fever

The most valuable company in the world has no interest in investing in the data center fever

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Big Tech is investing absolute fortunes in data centers. Almost all of them seem to want to be prepared to meet the colossal demand for computing capacity for AI tasks. And yet, there is a curious and surprising exception. Money, money and more money. The big technology companies have put all the meat on the grill with billion-dollar investment plans in data centers throughout 2025. Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft jointly invested more than $416 billion in capex during 2025, 66% more than the $251 billion in 2024. Google reached $91.5 billion, marking a new all-time high; Meta’s investment reached 72.2 billion dollars and Microsoft reached 118 billion. By 2026, the climb continues: Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta are jointly committing about 725,000 million dollars in AI infrastructure in 2026, 77% more than in 2025, and analysts already project that the figure will exceed one billion in 2027. To give us a slight idea of ​​what that figure means, it is higher than Sweden GDP in 2025 (662,000 million), that of Israel (610,000 million) and that of Singapore (574,000 million). Apple. However, at Apple things are very different, and its Capex for 2025 remained the same. almost flat compared to 2024 with a total investment of 12,715 million dollars. It is a notable figure, of course, but it is far from the 20 billion dollars that Apple plans to invest in 2026. And she is the one with the most money. It is also interesting to compare the investment that these companies will make with respect to their market capitalization. Amazon is the biggest bet here: its capex is equivalent to approximately 7.63% of its current market capitalization, followed by Microsoft, with 6.67%. Further behind appears Alphabet, with around 4.49%, and Meta, with around 3.04%; In contrast, Apple, which remains the most valuable company in the world, has a capex of only 0.29% of its market value. Wall Street rules. The decisions of these companies seem to be greatly influenced by the behavior of the stock markets. The presentation of financial results and short-term forecasts has caused a kind of contagious effect: if we do not invest a fortune in data centers, shareholders are going to punish us a lot, Big Tech seem to have said with those colossal figures. The big beneficiary is NVIDIA. Meanwhile, it is likely that the big beneficiary of these colossal investments will be NVIDIA, which will be the one that will receive a good part of that money if everything continues the current trend. There will undoubtedly be other beneficiaries in this area, but NVIDIA’s Capex is comparatively ridiculous, both with respect to those companies and compared to its current market capitalization ($4.75 billion). Apple is going at a different pace with AI. The Cupertino firm clearly seems to have a very different strategy than its rivals in this segment. Google and Apple subscribed a collaboration for which the next generation of its assistant that will be based on Gemini models and Google cloud technology to power future Apple Intelligence featuresincluding a more personalized Siri. The final deployment came at WWDC 2026: Apple presented “Siri AI”, a remake of the assistant integrated with its Apple Intelligence system developed in collaboration with Google’s Gemini models. The feeling, even internally, is that at Apple they are clear followers and that is not going to change at the moment. A version of this article was published in February 2025. Image | Unsplash (Bangyu Wang) In Xataka | Is Tim Cook the Ballmer of Apple and is Nadella the Jobs of Microsoft?

China is already experiencing a fever for ultra-technological electric caravans and the reason is simple: they are better than combustion ones

