to coexist with autonomous escorts, interchangeable sensors and platforms designed and built with shorter deadlines. There the company plays a double card: the accumulated experience of a Spanish group with programs such as the F-100 frigates and the S-80 submarines, and a British industrial base that wants to gain weight in the future hybrid navy. Images | Navantia In Xataka | Four years ago, Spain was left without an essential weapon for war. Airbus is rebuilding it in Seville

The next treatment for depression could be in the eyes. They have already successfully tested smart contact lenses on mice

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Drug-resistant depression is one of the greatest challenges of today’s medicinesince when antidepressants they don’t workpsychiatry and neurology have to resort to therapies such as electroconvulsion. Now, a team of researchers has given this issue a radical turn by developing smart contact lenses capable of treating depression by stimulating the brain through the retina. a study published in the magazine cell shows very good results in mouse models with the use of these contact lenses which have made it possible to reverse the depressive phenotype with a capacity comparable to that of the antidepressant fluoxetine, or better known as Prozac. It is not invasive. To understand the milestone that this study represents, we must first look at the current therapies that involve using what is known as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to be able to do non-invasive neuromodulation for patients with drug-resistant depression. The possibility of transcranial electrical stimulation by direct current is also being studied. But the problem with these therapies, which are at the bottom of psychiatry, is that reaching the deep regions of the brain without resorting to surgery is extremely difficult. And one of the risks of applying a strong electric field from the outside to reach the depths of the brain can end up damaging part of the brain. The solution. This physical inconvenience is where temporal interference technology comes in. As detailed a review done in 2025this stimulation is a great strategy, since it consists of applying two high-frequency electrical currents that do not affect the superficial brain tissue. In this way, when crossing in the deep areas of the brain, the frequency difference creates a new low-frequency wave that does stimulate the target neurons. It is a functional concept that was demonstrated for the first time in mice and that allows access to the depths of our anatomy without a scalpel. Some contact lenses. Under this principle is where we are now looking for a way to apply it in a way that is comfortable for the patient and is where the use of contact lenses equipped with electrodes made with gallium and platinum oxide comes into play. Here the direct anatomical connection that exists between the eye and the brain through the optic nerve is used to transmit this stimulation through the retina which allows temporary interference signals to be sent to the neural networks involved in depression. The application. In the research, this stimulation was simply applied for 30 minutes a day for three weeks in the rodents. What was achieved here is a restoration of healthy brain oscillations and a behavioral improvement that, according to the researchers, is comparable to that obtained by administering fluoxetine in these same animal models. Caution. Here we must keep in mind that this is the first time that contact lenses have been used to treat a brain disorder, and although the design of the device is a display of engineering, we must be cautious. As is often the case with these advances, the transition from the laboratory to the patient is very slow due to the need for numerous trials to assess the effect and safety in humans. But the idea is already on the table right now and we just have to wait for science to continue advancing. Images | rawpixel.com on Magnific In Xataka | We say we are “depressed” beyond our means: where does the illness end and where does the illness begin?

NASA has an appointment with Mars today (although its ship already has its eyes set elsewhere)

