face

How euthanasia allowed an “à la carte” face transplant to be planned in 3D in Barcelona

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Spain has once again shown why remains at the top in terms of organ transplants refers to the new milestone that has occurred at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. It is neither more nor less than first face transplant in history coming from a donor who had requested the euthanasiadying in a controlled manner in a hospital environment. The programming. Until now, face transplants, of which a few have been performed 54 worldwidedepended on the urgency and availability of a donor who died due to an accident or brain death. However, this case introduces a new variable: transplant scheduling. This is thanks to the fact that the donor had requested to benefit from the Euthanasia Law and jointly expressed their willingness to donate all their organs and tissues, specifically their face. This is something that allowed the medical team timewhich is not common in transplants, to find the most suitable candidate and also plan in detail what the procedure was going to be like. What they did. By knowing in advance the availability of the donor, the medical team was able to begin virtual 3D planning. In this case, digital models of both the donor and the recipient were created to be able to design completely personalized cutting and grafting guides to guarantee the success of the intervention. And it is not at all easy to do this type of transplant, since the bone structure and soft tissues must fit together with millimeter precision, reducing the usual uncertainty of these operations. The surgical challenge. The operation was not easy, since It lasted 24 hours and required the coordination of a team of nearly 100 professionals.including plastic surgeons, microsurgeons, anesthetists, nursing and immunology experts. And it was not a simple aesthetic operation by putting the skin on top and that’s it, but rather a complete reconstruction was sought at all times that included muscles, nose, lips, blood vessels and of course nerves. All of this could not be done without microsurgical equipment that allowed arteries, veins or nerves less than a millimeter in diameter to be ‘connected’ in order to have sensitivity, movement or the ability to eat. The recipient. Her name is Carme, and her life changed radically in 2024 while she was on vacation in the Canary Islands when she suffered a bite that caused a serious infection. The bacteria caused sepsis and death of the facial necrosis, causing him to lose part of his face and severely affecting his jaw. In this case the consequences were devastating, since Carme could barely open her mouth and had serious difficulties breathing and feeding. Not to mention his social life, which had been drastically reduced, with the mental impact that this entailed. According to his own statements, the transplant was “the only solution” to try to regain a normal life. Legal context. All this is not a coincidence, since the Vall d’Hebron was already a pioneer in 2010 in performing the first complete facial transplant in the world. Of the six transplants that have been performed in the history of Spain, half have taken place in this center, demonstrating the great experience they have in this regard. The procedure is also framed within the Euthanasia Law that came into force in Spain in 2021, which contemplates the possibility of donating organs. The generosity of the donor, who explicitly offered her face during the authorization process for her assisted death, has opened a new door for regenerative and transplant medicine, demonstrating that advance planning can be key to success in the most extreme surgeries. Images | Vall d’Hebron In Xataka | Elizabeth Hughes’ 42,000 injections and the miraculous discovery of insulin

The Line and Trojana were the jewels of the new Saudi Arabia. They will also be the first to face reality: they are very expensive

