fatal

dangerous curves and a fatal accident

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Curves surrounded by concrete walls. Some accompanied by exits to different parts of the city and others with important slopes. The Madrid entrance by the A-5 has not only become a nightmare of traffic jams and an ordeal for neighbors. Now, driving for her has become dangerous. What had they told us. When the Madrid City Council presented the project to underground entrance to Madrid On the A-5 road he mentioned that the works would be compatible with the traffic circulation. The idea is that one of the two sides (the entrance) becomes underground to, in a second phase, the vehicles will circulate underground and begin the underground of the other sense of the circulation. Then it was sold (and so it happened at first) that all the traffic would move first to one side of the road and then pass the other. That is, we would have entrance and exit lanes but there should not be many more inconvenience than those of finding a greater volume of withholdings. Section with curves and flush changes where the death of a motorist has been recorded Curves come. What they did not explain at the Madrid City Council is how it was going to happen at the entrance to the capital from the left side (the usual direction of departure) to the neighborhoods of Aluche or Lucero (which fall to the right of the road). Nor, on the contrary, these neighborhoods would be passed in the direction of the road. The solution has been to divert the road into specific points. For this, a succession of curves has been created that usually involves two S. From the left side in the capital, there is first a right-left succession and, subsequently, left-right. In the middle an exit to the surrounding neighborhood is generated. As you can see in the image that heads this article. Dangerous. The curves are closed, they use narrower lanes than usual To gain space in both sensesthey are delimited by concrete walls and in some cases there are grounding changes to go over the underground work. There are with a crosswalk included. And we even have a very dangerous exit of the gas station that you see in the image, right next to the output of the Boadilla road. If you have recently circulated through those sections, it is very likely that you have felt true (and logical) danger. I will tell you more, you are not alone. Collect in Telemadrid That the complaints have multiplied and the Madrid City Council is valuing to suppress these curves to facilitate the journeys and improve security. At 20 km/h. The solution that has occurred so far is to limit the circulation in some sections to 20 or 30 km/h. It is a measure that goes beyond caution, circulating above that speed is to play it against the wall and have a good scare. At the beginning of September, A motorist died after it was overwhelmed by a tourism. The camp area, where the accident happened, is especially dangerous because there is a double curve in S, there is an elevation of the land and, in addition, the exit to the Boadilla road in the offense is next to the exit of the gas station that accompanies this article and the poster is barely displayed. Better signaling. It is another complaints of the drivers of which they echo Telemadrid. The signaling of the outputs is clearly small and insufficient. In each output, the signal is arranged in the vertex of the same but there are no previous notices. In addition, the size is small, the usual for this type of outputs but without, as we say, the previous signage. That generates greater risks and unforeseen since the layout can change slightly every night as the works advance. And it is especially complicated for those who circulate once or twice a week along this road and, therefore, are more sensitive to changes. More and more inconvenience. The underground of the A-5 is also affecting the day-to-day life of the neighbors. Yesterday, September 22, a problem during the work of the operators has left a large part of the adjacent homes and businesses. In addition, the increase in requests in the coverage of the mobile network caused the collapse for some companies or the impossibility of using services such as Bicimad, as we could verify. It is just one more chapter in works that are causing serious inconvenience to the residents of the area by The noise and transfer of trucks or excavators. But also with Internet, Light and Water that since the works begin, they are leaving the residents without basic supplies without prior notice. Photos | Xataka In Xataka | The icing on the cake to the works of Madrid: the city has become a gymkana of reforms, cuts and discomfort

Europe has realized that the rearme must start on the roads. A Russian invasion would unleash a fatal congestion