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The Psyche spaceship, launched by NASA in 2023 to study the asteroid with the same name, it will reach its destination in 2029. However, today it will make its first stop along the way. If we stop at gas stations and roadside bars to stretch our legs and have a coffee, Psyche will approach Mars at almost 20,000 kilometers per hour, to tune some of its instruments while taking photographs worthy of the best wallpaper. In fact, we can already see some of them. Too close for space. Psyche won’t stop at the gas station like we did, but she will make a great approach. At 3:28 PM EDT (9:28 p.m., Spanish peninsular time), will be located 4,500 kilometers from the red planet. That, in spatial terms, is very little. Gravity assist. At this stop along the way, Psyche will take the opportunity to take some photographs and adjust her instruments, but she will also use Mars as a springboard to reach her destination faster. When a ship approaches a moving planet, it is attracted by its gravitational field. It does not touch the planet, but that interaction changes its trajectory and helps it gain speed with less propellant expenditure. We can imagine it as a ball being thrown towards a moving vehicle. This changes its trajectory and also gives it speed on the return trip. Psyche uses solar-electric propulsion, with xenon gas as fuel. Thanks to that push, known as gravitational assist, you can save quite a bit of propellant. A whole entourage. The result of this interaction will be studied by the two NASA rovers that are currently on Mars, Curiosity and Perseveranceas well as by American and European orbiters that are carrying out their respective missions. Not only photographs will be taken. Possible changes to the Martian surface and atmosphere will also be detected. first photos. Psyche has already taken a very interesting photoin which the night side of Mars is seen as the spacecraft approaches it. The result is something similar to a half moon, although logically it has nothing to do with it. The real goal. Thanks to Martian gravitational assistance, Psyche will reach the asteroid with the same name in 2029. This is located in the asteroid beltbetween Mars and Jupiter. Shaped like a potato and 278 km long and 232 km wide, it is a metallic asteroid, one of the least abundant types in that location. That’s why it’s so interesting to explore. In fact, it is believed that it is actually the iron-nickel core of a planet in formation that could not complete the process because it was destroyed by cosmic collisions. For all this, Psyche (the ship and the asteroid) has a lot to teach us about the birth of a planet and, possibly, about the dawn of the solar system. As we often say, to know where we are going, it is also important to know where we come from. That is what makes this type of research so important. Image | POT In Xataka | NASA has sent its spacecraft to observe a dead robot on Mars. The reason: seeing how it accumulates dust

Three settings for iOS and Android that are more effective to avoid straining your eyes if you have presbyopia than changing the text size

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If you are already a few years old and presbyopia is starting to make an appearance, don’t limit yourself to making the text on your cell phone bigger. Let’s tell you others three most effective adjustments to avoid straining your eyes that you can turn to, and that are available on both Android and iOS. These are three fairly simple adjustments that are not going to be as disruptive in terms of showing less content on the screen as when you increase the font size. However, they are going to be even more effective in helping you read. The key is contrast, bold and white balance. Expands screen contrast In the accessibility options of your mobile you have an option to increase contrast or high contrast text. By doing so, there were no more pale grays or blues that are difficult to read, the mobile will force the apps to show the maximum contrast in your texts to make them easier to read. You can combine this option with reducing transparency on iOS or disabling blur effects on Android, to eliminate some translucent effects that can make content difficult to read. Turn on bold text On iOS, within the text display and size section in the accessibility options you will have the option to activate bold text. With this you will make all the letters of the operating system, from the clock to the notifications, appear in bold. This will make all text easier to read without having to make it larger. In Android 16 you will have an even more advanced option, which is outlined text, within the Screen and text size section in the accessibility options. This will add a small border to each character to make it much easier to read, even when there are complex backgrounds behind it. Adjust the white balance The third setting that I recommend you try is the white balance. In iOS the option is called Reduce white pointand it’s in the display and text size settings in the accessibility section. On Android the equivalent is in the screen tone settings, within the section Screen. With this, what you will do is reduce the intensity of pure whitesnot the brightness in general. By doing so, the screen will be less bright, and it will be more comfortable for your eyes to read, especially when you are using your mobile at night or in poorly lit areas. In Xataka Basics | How to create a podcast from a text to study, research or simply listen to if you don’t feel like reading

the subtle change on your screen that your eyes will appreciate after eight hours of Excel