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Saudi Arabia imagined an almost dystopian future based on futuristic ski resorts, 170 km linear skyscrapers and paradise islands for millionaires. Reality has forced the Saudi authorities to wake up from their reverie and face serious cost overruns in the construction of their pharaonic projects and lack of budget to cover them. He Financial Times uncover in an article that an internal report in which auditors propose cutting the NEOM project in half, reusing what has already been built, but reorienting its objectives and, above all, its budgets. However, this cut is conditioned by the commitments that Riyadh has already adopted, organizing the 2030 World Expo and the 2034 World Cup. Oil gives no respite: we must cut back. According to Financial Times sources, the audit of the project that is about to conclude leaves no room for maneuver and forces Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to rethink the NEOM project. applying new cuts and changes in construction plans to a “much smaller” project. The reason for the cut is found in oil priceswho have not recovered from their downward trendseriously damaging the solvency of the nearly $1 trillion Saudi Public Investment Fund that finances NEOM. With a fund that does not grow at the rate it used to and huge investmentsPrince Mohammed has been forced to lower expectations and achieve short-term profitability from what has already been built. Put your feet on the ground. The NEOM project was born in 2017 as the flagship to transform the Saudi economy, moving from a model focused on the exploitation of natural gas and oil resources to one based on attracting investments, tourism and renewable energy. NEOM consisted of different big-budget projects to build infrastructure in a territory the size of Belgium on the Red Sea coast. The Line, the crown jewelpromised a linear city 170 kilometers long flanked by two 500-meter-high buildings, without cars or streets, and powered 100% by renewable energy. It was estimated that by 2030 this project would house 1.5 million people, at an approximate cost of 500 billion dollars. In 2024, the first phase of The Line has already suffered an important snip reducing its length 2.4 kilometers away. The Line was going to be a city, now your data will live. FT sources point out that Riyadh finally admits the initial design flaws, prioritizing what has already been built. Thus, The Line would go from being a futuristic megalopolis to reusing its foundations to become a data center hub to put Saudi Arabia in the AI ​​race. This shift reflects a change in strategy aimed at achieving more specific goals that provide a short-term return on invested capital, leaving behind the vision of infinite skyscrapers in the desert. Other cuts already announced include $8 billion less from the Public Investment Fund for the five main megaprojects, representing 12.4% of their total valuation. A ski resort in the desert. The cuts also seriously affect the construction of Trojena, the ski resort futuristic project that was to serve as the venue for the 2029 Asian Winter Games. However, the Asian Olympic Council that organizes this sporting event has announced in a statement “confirming the postponement of the 2029 edition to a later date that will be announced in due course”, and that experts link directly to cuts in its budget. According to published Bloombergthe project was initially budgeted at around 19 billion dollars and was going to offer 30 km of ski slopes that ran on the roof of the resort itself and different luxury hotels, in a desert area with little snowfall during the year, which added an added challenge to keep the artificial snow necessary for the operation of the station in good condition. This first postponement sows uncertainty about the future of other competitions to which it has already committed, such as the football stadium that was going to be built. on the roof of The Line. In Xataka | Siranna: the new luxury destination for the super-rich is a spa that looks like Minas Tirith and only ships arrive Image | NEOM

How to create an image of yourself and a Pixar character with your face using artificial intelligence, with Gemini or ChatGPT

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We are going to explain how to create an image in which you appear holding a 3D character of yours miniature using artificial intelligencelooking like Pixar characters. We are going to use a prompt created for use with Geminialthough it will also work in ChatGPT without problems. It is a fairly simple composition, in which you only need to add a photo of yourself and write the prompt, which is quite long and complex. But the result is quite curious, although you may need several tries to get it completely to your liking. An image of you with a 3D cartoon What you have to do is open a new chat with Gemini, which is the AI ​​with which you will have the best results. Once you have it, upload a photo of yourself in which your face looks goodand then add the following text as a request or prompt: “Use the uploaded photo as the ONLY facial and identity reference. The main subject must look exactly like the person in the uploaded image, preserving identical facial structure, proportions, skin tone, hairstyle, eye shape, nose, lips, jawline and overall identity. Do not embellish, alter or replace facial features. Create a cinematic, ultra-detailed scene of your subject smiling naturally. The subject delicately holds a tiny, cartoon-style miniature version of the same person by the hair between his fingers, like a playful puppet suspended in the air. The miniature character is a Pixar/Disney-style 3D version of the same person, with cute, exaggerated proportions, big, expressive eyes, mouth open with joy, arms raised, and a lively, playful stance. The miniature must clearly resemble the same person and be wearing a matching outfit. The main subject looks at the little character with surprise, delight and affection, creating a whimsical and touching interaction. Lighting is warm professional studio lighting with soft rim light, shallow depth of field, and soft golden bokeh background. The real person’s skin texture is photorealistic, while the miniature character has clean Pixar-style materials, smooth shading, and polished 3D surfaces. Cinematic color grading, high contrast, sharp focus, premium portrait composition, 50mm lens look, f/1.8 aperture, ultra-realism mixed with stylized animation, 4:5 aspect ratio, 8K quality, cinematic finish. Anime, 2D illustration, comic style, flat shading, low poly, plastic skin, wax face, face swap, different identity, facial morphing, beauty filters, excessive smoothing, blur, low resolution, grain, noise, distortion, deformed face, incorrect facial proportions, extra fingers, missing fingers, duplicate hands, floating objects, bad anatomy, inconsistent lighting, harsh shadows, neon colors, cold blue tones, washed out colors, excessive saturation, watermark, text, logo, severed head, face out of frame.” Yes, it is a very long text, but each of the sentences that make it up help with the effect. When you send it, you will receive a composition that shows an image of you holding a Pixar character with your face in your fingers. You will also be able to do it with ChatGPTwhich occasionally releases good results. However, the faces are sometimes somewhat deformed, and for now Gemini seems to do better almost always. In Xataka Basics | How to create a character in ChatGPT and Gemini to use it in all the images you make with artificial intelligence