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China wants to attract tourists. And he wants his tourists to bet on the national tourism. The objective, evidently, is to attract money and promote internal consumption in the country. So much so that in 2025 tourism generated 16% more income than the previous year, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The movement, of course, has promoted the use of the train or the plane. But it has had an unexpected effect: the fever of electric caravans. “To take a nap”. It is, according to Daniel Wu, global director of brand and marketing at XPeng, what some people do when they finish their work hours. “Many people go to their cars to take a one-hour nap. After work, they stay in the car for an hour before returning home, doing things they like—for example, playing—simply because it is a very comfortable space,” he explains in words reported by Bloomberg. And the American media has focused on the Chinese camping fever. Since the Covid-19 crisis, this type of tourism has spread throughout the country as it offers an alternative to much more expensive hotels and adds the flexibility inherent to this type of tourism. The reasons for prioritizing camping tourism are exactly the same ones that we have defended in Europe and that have fired these types of proposals since the confinements due to the coronavirus crisis. The difference is that, in the Asian country, manufacturers are specializing in making the interior of the car its own space where the wheels are the addition. In Xataka Spain changes the rules of the game for motorhomes: they will be able to park where any car parks best electric. The big difference is that a good part of this fever is being channeled through fully electric or extended range vehicles. These types of vehicles allow functions such as “camping” or “sleep” modes to be incorporated, making life easier for the user who finds greater flexibility in this type of vehicle. In fact, the chinese media themselves They highlight that the boom is concentrating on models that offer more “high quality and comfort” options. According to their data, in 2022 this business moved 113.47 billion yuan but in 2025 it reached 250 billion yuan. A good part of this result lies in the fact that users increasingly opt for this type of vehicle when they have to rent them. To understand the fever for this type of vehicle, in ChinaDaily They reported that orders for “new energy” vehicles (as they call electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles there) are growing at a rate 10 times higher year after year and the rental period is increasingly longer. In Xataka Pebble has created the mother of all electric caravans. It parks itself and has a propulsion system A substantial advantage. Both in Bloomberg like in chinese media like People They highlight that these electric caravans are more sought after because their huge battery expands everything that can be done with the car. Users rateFor example, being able to carry appliances and all kinds of cooking utensils that only require a gigantic battery on wheels. There are some that even use 4K projectors inside so that passengers can enjoy wherever they go. A good example of this is this caravan that they collected in esquire with the interior space divided into two floors, refrigerator and induction hob, a compact toilet and karaoke, a highly sought after feature in all types of cars. Or this other one from Changan capable of fording rivers wave Geely Farizon. In addition, the possibilities for keeping the interior at a constant temperature are much greater than in a traditional vehicle, making it especially interesting for those who travel with pets. In Xataka It is no longer enough for luxury motorhomes to be huge. Now they have their own garage (with a car inside) The Millennials. One of the reasons given for this increase in the use of electric caravans is, evidently, the savings they represent compared to hotels. They are the travelers born from the 90s those who travel the most with this type of automobile. In fact, 53% of travelers were born during this decade. During May Day holidaysrentals of this type of car skyrocketed again but not only among caravans. And it is that car manufacturers are increasingly likely to include camping modes of use and sell a greater number of accessories to make these cars a realistic option with which to go camping without having to invest in a motorhome. In Xataka If the question is whether you can live in your caravan due to impossible housing prices, the answer is simple: it depends. Chargers everywhere. Of course, all this would not be possible if the charging network were not there. And the huge batteries that serve refrigerators and kitchens would no longer serve their main purpose (moving the car) if, for example, they did not have a dense network of chargers. They collect in Bloomberg that the country has filled gas stations and rest areas with plugs at a devilish rate. Growth is sustained at over 50% each year and there have already been more than 21 million chargers distributed throughout the country. Photo | Geely In Xataka | This image of a Tesla pulling a trailer hides a secret: an entire house in a ridiculous spaceeither (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news China is already experiencing a fever for ultra-technological electric caravans and the reason is simple: they are better than combustion ones was originally published in Xataka by Alberto de la Torre .