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If you work or study for many hours every day in front of the PC screen, It is very likely that you will end up with tired eyes: reading a lot of text, watching videos, going from one Excel to another (and then to another, and another), writing, editing images or videos and a very long etcetera of tasks sustained over time will almost certainly cause you to have eye fatigue and a tiredness in your eyes that is as uncomfortable as it is unhealthy. If you have no choice but to be in front of the monitor for a good handful of hours each day (something quite common in many cases, in these times), you can always do everything possible on your part to minimize it and even remedy it: Get up every now and then, don’t stare too long at a time and look at distant objects, stand at a distance that prevents you from straining your eyes too much, and more similar tricks. And added to all this, I am going to give you an idea that perhaps you had not considered and that is not going to solve your life, but it will make you gain visual comfort (and I say this from experience): using a monitor with a high refresh rate. Even if you don’t play. Because having more than 60 Hz (120 Hz, 144 Hz and even more) is an excellent idea outside of the field of video games. And (spoiler) nowadays, the price difference between some monitors and others is so small, that I can tell you that it is very worth it that little extra investment. What is refresh rate (and what does it affect) Okay, on paper, purely speaking of specs, 120Hz is better than 60Hz. And 144 Hzbetter than 120 Hz. That has become clear to us. But exactly what are we talking about? We are talking about hertz, which in short determine the number of frames per second that the screen in question is capable of displaying. In other words: the number of still images that appear, one after another, in one second of time. The greater the quantity, the more fluid the image, which can be a video game, a video or the apps we use in our daily lives. The latter, just what we are looking for. In practice, having more than 60 Hz and therefore a higher refresh rate translates into fluidity. Fluidity in everything: transitions, application effects, window and cursor movements, scroll much softer and, ultimately, everything that generates movement on the screen. Something that may seem minor, but in the long run, and after spending hours in front of the monitor, it is noticeable. A one-way road. At this point, we must take into account the ‘price factor’. Because long ago, going above that base 60 Hz from which monitors start was expensive. However now, with refresh rates that even exceed 360 Hzwe find 144 Hz (or 120 Hz, or 165 Hz and even more) options at great prices. Which means that for a fairly contained investment you can make a huge leap in quality. The good and the bad, face to face Although the theory is simple, the differences between one type of monitor and another can be confusing if you are not familiar with it. Then, This table as a summary will clarify it a lot for you.. 60Hz 144Hz THE GOOD 🟢 Cheaper (and you can allocate more budget to other specifications: resolution, size…) Great fluidity in images and a standard to play today THE BAD 🔴 They offer less fluidity and are somewhat outdated in 2026, as they can make the jump to 144 Hz or more at similar prices Slightly more expensive than 60 Hz and, in general, more striking gaming design IDEAL FOR Users who do not feel visual fatigue, who feel comfortable at 60 Hz and do not want to spend more Gamers (or non-gamers) who want to take a leap in visual comfort Which one may interest you more: we do the math As we have already mentioned, price is not a determining factor today when deciding between a 60 Hz monitor and another with 144 Hz or more. Even so, if a 60 Hz one is enough for you, you can dedicate that extra investment in other aspects of the screens, such as the resolution, the diagonal or the format. Actual use: 60 Hz is enough for you and you prefer to spend what 144 Hz would cost you on a ultrawidebecause you need more horizontal space on the screen. What experience you get: similar to what you have been obtaining with previous 60 Hz monitors, but you gain in those other characteristics that are important to you (more diagonal, different format, more resolution…). If, on the other hand, you notice that after finishing the work day your eyes are very tired and it seems that applications, transitions and other movements are not as fluid as you would like, then going from 60 Hz to 144 Hz or more is an excellent decision. Spending little more than you would with a 60 Hz monitor, you double (and even more) its refresh rate and the view thanks you. Actual use: It bothers you that the animations of the operating system, the scroll or the passing of the cursor across the screen goes in fits and starts and you decide to go above 60 Hz. What experience you get: From the first second, you see that everything runs more smoothly and is more comfortable for the eyes. Where before there were almost imperceptible but existing cuts, now everything is going smoothly. It even looks like you’ve upgraded to a better PC! In summary: 👉 Choose 60 Hz if: You don’t notice visual fatigue because you don’t spend too many hours in front of the screen, you don’t want to spend more and you also don’t play games or plan to do so in the short term. … Read more