Europe had few options in the face of the US threat in Greenland. Until Germany has remembered Russia with an unprecedented plan

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Growing pressure from the United States to take over Greenland has transformed a hitherto latent issue into a problem political and strategic of the first order for Europe and NATO, by explicitly placing for the first time the risk of an internal clash between allies. It was known that there were a couple of options on the table as a defense. Germany has just presented another unprecedented one. An unprecedented crisis. The insistence of the US administration on presenting control of the island as a necessity of national security, accompanied by rhetoric increasingly harderhas forced European partners to react not only in defense of Denmark’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to self-determination, but also to protect credibility of an alliance designed precisely to prevent force from prevailing among its members. The problem is not only territorial, but systemicbecause it raises the extent to which NATO can manage a crisis caused from within without eroding its own foundations. Germany and the allied response. Faced with the difficulty of directly confronting Washington, Berlin has emerged as the actor in charge of articulating a solution that combines political firmness and strategic containment. Germany has chosen to channel the response through NATO. As? proposing a joint mission in the Arctic that makes it possible to strengthen regional security without turning the conflict into a bilateral battle between the United States and Denmark. The initiative seeks to save time, reduce tensions and offer an institutional alternative that frames American concerns within a collective logic, while sending a clear signal that Greenlandic sovereignty is non-negotiable. This German role reflects a commitment to multilateral management of the conflict and to prevent the crisis from leading to an open fracture within the alliance. From the Baltic to the Arctic. The German proposal takes as a direct reference the operation Baltic Sentrylaunched to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea from sabotage and covert activities linked to Russia and its ghost fleet. The idea is to replicate this scheme in the Arctic through a hypothetical “Arctic Sentry” missionwhich would include Greenland and allow increased surveillance, naval presence and allied coordination in an increasingly disputed region. This approach has a double function: on the one hand, respond to the security concerns raised by Washington about the Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic, and on the other, prevent those concerns from being used as a pretext for unilateral action. Turning the Arctic into a space of collective management seeks to deactivate the security vacuum narrative that fuels American aspirations. The shadow of Article 4. Although it has not yet been formally activated, the idea of invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which provides for consultations when an ally perceives a threat to its territorial integrity or security, has gained weight in diplomatic debates. The mere possibility of Denmark resorting to this mechanism reflects the seriousness of the situation and the growing nervousness in European capitals. Invoking Article 4 would not imply an automatic military response, but it would force the alliance to address it head on. an internal crisis that many would prefer to manage in silence. The underlying fear is that, if not managed institutionally, the conflict sets a dangerous precedent that normalize pressure between allies and voids the founding principles of NATO. Diplomacy, deterrence and limits. Beyond the military dimension, the European Union has explored diplomatic and economic options to contain the United States, from the reinforcement of political dialogue to the theoretical threat of instruments commercial pressure. However, Europe’s dependence on the American technology, defense and security umbrella drastically reduces the credibility of these tools. Economic sanctions, although powerful on paper, are perceived as unrealistic in a context marked by the war in Ukraine and the need to keep Washington engaged with European security. This imbalance reinforces the idea that the most viable path is to offer shared security solutions, such as the proposed Arctic mission, rather than a direct confrontation that Europe could hardly sustain. Greenland as autonomy. The economic dimension It adds another layer of complexity to the conflict, as Greenland relies heavily on Danish transfers and warily watches American promises of massive investment. From Brussels we study increase financial support European to prevent the island from being trapped in a relationship of dependency with Washington, especially with the prospect of future independence. This effort not only seeks to counteract American economic influence, but also preserve the social and political model that the Greenlanders might want to keep. In this context, the crisis reveals that the battle for Greenland is not only fought in the military field, but also in that of investment, legitimacy and the projection of soft power. A stress test. Altogether, the American pressure over Greenland has exposed the internal tensions of a NATO designed to deter external threats, not manage territorial ambitions of one of its members. The german initiative of transferring the problem to the field of collective security, inspired by the Baltic model, is an attempt to preserve allied cohesion and avoid an existential crisis. However, the simple fact that mechanisms are being considered like Article 4 It demonstrates the extent to which the alliance faces an unprecedented scenario, one in which unity no longer depends only on stopping external adversaries, but on containing power impulses within its own ranks. Image | Program Executive Office Soldier, pathanMinistry of Defense of the Russian Federation In Xataka | After the Nazi occupation, Denmark signed a pact in 1951. Since then, the US can ask for whatever it wants in Greenland In Xataka | Greenland has become an obsession for the United States for a simple reason: they believe in global warming