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In 2022 there was already talk of this: having a better army does not help much if it cannot be launched. That year was the beginning of many meetings in Europe with the Russian Ukraine Invasion as a fuse. Then there was talk of rearmebut attention also focused on something that Europe has just elevated in the priority list: the need to prepare roads, railways, ports and airports for the rapid movement of troops and tanks. Background: Russia. European military vulnerability. Had three years ago The political environment that the debate on the real capacity of Europe to resist an eventual Russian attack had put a fundamental aspect that usually is hidden behind rearmament ads: it is not enough to have more tanks or soldiers if the necessary infrastructure To move them quickly. Roads, railroads, ports and airports of the European Union show serious limitations when it comes to supporting the weight and volume of modern armored ones, or absorbing an intense military traffic in times of crisis. The east. As He warned then The American Lieutenant retired Ben Hodges, excommanting of the United States Army in Europe, the problem is aggravated the more advances east: bridges unable to support German, British or American combat cars and mountainous routes that hinder access to key countries such as Romania. In case of emergency, bottlenecks could delay the deployment of allied forces just at the points where they would be needed more urgently, such as the passage of Suwałki between Poland and Lithuania or the routes towards the Black Sea. The first mechanism. To deal with these shortcomings, The EU launched The mechanism connect Europe (CEF), an infrastructure fund that also covers military mobility. However, the budget for this mission was drastically reduced: of the 6,500 million euros initially proposed only 1.7 billionand that money, the commission ended up assigning 340 million to 22 projectsthe majority of small scale and focused on central Europe. Among them They highlighted the improvement of rail links between Antwerp and Germany, the modernization of two airports in Poland and the connection of the Military Tapa base in Estonia. Modest support were also included to large strategic projects Like Rail Balticathe railway corridor of 5.8 billion euros that will connect the Baltic countries with Poland, or Via Baltica, the road that crosses the region, which it received just 60 million of community support. The new warning. Back to the present, he counted this week The Financial Times That the European Transport Commissioner, Apostols Tzitzikostas, has re -launched a warning that shook the foundations of the European defense: the continent It is not prepared For a large -scale war against Russia because its roads, bridges and rail networks are inappropriate for rapid transfer of troops and armored. According to explainedmany bridges are Too closetoo old or directly non -existent, which would prevent the transit of tanks from, for example, 70 tons thought to operate in a matter of hours. In practice, moving military forces from west to east of Europe would take weeks or even months, an unacceptable lag in case of a sudden Russian offensive. The strategy. Solution? To correct this structural weakness, Brussels now work on a 17,000 million plan of euros that provides for the modernization of 500 critical projects along four major military corridors that will cross the continent. It is a design made in coordination with NATO and its military controls, whose details remain classified for security reasons. The idea is that troops and heavy equipment can move in a matter of hoursfar reducing the reaction time to an aggression. In addition to reinforcing bridges and adapting roads, it will be sought Eliminate bureaucratic obstacles To prevent military convoys from being held on European borders by customs protocols that, in times of war, would be a fatal ballast. The context of rearme and Russia. The new plan is enrolled in a broader effort of rearme Continental that We have been counting. The European Union studies a package of up to 800,000 million euros to reinforce its defensive autonomyin part in response to the pressures of Washington and the possibility of a substantial reduction of the US military presence in Europe. To this is added The warning The NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, who in June warned that Moscow could attack a member of the Alliance before 2030. The message of Tzitzikostas fits this urgency logic: without the ability to move troops agilely, any European defense plan would be on wet paper in front of Russian military machinery. The budget struggle. Although the European Commission has included military mobility in its proposal for the 2028-2034 budget, diplomats warn that the initial figure of 17,000 million It could be diluted In negotiations. This budget fragility is seen as a dangerous contradiction: While considering the expense in defense 5% of GDP (With 1.5% specifically intended for military infrastructure), some Member States (Spain at the head) They resist to assume the costs of such vast modernization. Tzitzikostas, meanwhile, insists in which Europe cannot afford to continue depending on others or be disarmed by its own bureaucratic slowness. The modernization of bridges, tunnels and railways is not just a matter of civil transport: it has become the backbone of the future European defense. One thing is clear for curator: an invasion would not wait for forms to be resolved or to reinforce a bridge. Image | 7th Army Training, US Army Europe, European Roads In Xataka | If Europe rearma we will find a problem that will affect us all: cars and trains In Xataka | The “rearme” in Europe has encountered an obstacle that neither US imagined: Spain

When the heat arrives, the boys fall in love, the solar panels have a fatal and Spain has a new electrical problem