the “eyes” to anticipate Russia’s drones

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Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has had to fight a parallel battle far from the front: to convince his allies of what weapons he needed, when and how far that aid could go without cross sensitive political lines. Between delays, partial vetoes and fears of escalation, air defense became one of the most critical bottlenecks for months, leaving kyiv exposed to campaigns missiles and drones while the international response moved more slowly than the war. A radar that changes the calculation. Therefore, the arrival in Ukraine of the Spanish radar LTR-25 launcher represents a qualitative leap in its air defense, by incorporating a long-range detection capacity capable of identifying threats to more than 450 kilometers. From drones and cruise missiles to ballistic systems and stealth aircraft, radar will help in a conflict where Russia has made massive and combined air strike one of its main instruments of attrition. The system, developed by Indra, is neither a prototype nor a future promise, but rather a technology already validated by NATO on its eastern flank, designed to operate in environments saturated with interference and electronic warfare and to integrate without friction with the Western batteries that protect the Ukrainian sky. The unexpected ally. Another reading of the movement is clear. Ukraine has just received from Spain what it had been taking for months claiming the United States: a true long range defense that allows us to see Russian attacks coming early enough to organize an effective response. While Washington has been reticent to give up certain sensors and strategic capabilities, Madrid has taken a step that changes the Ukrainian defensive depth, offering not only interceptors, but the necessary “eyes” to anticipate and coordinate defense against waves of missiles and drones that seek to saturate the system. In that sense, the LTR-25 is not just another radar, but a critical piece that extends reaction time and reduces Ukraine’s structural vulnerability to Moscow. Technology proven in the most demanding environment. The LTR-25 radar operates in L-band with phased array architecture and digital beam forming. In other words, it has characteristics that allow it track hundreds of targets simultaneously with great precision even under electronic attack, a key capability to detect low radar signature targets such as Shahed drones or cruise missiles. Your mobility tactics and philosophy “turn on, detect and move” reinforce its survival on a front where Russia tries to hunt radars and command systems, and its integration with command networks and NATO control makes it a force multiplier for systems such as Patriot, SAMP/T, IRIS-T or NASAMS already deployed in Ukraine. Silent revolution of Spanish industry. For decades, Spain maintained a low profile in defensebut in the meantime it was building an advanced technological base that today emerges strongly on the European stage. Here one name rises above the rest. Indra, with one of the largest radar factories on the continent, has supplied systems to countries like franceGermany or the United Kingdom, and now translates that knowledge into a real conflict that acts as possibly the toughest testbed imaginable. Hence this delivery symbolizes a profound change: from discreet partner to strategic provider of critical capabilities in high-intensity warfare. Beyond the gesture. If you also want, the delivery of the LTR-25 It is part of a much broader shift in Spanish policy towards Ukraine, one backed by an unprecedented military and financial support package and staged at the highest level by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez alongside his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Beyond symbolism, the contract with Indra opens the door to future deliveries if the system proves effective, consolidating industrial cooperation that reflects a broader European trend: technological alliances of all colors that, pushed by war, evolve towards full and lasting defense associations. Image | Indra, RawPixel In Xataka | Russia has activated the “dandelion” armor: the scarier the tank, the more confused Ukraine’s drones are In Xataka | Russia has activated the “dandelion” armor: the scarier the tank, the more confused Ukraine’s drones are

“You can’t trust your eyes to know what’s real anymore.” Instagram CEO announces that the feed is dead