AI fever is beginning to take its toll on companies

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Oh, the tokensthose small units of text that have become the currency of the AI ​​boom. A few months ago, Silicon Valley companies jumped into arms of the tokenmaxxing: Spending tokens like there was no tomorrow, because that meant you were being more productive. Well, there are already companies putting on the brakes because it is costing them a fortune. The tokenomics. There are already several technology companies that are showing concern because spending on tokens is being excessive and they have even begun to introduce usage limits to control it. Meanwhile, they count on Wired that others like 8×8 and Baseball Lifestyle 101 continue with the tap open, although with nuances, such as that the use of more expensive models must be justified. It is the new obsession of the sector: tokenomicswhich we could translate by tokenomics or, if we want to be clearer, token economy. Who runs a lot, soon as the saying goes. Of the tokenmaxxingsuddenly we went to tokenwasting and there are companies in serious problems because of this phenomenon, like the company that “accidentally” spent $500 million on Claude in a single month. We also have the case of Meta, which went from unbridled use to a strict management and rationing policy because the bill rose to billions annually or the Royal Bank of Canada, whose use of tokens has increased by 500% so far this year. A growing concern. A year ago, it was rare to hear the word token in an earnings call, but today it is among the main financial concerns of companies. According to data from Wired, in April and May at least 300 companies expressed concern about the issue, while in the same period last year only 93 companies mentioned it. During Cisco’s earnings call, CEO Chuck Robbins he said it very clearly: “Token usage is getting pretty, pretty crazy.” Behind this statement there is constantly fluctuating prices and increasingly more powerful models (and also more expensive) where we come from. In March of this year, Jensen Huang started talking about AI tokens as a productivity indicatorgoing so far as to say that he would be concerned if a high-level engineer did not spend at least half of his salary on AI tokens. What followed were companies encouraging their employees to consume more tokensriding internal competitions (that some rigged) and a bill that kept increasing. What we are seeing now is how that “spend as much as you can” is transforming into “spend wisely.” The question is whether in the middle of this game there is someone really measuring the value of the work that is produced. Image | Xataka with Gemini In Xataka | Claude is banned in China. That hasn’t stopped Chinese users from creating an amazing black market for tokens

South Korea had a tech king since 2000. The AI ​​fever just crowned another

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When one talked about South Korean technology, the company that always came to mind was Samsung. The semiconductor giant and the mobile industry He seemed to be the undisputed leader of his countrybut that’s about to change. Sk Hynix is ​​the new darling of the South Korean technology industry, and it has achieved this driven by memory crisis. Surprise in sight. Since 2000, Samsung Electronics had maintained imperial dominance in the Asian country, and since then it has been the flagship of its economy. However, things have changedbecause its eternal rival, SK Hynix, has been one of the great beneficiaries of the memory crisis. Source: Reuters. Seen and unseen. Yesterday the company’s shares reached their all-time high, briefly surpassing in market capitalization to Samsung, a colossal milestone that makes clear the impact that AI has on the global economy. Memory chips were a good business before, but now they are the star technological product. In yesterday’s session, however, SK Hynix dropped 12.5% ​​in value, which made Samsung (which also fell significantly) regain that throne again in market capitalization…for now. Sk Hynix rises from the ashes. In 2002, the company (then called Hynix Semiconductor) was drowning in debt. It had executed an aggressive expansion plan that did not work well and was on the verge of being sold to Micron (the offer was announcedIn fact, although was rejected). Its shares, which went public in 1996 at a price of 20,000 won, fell to 135 won in 2003, which made it considered a company doomed to failure. After years of crossing the desert and suffering the cyclical crises in the RAM memory market, the rise of AI has transformed it into one of the most valuable chip manufacturers on the planet, competing head-to-head with Samsung or Micron. A goose that lays the golden eggs called HBM. The turning point came after a crucial strategic decision. In 2023 the semiconductor industry was in free fall in terms of prices, but at SK Hynix they decided not only to maintain, but to accelerate their investments in high bandwidth memory chips (High-Bandwidth Memory, or HBM). These memories are the most in demand in the field of GPUs aimed at data centers, and thanks to that commitment SK Hynix has taken 61% of the global HBM chip marketwell above the 17% that Samsung has. Of commoditynothing. The president of SK Group—parent of SK Hynix—, Chey Tae-won, indicated how historically memory had become a commodity. It made no difference to buy a module from SK Hynix, Samsung or Micron because they were almost clone and interchangeable chips. With HBM technology the story changed: it is a component so optimized and integrated with AI chips, that Nvidia’s dependence on these chips is enormous. Samsung defends its leadership. He surprise temporary has not gone down well with Samsung. Those responsible have indicated that market capitalization calculations should include preferred shares. If they are included, Samsung’s capitalization value would continue to be higher than that of SK Hynix. Samsung is currently the leader in this area, but the market trend seems to favor the theory that SK Hynix will end up being more valuable as long as this memory crisis continues. The threat to DRAM. The danger for Samsung not only comes from SK Hynix being the undisputed leader in HBM memories, but from the fact that it is also is growing noticeably in conventional DRAM memories. According to Bank of America estimates, SK Hynix will expand its wafer production by 38% between 2025 and 2028, while Samsung will only do it 17%. At SK Hynix they are putting everything on the table, and that is causing the (economic) gap between both companies, previously enormous, to practically no longer exist. In Xataka | The RAM memory trident already works on DDR6 technology. It will be for the hyperscalers, of course