Russia and the US face to face

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What started as an American operation apparently limited to imposing a naval blockade on sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela has ended up becoming an episode of high strategic voltage in the North Atlantic. He assault has reached Europe, and Russia and Russia have appeared on the horizon. his ghost fleet. From the Caribbean to the Atlantic. What has happened is that Washington has boarded an oil tanker already reflagged by Russia while Moscow has sent naval assets, including a submarineto escort him. The case of the old Bella 1hastily renamed as Sailor and with a Russian flag painted with a broad brush in the middle of the chasesymbolizes the transition from an economic war and sanctions on the Latin American periphery to a direct, physical and potentially scalable clash between two nuclear powers in European waters. There is no simple rusty ship here, but a collision of red lines that until now had been carefully avoided. The ghost fleet comes out of the shadows. we have been counting. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow, Tehran and Caracas have built a vast “ghost fleet” of more than a thousand aging tankerswith opaque ownership, non-existent insurance and false flags, designed to keep the flow of oil outside of Western sanctions. For years, the system relied on ambiguity and plausible deniability: registrations in administrative havens, shell companies in Dubai or Seychelles and flags of convenience that minimized political risk. The recent turn is radically different. Dozens of these ships have begun to raise the Russian flag directly, not out of discretion, but as a shield. It is a kind of flight forward: by declaring them Russian, the Kremlin raises the cost of any interdiction, transforming a legal problem into a strategic one. The perfect example. He Sailor is he most extreme example of that mutation. Pursued by the US Coast Guard from the Caribbean, he refused a boarding, fled into the Atlantic, changed his identity and received a Russian registration without formal inspections. With this, Moscow sought something very specific: deter Washington by raising the implicit question of whether the United States was willing to forcibly board a Russian-flagged ship on the high seas. The answer has left no room for doubt. The televised approach. The American operation was anything but improvised, with a video of the assault who has turned the helm. For weeks, the tanker was followed by a Coast Guard cutter while aerial assets were deployed in the United Kingdom, including special forces and surveillance platforms. The final boarding in waters between Iceland and Scotland It involved US military personnel and occurred despite the nearby presence of Russian naval units. According to Moscowit was a violation of international law. According to Washingtonthe ship had previously been stateless, was under a judicial seizure order and was part of an illicit transportation network of Iranian and Venezuelan oil. Munro following the tanker Bella 1 Repercussions. The crucial detail is not legal, but political. Russia had formally requested that the United States cease the persecution and, at send a submarine and other assets, introduced an element of direct military deterrence. The United States, by moving forward, de facto accepted a risk it had so far avoided: an incident between Russian and American forces outside the Ukrainian theater and without the usual diplomatic buffers. The disturbing change of scenery. Previously, the US tightening against the ghost fleet was concentrated in the Caribbean and around Venezuela, especially after Maduro’s captureconverted by Trump into a show of force and the pillar of a strategy to control Venezuelan oil. In that context, boarding oil tankers with a dubious flag off the Latin American coast implied limited risks: Guyana or fictitious records were not going to respond militarily. The jump to the North Atlantic changes everything. He Sailor was not intercepted near Venezuela, but on routes close to Europe, with the UK operational support and under the watchful eye of NATO allies. The scene, therefore, is no longer the American “backyard,” but rather a space where any miscalculation has direct implications for European security. Suddenly, sanctions enforcement overlaps with nuclear deterrence. Moment of the assault on the oil tanker The nuclear factor. No one needs to mention weapons for are present. Russia is a nuclear power that bases much of its doctrine on controlled escalation and ambiguity, and the United States perfectly understands the implicit message when Moscow escorts an oil tanker with a submarine. The Marinera incident demonstrates the extent to which the sanctions war has reached a dangerous threshold: it is no longer just about money or oil, but about strategic credibility. Each boarding of a ship re-flagged by Russia poses an uncomfortable question: How far is Moscow willing to protect its ghost fleet without crossing a line that provokes a direct response? And at the same time, how many times can Washington repeat an operation like this before the Kremlin feels the need to respond so as not to appear weak? In a stressful environment, an accidental collision or misunderstanding can escalate quickly. Europe and the crossroads. The seizure of Sailor occurs while Europe debate what to do with these oil tankers, increasingly associated not only with evasion of sanctions, but to sabotagedamage to submarine cables and serious environmental risks. Countries like Finland and France have already used special forces to board suspicious ships. However, the American case introduces a disturbing precedent: what is legal is not always prudent. If great powers normalize the use of force on the high seas against strategically reflagged ships, other less responsible actors may imitate the behavior. An old ship as a symbol. He Sailor It did not carry oil, nor is there conclusive evidence that it transported weapons. Its value is different: as a symbol. It represents the transition of the russian hybrid war from the shadow to open confrontationand shows that the United States is willing to push the pressure beyond the margins comfortable of the Caribbean. “Venezuela” is no longer a … Read more

plans to increase production of the H200 in the face of an avalanche of orders, according to Reuters