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That the Internet as we knew it no longer exists is not a surprise: it has been filled with search results generated by artificial intelligence and from ‘slop‘. The consequences are already visible: clicks have been reduced by halfwhich is catastrophic for the media. But not only the text is suffering from this barrage of AI that blurs everything: already We do not know how to distinguish if an image is real or notwe have gone from document our life on social networks to the era of influencer content favored by the algorithm to videos and images that are not real, but can pass as such. There are no longer four fingers that are worth it. Instagrammers, the feed is dead. And this is also going to take its toll on social networks. Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, closed 2025 with a publication in the form of a presentation of 20 images where he reflected in depth on what is coming: “the era of infinite synthetic content”, the antithesis of a more personal Instagram that has been dead for years. For Mosseri, AI has turned the carefully maintained grid with its algorithm into something of the past: “Unless you are under 25 years old and use Instagram, you probably think of the app as a feed of square photos. The aesthetics are careful: a lot of makeup, skin softening, high-contrast photography, beautiful landscapes,” Mosseri’s sentence falls like a stone on this millennial, who still uses Instagram as a kind of photo album. “That feed is dead. People largely stopped sharing personal moments on the feed years ago.” Tap to go to the post In search of something real. Mosseri explains that now its users keep their contacts up to date on their personal lives with “improvised photos of unflattering shoes and poses” shared via DM. And this also affects content creators: the omnipresence of images made by AI is going to bring a change: goodbye to those pro-looking photographs in favor of a more real and improvised aesthetic: “Flattering images are cheap to produce and boring to consume. People want content that feels real.” In fact, the CEO of Instagram points to manufacturers, applicable to cameras and mobile phones, who he says are making a mistake by democratizing the ability to “look like a professional photographer from 2015.” Because RAW images with defects are still a sign of reality until AI is able to copy them. But what is real? The time has come to unlearn to believe what our eyes see, something we have been doing all our lives. Javier Lacort explained that our entire epistemology (ranging from court testimony to photo albums) is based on the fact that seeing is a way of knowing. If you see a tiger, there is a tiger. If you see a photo of a tiger, someone has been close to one. This no longer applies: the era of uncover organized fake news has made way for anyone with Nano Banana Pro can get such an absurdly realistic image with a basic prompt in just a few seconds. Now creating a deepfake is trivial. Adam Mosseri think equal. “For most of my life I was able to safely assume that photographs or videos were largely faithful captures of moments that actually happened. That’s clearly no longer the case, and it’s going to take years to adjust. We’re going to go from defaulting to assuming that what we see is real to starting from skepticism. To paying attention to who’s sharing something and why. This will be uncomfortable: we’re genetically predisposed to believe our eyes.” If you can’t beat them… The paradigm shift has already occurred, so now Instagram and other platforms have to adapt to this new reality: “we have to build the best creative tools. Label AI-generated content and verify authentic content. Show credibility signals about who is posting. Continue to improve the ranking of originality.” It is the apocalypse of what is a photo that we have been predicting for years. Focusing on Instagram, Mosseri talks about how “we like to complain about ‘AI junk content,’ but there is a lot of amazing content created with AI.” He doesn’t give concrete examples or talk about Meta tools to make this possible, but Meta has already added AI tools on Instagram and Facebook. Without going any further, his AI Studio allows you to create personalized chatbots to deal with your followers. New times, new identification measures. It is increasingly difficult to identify content in AI, so it proposes fingerprints and cryptographic signatures in cameras to identify real content, forgetting about labels or watermarks. In any case, it advocates greater transparency about who publishes on the platform and improve creativity so that its human users can compete with content made in AI. In Xataka | The future of the Internet is to be flooded with AI. And there are those who have already seen a business niche: content made by humans In Xataka | There is a generation working for free as a documentarian of their own life: they are not influencers but they act as if they were.

Sam Altman’s biometric project aimed to scan a billion eyes. It has not even reached 2%