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Summer has arrived with excessive force To Spain. June has closed as the hottest month of which you have a record, and there is no indications that temperatures are going to give truce. The streets are emptied, public parks are deserted, and fans snort day and night as if trying to mark the rhythm of these unbearable days. But while life adapts as it can to this new heat, under the surface – where the invisible network that sustains modern life – heat has also tested the limits of the electrical system. High demand. While millions of people seek refuge under air conditioning, the Spanish electrical system begins to show saturation signals. Extreme heat triggers demand, reduces the efficiency of some sources of renewable generation and generates imbalances in the electricity grid. As collect the Iberian energy market operator (OMIE)on July 1, the price of the megavatio hour reached a peak of 167 euros at 9:00 p.m., an unusual figure for a night strip. The increase coincides with a high demand and a reduced renewable production at the end of the day, which forces the system to rely on more expensive technologies such as natural gas, According to Red Eléctrica España (REE). More heat, more network pressure. To all this is added an urban phenomenon that aggravates the pressure on the network: The island of heat. In cities, asphalt, concrete and lack of vegetation make the heat accumulated during the day stay overnight, raising the temperature several degrees with respect to rural areas. As a result, energy consumption does not descend after sunset, but is kept high for more hours. The households continue to light fans and air conditioning apparatus until well into the morning, which stress the system when the renewables have already fallen from the mix. But with more sun … The logical thing would be to think that with more sunny hours, Solar energy would suffice to meet the growing demand. And in part, it does: According to REE dataon July 1, renewables contributed 50.6 % of the electricity generated in Spain, compared to 49.4 % of non -renewable sources. But that daily average hides what happens in critical hours. From eight or nine in the afternoon, the photovoltaic disappears from the energy mix, just when the demand remains high and the temperature barely yields. At that time, they are the combined cycles – central that burn natural gas – that support the system, with more than 14,000 megawatts generated in some moments of that same night, According to REE data. There is an added problem. Solar does not always yield as expected: As we have already explainedpanels can have efficiency losses between 10 and 25% because of high temperatures. For each additional degree, they can lose up to 0.5 % yield. Nor does wind help too much: heat waves usually come accompanied by atmospheric stability situations that reduce the wind, which also lasts production. Will there be any blackout? Talking about generalized blackouts may seem exaggerated, but comparison with other countries, like the United Statesforces to take the threat seriously. However, the Spanish system has proven to have a certain margin of maneuver. After the blackout of April 28, they were activated Adjustment services to balance the network in case of collapse of the system at critical times. Although it avoids collapse, these mechanisms have a cost: they have more thanked the invoice part, especially for those in the PVPC rate. From that moment on, Ree has maintained an additional safety margin, operating with active backup power plants even when they are not in use, which structurally increases the operation of the system. Beyond the specific episode, that blackout exposed the deficiencies of a system that needs More storage, MicroRedes and greater local response capacity to disturbances. A system under stress. This summer is not only breaking temperature records: the margins of the electrical system is also testing. The combination of prolonged heat, night demand peaks and a more vulnerable renewable generation than expected is stressing the network at critical moments. The renewables are the present and the future, but they are not infallible. Its behavior also depends on the weather. And when the heat waves become the norm and not the exception, the resilience of the system depends on other factors: on the reinforcement of the networks, the storage, the demand management and, above all, to prepare the cities to resist without the most vulnerable paying the price. Image | Pexels Xataka | In a desperate attempt to avoid the blackout, Ree tried to start a gas center seven minutes before the disaster

Hollywood is using AI in absolutely all aspects of films production. And it is fatal to hide it