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NVIDIA once again finds itself in the center of the game. According to Reutersthe company analyzes increasing the production of its chip H200 after orders from China have exceeded what its current capacity can cover. But this time the result will not be decided in Washington, but in Beijing, where the government must authorize the entry of the hardware. The Chinese response will determine whether the window opened by the United States translates into real sales or remains a gesture caught between opposing interests. What has changed in Washington. The turnaround began in Washington on December 8, when Donald Trump announced that the United States would allow the H200 to be exported to commercial customers approved and validated by the Department of Commerce, with a 25% tax on each sale. The measure marked a turning point with respect to previous restrictions and introduced a more flexible control model: the US Government will supervise shipments from Taiwan, subject processors to a security review before authorizing their departure to China and apply the corresponding surcharge. NVIDIA celebrated the announcement as a balance that, according to its own statement, seeks to make national security compatible with commercial activity, while in the markets its shares rose around 2% in subsequent operations. Avalanche of orders. The signal that has led NVIDIA to consider increasing production is clear. According to the aforementioned agency, H200 orders from China already exceed the current manufacturing capacity of the chip. AND, as we pointed out last weektechnology groups such as Alibaba and ByteDance have contacted the company to explore volume purchases, aware that availability is very limited. NVIDIA has informed these clients that it is studying adding capacity, although without commitments or figures, in a context marked by scarcity and the priority that other more advanced generations have today. The interest in the H200 is also explained by its place in the NVIDIA catalog. It is the most powerful chip of the Hopper generation and a clearly superior alternative to the trimmed models designed for China, although it falls behind Blackwella generation with which, Trump explained, NVIDIA’s American customers are already moving forward. That position makes it an awkward balance: it’s not state-of-the-art, but it’s advanced enough to make a difference in training large-scale models. What China decides. Beijing is not limited to giving a yes or no. According to sources cited by Reuters, the internal debate revolves around how to allow access to H200 without weakening the momentum of its domestic semiconductor industry. The authorities are studying imposing specific conditions on each order and reviewing the final destination of the chips, in a context in which Manufacturers like Huawei or Cambricon continue to be priorities for the country’s industrial policy. NVIDIA H200 Capacity and bottlenecks. Increasing H200 production is not an immediate or easy decision. The chip is manufactured at TSMC using its 4nm process, an advanced capability that is hotly contested today. NVIDIA is prioritizing Blackwell production and preparing the transition to Rubinwhile competing with other large clients, such as Google, for space in the Taiwanese manufacturer’s most advanced lines. That context explains why the company has warned its customers of tight supply even if it ultimately decides to add capacity. National security and industrial pressure. The H200 debate goes beyond NVIDIA. In Washington, fear persists that the sale of advanced chips will contribute to strengthening China in sensitive areas, while the Administration itself has defended that completely cutting off access to American chips could reinforce the efforts of local manufacturers. The solution adopted by the Trump Administration seeks that balance, but keeps alive a controversy that conditions both exports and the real possibility of expanding production. With demand pressing and supply at a minimum, the outcome is now being played out in the offices of the Chinese regulator. If Beijing authorizes the purchases, NVIDIA will have to decide to what extent it can reallocate capacity without compromising its industrial priorities. If it doesn’t, the H200 will join the list of advanced chips caught between politics and strategy. In both scenarios, the episode confirms that access to hardware has become as determining a variable as the chip design itself. Images | NVIDIA + Photoshop In Xataka | Microsoft has reduced its ambition with AI. It has been realized that almost no one uses Copilot, they say in The Information

Some people believe that sleeping on your side or stomach creates “sleep wrinkles” on your face. It’s exactly the opposite