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World, Sam Altman’s ambitious project for verify human identity using iris scanshas managed to register 17.5 million people since its public launch in 2023. A figure that, although it may seem impressive, it barely represents 2% of its initial goal of one billion users. a promise. Altman’s idea was to create a global network of digital identity verified by ocular biometrics. To do this, users have to appear before a spherical device called Orb which scans your irises and generates a unique digital code, the World ID. In exchange, they can access an application with various services while also receiving cryptocurrency tokens. worldcoinwhich is currently worth about 60 euro cents per unit. “He is creating the disease, but he also wants to create the cure,” claimed a former employee of the company told Business Insider. Regulation. The project has run into a wall of institutional rejection. Just like share The medium, Spain, Hong Kong, Portugal, Indonesia, Germany and Brazil have imposed vetoes, suspensions or precautionary orders, while in Kenya it was banned a month after the launch. German authorities concluded last year that data protection measures “would not be sufficient to implement an appropriate level of security against cybercriminals or state attackers.” In October, the Philippines issued a cease-and-desist order, Colombia ordered to halt operations and delete data, and Thailand conducted raids arresting suspects for operating a digital asset business without a license. according to Business Insider. On the other hand, the Chinese Ministry of State Security warned that collecting iris data for cryptocurrencies could pose a threat to national security. A questioned model. Beyond the legal obstacles, some experts consulted in the middle they have questioned the viability of the project. Nick Maynard, vice president of fintech research at Juniper Research, said that “I don’t see a definitive use case that they have solved that is going to generate significant traction. They need a real purpose to exist, and that is not entirely clear yet.” The corporate structure is also complex, as Tools for Humanity (based in San Francisco and Munich) develops the technology; the World Foundation, from the Cayman Islands, controls the project; and World Assets Limited, in the British Virgin Islands, manages the token distribution. At the moment, the company has raised $240 million from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital and Khosla Ventures, at a valuation of $2.5 billion. The expansion strategy. According to former employees who have contacted with Business Insider, the company opted for an aggressive growth strategy in emerging markets, prioritizing countries where the promise of free cryptocurrencies generated traction among economically vulnerable populations. In Mexico, local operators had to cover the majority of costs for scanning locations, although Tools for Humanity paid the rent for a year. In Argentina, external organizers they even sent buses with people who traveled to be scanned in exchange for money. Image: World Luis Ruben De Valadéz, who worked as head of operations in Mexico, commented to the media that had to raise about 100,000 Mexican pesos (about 4,705.75 euros at the exchange rate) from family and friends to open seven stores in Mexico City. As he shared, independent operators charged commission in Worldcoin, and it was common for exchange houses to emerge near Orbs stations where users immediately exchanged their tokens to obtain cash. The monetization dilemma. The company does not charge users to access its platforms, and its CEO Alex Blania has promised that they will not become data brokers. The company is known to earn revenue from verification fees (World ID fees) when external applications use its services. They also earn income through a program that allows them to rent or buy their own Orbs, and from processing fees on their World Chain blockchain. However, a former employee revealed The company expressed doubts about whether these fees would generate profits on their own, indicating that the financial future would depend above all on the continued flow of capital from investors. “I have trouble seeing it as a business. There is no incentive to buy or lease an Orb beyond making money by scanning tons of eyes, and for users it is to get more coins,” commented Martha Bennett, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, told Business Insider. Bet on alliances. To accelerate growth, World announced partnerships with established companies. There is a pilot program with Match Group to verify Tinder users in Japan, and agreements with Stripe, Visa and the gaming company Razer. According to reported Semafor, Reddit was also in talks to use its verification services. Nikhil Bhatia, professor of finance at the University of Southern California and specialized in cryptocurrencies, commented to Business Insider that “it is difficult to judge something that is a crypto with a market capitalization of 2 billion as anything more than experimental or a fad. Worldcoin is not a contender in any way as a currency or asset against the dollar or Bitcoin.” And now what. The company has announced its intention to reach 100 million registrations over the next year, according to sources cited by the New York Post. But the road is full of questions. If you continue to require people to physically show up at your offices to have their eyes scanned, scalability could become complex. And if regulatory problems persist in the most populated markets in the world, it will be even more difficult for the company. World faces something common in many technological projects: with a powerful futuristic vision and plenty of capital, it does not seem to have a product that solves an immediate problem for the majority of users nor a clearly profitable business model. At the moment many people need to be convinced. In Xataka | The question is not whether AI will succeed in creating works of art. The question is whether we will consider them as such

Jeff Bezos’ giant rocket is ready and NASA is making eyes at it

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For once, Elon Musk’s Starship is not the protagonist. In the midst of a heated public debate about Who will take astronauts to the Moon first?Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, is about to launch the first New Glenn rocket mission for NASA, with an unexpected lunar spin. Ready to take off. Now that Starbase platform 1 is undergoing renovationsall eyes are on the LC-36 platform at Cape Canaveral. The giant rocket that attracts attention this time is the imposing New Glenn from Blue Origin, another beast 98 meters high and seven meters in diameter, ready for its first order. After successfully completing a 38-second static burn with its seven BE-4 engines, Jeff Bezos’ megarocket has the green light for its first assignment: NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars. When? In the absence of confirmation from Blue Origin, the United States Federal Aviation Administration aim for a first try on November 7 between 19:51 and 21:50 UTC, with another two-hour backup window on November 8 starting at 19:49. It is not a minor release. ESCAPADE is NASA’s first multi-craft mission to Mars orbit. The New Glenn will launch the twin Blue and Gold probes, built by Rocket Lab to study the magnetosphere of the red planet. Second landing attempt. For Blue Origin, the secondary mission is almost as important as the main one: recovering the rocket propellant for the first time. In your January inaugural flightthe New Glenn managed to reach orbit, but failed in its first propulsive landing attempt, SpaceX’s specialty. Now the first stage of the rocket, 65 meters high, will have a second chance to land in the Atlantic Ocean. To do this, Blue Origin will once again deploy the autonomous barge “Jacklyn”, named in honor of Jeff Bezos’ mother. Getting it is key to the company’s lunar plansin more literal ways than we thought. From Mars to the Moon. According to Ars TechnicaBlue Origin has ambitious plans for this same rocket. If the New Glenn manages to land successfully after launching the ESCAPADE mission, Jeff Bezos’ company hopes to quickly refit it for a third flight. And what does that third flight consist of? Nothing less than the launch of the first Blue Moon Mk-1 lunar cargo module. The same one that Blue Origin is trying to adapt against the clock to replace the SpaceX Starship in the first manned lunar landings of NASA’s Artemis missions. NASA waits for no one. In the midst of a self-imposed race to reach the Moon before China does in 2030, NASA (or more specifically, NASA’s internal administrator, Sean Duffy) has reopened the Human Landing System contract for the private sector to make simpler proposals than Starship HLS to take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon. Although it is actually simpler, the Blue Origin architecture It would not be without problems, including cryogenic refueling in orbit, an extremely complex choreography of ships that, to this day, neither SpaceX nor Blue Origin have demonstrated on the required scale. Image | Blue Origin In Xataka | We already know why Jeff Bezos invests so much money in space: he believes that in 20 years millions of people will live there