muscle fever at 40

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Walking through the park has become a curious experience. It is not uncommon to come across women who seem prepared for a tactical mission, with voluminous vests that appear to be bulletproof. However, there is no danger; is the fever rucking. As journalist Emma Rosenblum tells it in it wall street Journalwe are facing an “explosion of interest – bordering on obsession – in well-being during perimenopause.” Her friends, Rosenblum says, have gone from enjoying a Bolognese pasta dinner to shaming her for using five-pound weights and not “swallowing Greek yogurt by the bucket.” This scene, which is repeated in thousands of homes, reflects a paradigm shift: the generation that grew up with the ideal of extreme thinness She is trying to age differently than her mothers and grandmothers, those who ended up with a hunched back and hip fractures after a simple stumble. To understand why our friends are lifting weights as if their lives depended on it, we have to look at hormones. According to Mayo Clinicperimenopause is that transition period — which can begin at age 30 or 40 — where estrogen and progesterone rise and fall like a roller coaster. This drop in estrogen not only brings the famous hot flashes or irritability. As explained in Cleveland Clinicestrogen is the guardian of our bones. When it disappears, the body begins to break down the bone faster than it can make it. The data of Harvard Health they are relentless: After the age of 40, inactivity and hormonal changes can rob us of bone mass at a rate of 1% per year. In fact, in the 5 to 7 years after menopause, a woman can lose up to 20% of her bone density, according to doctor Jennifer Wagner. The new “faith” of the gym For decades, women’s health was limited to reproductive health. “It seemed like one night you went to bed premenopausal and the next day you woke up postmenopausal,” explains Dr. Mary Jane Minkin. in Yale Medicineand. The reality is much more complex and has been systematically ignored. In Spain, gynecologist Blanca Fernández, from the Gipuzkoa Polyclinic, warns on portal With Health that 80% of those over 40 are worried about their symptoms, but only 57% consult a doctor. It is the result of years of “unnecessary resignation” and lack of research. However, that narrative is taking a turn. The portal The Good Trade points out that the culture of thinness has done us a disservice, creating generations of women with osteoporosis. Now, the goal is to avoid “sarcopenia” (the loss of muscle with age). As researcher Christopher Hurst explains in The Conversationstrength training is the “gold standard” for healthy aging. It’s not about aesthetics, but about “independence and dignity.” Hurst clarifies that it is not necessary to lift the garbage truck: one or two sessions per week where muscle fatigue is reached (feeling that you cannot do one more repetition) is enough to see significant changes. Even people in their 80s and 90s can benefit, the expert emphasizes. The phenomenon of “health soldiers” This is where we must separate the wheat from the chaff. Do all my friends need to lift their own body weight?: Strength training: It is undeniable, the basis for a healthy aging. By “stressing” the bone by lifting weights or using resistance bands, bone-forming cells are activated. From harvard they add thatUnlike cardio, strength specifically protects the spine, hips and wrists, the most critical fracture points. The myth of the weighted vest: Guardian tested this trend and the conclusion is mixed. Although it adds difficulty to the ride, the experts on the portal threes warn about the risks: “Carrying weight without a base of strength can cause compression on the spine and stress on the joints.” In addition, the studies that support its effectiveness in creating bone are usually small and carried out in people who also did impact exercises. The protein trap: Yes, bone needs protein, but as Dr. Tang says in it WSJthere is no reason to live “gobbling up chicken breasts” as if there were no tomorrow if you are not at high clinical risk. DEXA fever: What was once a test for the elderly is today the new health “selfie.” The DEXA scan measures fat, muscle and bone. Although doctors like Dr. Miriam Bredella They say the test is underused in those over 65, longevity figures such as Dr. Peter Attia defend its early use (at 30 or 40 years old) to detect “visceral fat” and have a baseline before the hormonal collapse occurs. Muscle as life insurance Despite the avalanche of information, some experts call for calm. Dr. Karen Tang comment on the WSJ that, although awareness is good because “a lot of this is preventable”, too much information can become a source of unnecessary stress. “For the average person, these are simple lifestyle modifications: some weight-bearing exercise and some strength training,” he says. You don’t have to jump around the city like a kangaroo or eat a truckload of chickens a day. Even the gynecologist Blanca Fernández, in statements collected by Communicateinsists that we must not forget other pillars: taking care of the pelvic floor (to avoid incontinence) and considering Hormone Replacement Therapy if symptoms reduce quality of life, since today it is a safe and effective option. This massive interest in bone density is not just an Instagram fad; It is the awakening of a generation of women who refuse to be “invisible” or “fragile.” However, there is a fine line between taking care of yourself and succumbing to a new form of aesthetic pressure disguised as health. How the experts conclude in With Healthperimenopause is a natural physiological process, but “natural is not synonymous with painful.” The ultimate goal of lifting weights or eating broccoli should not be to achieve an ideal of fitness unattainable, as pointed out The Conversation, maintain independence and dignity. Being able to climb stairs, carry shopping bags and get up from a chair without help when … Read more