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The Internet is full of golden rules for have ‘eternal youth’this being the holy grail that many would like to have in their hands right now. Among these pieces of advice, there are several that can be quite annoying, such as that you should not sleep leaning on the side that is wrinkled. But… how true is this? The benefits of sleeping well. The sleeping position is essential to have a good rest. Because sleeping on your stomach is not the same as sleeping on your left side. In the first case, the cervical spine can suffer a lot and in the second the hated gastric reflux. can be seen reduced. But now it comes into play that sleeping on one side or the other can cause more wrinkles on the face due to the hated gravity that generates a mechanical effect that causes the face to fall and wrinkles to appear. But science disagrees on this one and puts the blame more on biology with cortisol and collagen. The myth of ‘Sleep Wrinkles’. The theory seems logical: if you spend 8 hours squishing your face into a pillow, that mechanical compression should leave a mark. There is often talk of “sleep wrinkles” (sleep wrinkles), which, unlike expression lines, caused by smiling or frowning, would be caused by having your face against the pillow. It is something that some experts defend like those of The Aesthetic Society, which suggest that sleeping on your stomach or side favors the appearance of vertical lines due to this chronic pressure. Other opinions. The clinical evidence It is quite limited in this casesince many of the statements that defend this myth come from the field of cosmetic surgery and with very limited groups of people. There are even articles that suggest that there is no clear relationship between sleeping in a certain way and having more wrinkles. The consensus right now is that sleeping on your back could theoretically reduce the formation of compression lines. But obsessing over this is not the best, since if having this position is uncomfortable and the quality of sleep decreases, then the biological weight it will entail will have a great impact on wrinkles. The real threat. This is where science stops being speculative and becomes blunt. If there is something that ages your skin, it is not the pillow, It’s sleep deprivation. When you get little sleep, the body enters a state of physiological stress, raising levels of the hated cortisol, the stress hormone. And elevated cortisol is the great enemy of our skin’s youth. This is because it can inhibit the cells that make collagen (the scaffolding of the skin), making the skin less elastic and increases metalloproteinases. This word, so long, is nothing more than an enzyme that breaks down that fundamental collagen that we have in our skin and that keeps it firm. If we do not produce it or destroy it, the wrinkles will appear there. With data. A key clinical study presented in ScienceDaily showed strong results: People with chronic poor sleep quality showed clinical signs of accelerated aging with fine wrinkles, uneven pigmentation, and sagging. But the most important thing is that if UV radiation from sunlight was also added to all these factors, the skin’s recovery would get worse. And this is where the need to have sun protection when going outside came in. Images | Katelyn G Isabella Fischer In Xataka | There is a ‘good’ fat that hides a secret to aging better and being in shape. All that remains is to get the pill

Of course there is a museum with more than 900 rocks with the “face” of a human being. And of course it’s in Japan.

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Japan is a country that seems taken from another dimension, where the craziest and strangest things (for us Westerners) can happen. The only place where we can find beautiful manhole coversmajestic snow sculptures, very strange contestsbizarre television seriesas well as restaurants with robots and a few other wonders that leave us with our mouths open. Rocks with human faces. Today’s protagonist is another gem that can only be in Japan, since it is the only museum in the world that exhibits more than 1,700 rocks, of which 900 have one characteristic in common: they all have the appearance of a human face, well, or at least a face with eyes and a mouth. It is about from the Chinsekikan museum. Where. In Chichibutwo hours northwest of Tokyo, we will find a very peculiar and unique place in the world, a museum with an impressive collection of rocks, which were collected for more than 50 years by its founder Shozo Hayama, and where we will find rocks that resemble everything from the face of Jesus to Elvis Presley. Its origin. The museum, which means ‘The Hall of Curious Rocks‘, is currently managed and curated by Yoshiko Hayama, the wife of the founder who died in 2010, and it is she who maintains the museum as her husband left it, since she wanted to pay tribute to him after dedicating much of her life to collecting ‘jinmenseki’ (rocks with a human face). All stones are like this, they occur as is in nature, and do not have any type of modification. The names. Mr. Hayama not only collected the rocks, but also named them according to their features, which is why we will find rocks named in honor of Boris Yeltsin and even fictional characters such as Donkey Kong, ET, Nemo, and many more. However, there are still several unnamed rocks, so occasionally Mrs. Hayama comes out to welcome visitors and takes the opportunity to ask opinions about possible names for the rocks that have not been named. In Xataka | Japan depends too much on Tokyo. So you are already thinking about a “reserve” capital just in case In Xataka | In Tokyo, schools are threatening to use lawyers and police. The reason: “monster parents” In Xataka | The tea that was born to stop time now runs against it: the matcha crisis in Japan Image | Chinsekikan Museum