The blue eyes were about to disappear under the Roman Empire. Now we know why

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About 35,000 years ago, in Buran-Kayato the north of the mountains of Crimea, the first person who knows that he had blue eyes died. Since then, the story of the Iris clear has been complex, violent and very interesting. Today, thanks to the improvement of genetic analysis techniques, we know many things. In recent years, it has been said that effectively The Vikings had blue eyesthat the eyes of the steppe peoples were surprisingly dark and that, during the Roman Empire, the clear eyes almost disappeared. How do we know all this? Davide Piffer used 4,133 old genomes (They covered 44,000 years) to explain when the blue eyes arose, how they were selected generation after generation and why today there are people who still have them. Why do we have blue eyes? At the genetic level, which is what interests us in this case, the explanation is simple: As Piffer himself explained“Blue eyes genetics focuses on two neighboring genes on chromosome 15: OCA2 that controls the production of melanin in the iris, and Herc2 which contains a regulatory element “. In the case of brown eyes, “Herc2 ‘active’ OCA2 effectively to produce enough pigment.” With blue eyes, the situation is different: a mutation in RS12913832 weakens HERC2 control and the least amount of melanin is perceived as bluish or greenish eyes. That is, there is a genetic ‘trace’ that allows us to dive in ancient DNA to know how (with a certain degree of variability) the eyes of our ancestors. What did you discover? This is how Piffer confirmed That the Vikings had mostly blue eyes, the steppe peoples had them darker than expected and that the current prevalence of clear eyes is due to fairly recent factors. He also discovered something curious: that the story of Rome is much more complicated than it seems. While in ancient Rome the blue eyes appear in 22.2%of the population and in medieval Rome in 21.4%, during the empire that figure fell 4.2%. What happened here? The best known explanation. For Pifferthis agrees with the increase in European northwestern descent during those periods. During the first period, although the genetic base is mostly anatolia, there was a high influence of Yamnas groups. During the last one, the arrival of Germanic groups “such as longobardos and ostrogods” would change the general genetic mix. On the other hand, during the years of Roman hegemony, the most purely Latin features had disproportionate prestige that caused a boom of brown eyes. For years, this has been part of the consensus of populations genetics. However, it is not so clear. The demograph Lyman Stone He analyzed exhaustively The Roman genomes of those 4,133 samples to determine if we really had sufficient data to talk about the eyes of the Romans. Their conclusions, between failures in dating and historical confusion, are that we do not have them. According to Stone, there are reasons to think that in the metropolitan area of ​​Rome the blue eyes were reduced (as a consequence of the increase in immigration). In the same way, it is very likely that in the empire there were more people with brown eyes in 200 d. C. that in 300 d. C. (After all, the Empire grew hugely). This is true even if Bologna’s genetics did not change at all. What about blue eyes, then? It is a question that, for the first time, we have technology to answer. However, we have no samples to do so. As Lyman saidold DNA is a fantastic tool, but it is still difficult to interpret correctly. So the answer to the initial question (why (do we believe) the Romans did not have blue eyes?) It is simple: because we do not have enough data. And this configures our world vision much more often than we are willing to admit. Image | Amanda Dalbjörn | Clemens van Lay In Xataka | Every time you think about everything the Romans managed to do, remember that they did it intoxicated with lead

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