Mistral is the AI ​​that is playing its cards best. Because it is taking advantage of the fever for European technological sovereignty

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To the cheetah being silent, Mistral grows like foam. The French artificial intelligence startup claims that its revenue has multiplied by 20 over the past year, and they have achieved it with a particularly striking and effective strategy: defending and promoting European technological sovereignty. what has happened. Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO of Mistral, explains in Financial Times that its latest annualized revenue rate — which estimates annual revenue based on last month’s revenue — was above $400 million. A year ago that rate was only 20 million a year. Or what is the same: he has multiplied it by 20. This works. The startup based in Paris hasn’t stopped to grow since its beginnings and last year already was valued at 12,000 million euros. That figure may soon become obsolete, because the company is on track to surpass $1 billion in annual recurring revenue by the end of the year if it continues this growth. Between their alliances more striking is the one who signed with ASML in September 2025: that was when the Dutch company invested 1.3 billion euros in it. It is not making too much noise, but it continues to grow with a key component. Companies in power. Mistral is rapidly expanding the number of large enterprise clients it works with. Right now it has more than 100, and although it is not especially popular among end users – who tend to choose models from Big Tech companies in the US – the option for these European companies is increasingly clear. If they want not to depend on infrastructure and control outside Europe, they now have Mistral as a great alternative. New data centers. The firm announced this Wednesday that it will invest 1.2 billion euros in a new data center in Sweden. It is the first center of its kind that the company will build outside of France, and Mensch explained that “We are diversifying and distributing our capacity throughout Europe.” That data center will be created in collaboration with EcoDataCenter, and is expected to be operational in 2027. The choice of Sweden was easy according to Mensch, who noted that it was very attractive because the energy there was “low in carbon emissions and relatively cheap.” Partners and clients deep inside but also outside the EU. Although Mistral is postulated as the great reference in terms of this “European AI”, it also has Microsoft and NVIDIA as investors. In fact its ambition is global, but the fact of being the only major European developer of foundational LLMs It has put it in the spotlight of all European companies that seek independence from partners from the US or China. ASML, Total Energies, HSBC and governments such as France, Germany and Greece already use Mistral’s services, and 60% of their revenue comes from Europe. A perfect speech for these times. The CEO of Mistral is clear about the strategy and has arrived at the right time to apply that strategy that defends European sovereignty: “Europe has realized that its dependence on American digital services was excessive and is now at a critical point. We give them (European companies) an advantage because we provide them with models, software and computing capacity completely independent of American players.” Data centers must be from European companies. Mensch also talked about all those data centers than Big Tech will create in Europe and, of course, in Spain: “It is important that we realize that it is not so useful (for States) to deploy computing resources if you only create data centers for US hyperscalers“. Or what is the same: having AI data centers from companies like Microsoft, Google or Amazon in Europe serves the interests of these companies much more than European interests. In Xataka | Europe has begun to become technologically and militarily independent from the United States. First stop: replace Starlink