One of the most relevant actors in ‘Back to the Future’ fell so badly that we never got to see his face: it was a mask

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For decades, millions of viewers remembered George McFly as one of the most beloved characters from ‘Back to the Future’with his nervous gestures, his strange shyness and that peculiar way of inhabiting the screen. But what almost no one imagined is that, when the saga returned to the cinema, what we saw was no longer exactly him. Or, at least, not in the way we all thought. An impossible artist. Crispin Glover He burst into popular culture playing George McFly with a performance that made the character one of the most recognizable souls. from ‘Back to the Future’. His performance, at once clumsy, intense and physically expressive, became an essential counterpoint to Marty’s dynamism and Doc Brown’s eccentricity. However, behind that iconic role, Glover was already a unique artistobsessed by the limits of narrative, by art as an act of critical thinking and by the need to escape from the corporate machinery that, in his opinion, turned cinema into an instrument of ideological complacency. The fame that the film brought him did not bring him closer to Hollywood: it pushed him away from hertowards a life of his own projects, marginal filmographies, performative tours and experimental books that he himself read on stage in front of his followers. That mix of massive success and countercultural sensitivity would end up leading, a few years later, to one of the legal conflicts most influential in the history of commercial cinema. The ideological disagreement. Glover never hid his discomfort with the final message of the first film. It bothered him that the climax was an economic reward: a family becoming a symbol of the triumphant middle class, a new car as an emblem of happiness and a moral that, according to himhe unequivocally associated money with life success. He was barely twenty years old, but he was already openly questioning an element that he considered propaganda. For him, the real prize should have been emotional reconciliation between the parents, not wealth. That conversation with director Robert Zemeckis, who according to Glover It led to notable anger from the director, marking a point of friction that would later be amplified when negotiations for the sequel began. Silent war. The actor felt that he had done a decisive job in the first delivery and expected treatment equivalent to that of his colleagues. The studio, on the other hand, perceived his comments as an artistic and personal challenge. The financial offers reflected this rupture: figures much lower than the rest of the cast and, according to Glover, a deliberate feeling of punishment, especially seeing that the script from ‘Back to the Future II’ It included scenes in which George McFly appeared hanging upside down, a physically uncomfortable position that he interpreted as a hostile gesture. By then, the aesthetic tension had already been transformed into a contractual and human tension. Plot Twist: The mask. When negotiations failed, Universal did not opt ​​for the usual solution of replacing the actor and continuing as normal. No, he did something much more aggressive: used a mold Glover’s facial created for the first film and placed on a different actor, Jeffrey Weissmanadding prosthetics, makeup, hairpieces and a meticulous imitation of her voice and gestures. It was, in practice, putting an interpreter to play Crispin Glover playing George McFly. Weissman, initially informed that it would be a simple photographic double, discovered during filming that they were asking him to replicate a foreign personality, not a character. It was even called “Crispin” on the set, and even heard jokes from Steven Spielberg about a supposed “million” that Glover would have demanded. One more thing. Many scenes relegated him to the background, carefully out of focus, or showed him face down to make recognition difficult. The rest was composed by mixing Glover’s real shots with Weissman’s new shots to create the illusion of continuity. For the public it worked: millions of viewers thought that Glover had participated in the sequel. For Glover, that was an outrage: his identity, his interpretive essence, had been used without consent to support a multimillion-dollar production. George Mcfly (with Weissman inside) A historic litigation. In 1990 Glover filed a lawsuit that, without looking for it, became one of the first early warnings about the risks of digital recreation, impersonation through visual effects and image rights in the era of technological manipulation. He argued that Universal had used his face, his voice and his acting style without permission, hiding behind the idea that they were only prolonging the existence of the George McFly character. His lawyer, Doug Kari, built a strategy that sought to demonstrate that it was not about perpetuating the character, but about appropriating Glover’s artistic identity. He wanted to depose Spielberg, Zemeckis, Gale and Michael J. Fox, in addition to accessing the studio’s accounting books. What happened? That the case did not go to trial: the judge encouraged both parties to reach an agreement, one that was finally closed by about $760,000. Consequences. But the psychological, industrial and legal impact was enormous. The SAG-AFTRA union was forced to review your rules. Hollywood began to debate to what extent a performance belongs to an actor and whether a studio can, without consent, reconstruct it for new installments. Years later, every time there was talk of digitally resurrecting a deceased performer, Glover’s name reappeared as a warning. In a way, his case anticipated current debates about deepfakes, avatars generated by AI and digital replicas hyperrealistic. Personal consequences. The process left no one unscathed. Glover managed clear your name and establish a red line in the industry, but the experience marked him deeply. He refused to attend conventions or photo sessions related to the saga because, according to himthat would be supporting a lie: that he had participated in those sequels and that Weissman’s artificial interpretation belonged to him. He also suffered for years from the emotional burden of fans attributing to his work gestures or moments that he never interpreted, even receiving criticism for what he did. … Read more