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Each new news about the advances of AI in Hollywood is received with a mixture of expectation and fear. How many jobs will it cost? How much work will you save? Is it the result of a sensible analysis of the needs of the U industry Another form of producers to chain cuts In all the links of the chain? What we know is that this arrival is inevitable. What perhaps we did not know is that it has long come, and Hollywood is trying to keep the secret as long as possible. Studies for AI. Currently, According to Vulturethere are a hundred studies in Hollywood that work exclusively with AI. He has especially called the attention of the press, for having a popular name on board, Asteria Film, co -founded by actress and producer Natasha Lyonne, protagonist of ‘Poker Face’. which will direct a first film generated entirely by Ia. Der time, their backs are covering: They assure that they are an “ethical” study and that all the material with which they train their artificial intelligences is licensed. That is, they are working on tools that through a Prompt They generate images, but to feed only on material for which the corresponding rights have been paid. The authors. Little by little, Hollywood is turning to these tools. Darren Aronodsky He reached an agreement with Deepmindfrom Google. James Cameron, with Stability ai. And that is the following point that Hollywood has to reach: convincing the public and the ecstptics that AI can also be a tool for authors, and not just the industry. In Vulture, Lyonne said that “I am a filmmaker who does not want technicians to decide the future of the environment. We need a kind of 95 dogma for the AI ​​era”, referring to the movement led by Lars von Trier in the nineties, who talked about undressing the cinema of every artifice. Lyonne states that he wants to delve into the “idea that the artist is the first, before he becomes an industry rule not to do so.” The clash between artists and studies can be monumental, but it is clear that we will attend something that will determine the future of entertainment. How much money is saved? This is one of Hollywood’s most important issues, in the end we are talking about production and limiting expenses. According to Industry experts like Abe Rose or as has been spoken in Tables of specialists in the subject in CannesHollywood could save between 20% and 50% in traditional productions, and up to 90% on projects very supported by AI, especially in visual effects. The potential savings for the film and TV industry in the US is estimated at 15,000 million dollars between 2024 and 2026, only in terms of production and post-production. James Cameron himself He talked about a 50% cut of budgets in the blockbusters. The beginnings of AI. Already in the last decade, AI began to be used as a tool that attended very specific aspects of production: optimization of the planning of filming schedules, allocation of resources and equipment management … in general, it helped reduce dead times and improve efficiency. At the same time, in the editing department It was used To select Tomas automatically and for simple but very laborious tasks such as synchronizing audio and video. The preambles. In the last five years, the use of AI has increased exponentially, especially in the technical section and in all phases of production. For example, in preproduction: There is a long list of tools that attend or directly replace humans. LTX Studio It is able to make a complete pre -production combining very different tools on a platform. But there are also specialized ones: Filmustage Plan the movie, Boards does the Storyboards and Long.ai Analyze the possible impact of the film, which facilitates production tasks. Filming In this phase are the ingredients that are most known: control of cameras and drones, intelligent lighting and, above all, virtual sets with Tools such as StageCraft that generate real -time scenarios, integrating real actors and digital funds, often projecting the scenarios and their modifications for the interpreters to react. It is where the most colorful revolutions are taking place and what the media dedicates the most, but they are only the tip of the iceberg. After Effects. Also in postproduction AI is replacing many tasks that were previously routine or repetitive. There is much talk about how tools such as Deepmotion or Ziva Dynamics are entering the effects and animation section as an elephant in a pot, but there is much more: audio and video synchronization, color correction with tools such as tools such as Colourlab.Aidubbing (even in his first steps, but with tools such as Deepdub and his Imperceptible Lip synchronization work steps are being taken in directions that are not precisely free of controversy) and, of course, the soundtracks that Platforms As amper Music they cover in more modest budget productions. Legal issues. But … we hadn’t remained that Much of the strikes In Hollywood they had been convened to combat these types of uses that put the work of creators and jobs at risk? Yes and no. Between 2023 and 2024, Hollywood lived one of the greatest labor crises in its recent history due to the advance of AI. The main unions (WGA, of screenwriters, and SAG-AFTRA, of actors) collided against the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA began its strike in May 2023, to which The actors joined in Julyparalyzing Hollywood For six months. The agreement that was reached significantly restricted the use of AI, especially taking into account the claims of the producers: with it the generative AI is prohibited so that the producers generate a script without the contest of a screenwriter, or replicate the image of an actor without permission, but its use is allowed as tools that assist the technicians. To put it otherwise: as long as there is a human union, the tools can … Read more

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