After electrifying cars, China is targeting trucks. It is a slap in the face to global diesel consumption

by

China is one of the oil monsters. Not so much in generation, where they want to start being a powerbut in consumption. It is the fuel of hundreds of millions of vehicles They hit the road every day, but things are changing. Although the Asian giant has become one of the powers in car electrification, diesel seemed to have a break thanks to trucks. Not even that anymore. Diesel down. China is second diesel consumeronly behind the United States. transportation concentrate between 70 and 80% of that final consumption, but in recent years, the market has been going down. It is estimated that, in June 2024, diesel consumption fell to 3.9 million barrels per day. It’s still stupid, but it was 11% less than during the same period the previous year. It was the biggest drop since mid-2021 (logical because of the pandemic and the world situation) and despite the industrialization of the country and the rise of both national and international trade, this consumption has remained at a “plateau” for more than a decade. That is to say: it should be much greater than 10 years ago, but that is not the case. Another fact: in August 2024, 8% of new trucks were electric, but in August 2025, the figure was 28%. electric trucks. He rise of electric cars could explain this negative trend in diesel consumption, but as we say, the boats and, above all, trucks continued to support the market. That is no longer so clear, especially with the recent involvement of the Government. In April this year, the Ministry of Transport published, with the support of other government departments, a program to encourage the majority of new truck sales to be new energy by 2035. To achieve this, there are objectives, such as that by 2027 the share of electrical energy in final transport consumption must be 10% and the proportion of new new energy vehicles must be increased each year. The heavy truck seemed to be the bastion of diesel, but now it is one of the central pieces of this decarbonization of transportation. Paradigm shift. To achieve this, in addition to direct aid for the purchase of heavy electric trucks, China has launched a specific action to eliminate and replace old diesel trucks, with subsidies for their removal and replacement with new energy units. In fact, there are advantages: freer access to restricted urban areasfewer time limitations and discounts on tolls. In a report by The Associated Press This paradigm shift is reflected: if in 2020 almost all new trucks in China were diesel, by 2025 electric trucks already represent 22% of new heavy truck sales. As our colleagues point out Motorpassionthe arrow is inverse to that of diesel consumption: in the same period of 2024, that percentage was 9.2%. And the load? It represents a paradigm shift and there are analysts who predict that, by 2026, diesel will only account for 40% of sales. The rest: electric and gas trucks. Is the charging infrastructure? Because we are seeing advances in the development of solid state batteries that will allow greater autonomy, but until they arrive, it is necessary that there be numerous charging points to support the electrification of transport. The National Energy Administration and the Ministry of Transportation have already affirmed that 98% of highway service areas already have charging points, with widespread installation of 120 kW chargers and, in some segments, 600 and 800 kW chargers. The intention is for there to be some 28 million charging points throughout the country by 2027, and one of the key pieces in that expansion is CATL. The company is one of those leads the battery sector worldwideand is currently tracing a “green corridor” that will cover the major freight hubs to facilitate loading, but also to implement its battery exchange system that speeds up the process. Green curve… and economic. This electrification of commercial transportation would add to the objectives of decarbonization of the countrybut obviously truckers and companies also see a benefit in their pockets, or so they esteem. Although electric trucks are between two and three times more expensive than diesel trucks and cost 18% more than LNGare more efficient, have less maintenance and can help save between 10% and 26% over their useful life. Horizon. This change to the electrification of trucks would already be reducing the demand for oil in the equivalent of more than a million barrels per day, and that a giant like China stops depending on crude oil for its trucks is something that can shake the market internationally. And that ambition is not going to stay within its borders. If in recent months we have seen that China has flooded Europe with his electric carswe can expect something similar for 2026, but with trucks. And, furthermore, it has torn off in Hungary the construction of a factory for electric trucks and buses. It is evident that this path started by cars will be followed by trucks, which in the end are a important source of emissions in a world with increasingly global trade. Specificallya third of all transport-related carbon emissions in 2019. Images | Volvo, Cheng Long In Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

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