There is an outbreak of swine fever in Barcelona and the most worrying thing is that no one is able to explain where it came from.

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In November 2025 in Catalonia all the alarms went off due to an outbreak of African swine fever that forced the slaughter of a large number of animals and the application of very restrictive measures. At that moment everyone was wondering where this pathogen could have emerged from, and all eyes were on the IRTA-CReSAa high security center that worked with these pathogens. A failed hypothesis. On the table it seemed perfect, since everything matched. But the reality is that the latest report of the committee of experts, endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculturehas completely dismissed this theory. In this way, we already know that It was not a leak from this laboratory that works with this type of pathogens, but then… Where did a virus come from that has already infected more than a hundred wild boars and that has the scientific community crying out for more data? DNA doesn’t lie. The suspicion about this laboratory was completely legitimate, since in November a technical incident occurred in a laboratory digester which coincided with the appearance of dead wild boars in the area. a team fundamentalsince it converts the bodies of infected animals into sterile waste without the presence of their infection, but its failure could have triggered this. But genomics has come into play to dismantle itsince, according to the preliminary reportthe analyzes carried out by the Central Veterinary Laboratory of Algete and experts from IRB Barcelona are categorical. Specifically, 81 samples have been analyzed and compared with the viral strains that were manipulated within CReSA and the result is that there is no genetic match. The virus was already there. This is where the plot thickens. If the virus did not leave the laboratory during the November incident… when did it arrive? The experts and the ministerial report suggest we have been looking at the wrong timetable. All this because, according to analysis of the corpses and the dispersion of the 23 initial outbreaks, which have already escalated to more than 100 positive wild boars According to the latest updates, they indicate that the virus had been circulating “under the radar” for much longer. It is estimated that infections could have started up to four months before the official outbreak was detected. This almost definitively eliminates the connection with the failure of the CReSA digester in November, since the virus was already completely free in the mountains of Barcelona when that occurred. There is a hypothesis. If we rule out the involvement of the laboratory and also the natural arrival by wildlife, we are only left with the most mundane and worrying option: humans. And the current consensus points to the introduction of this virus through contaminated meat products into our environment. A simple piece of infected foodas a sausage sandwich made with meat from an infected pig in another country dumped in a peri-urban area accessible to wild boar is enough to start an epidemic. Something that is on the table right now, with the theory of “passive poisoning” with the human vector that brings the virus in the suitcase and the local fauna does the rest by scavenging through the trash. What science demands. Although the “accidental” origin is reassuring in terms of biological safety, the management of information has opened another front. International experts such as Edward Holmes, famous for his work on the origin of COVID-19, They have raised their voices about the lack of transparency in the information. Although the ministry and the expert committee claim that there is no match between the virus DNA found in those infected and in the laboratory, the global scientific community is calling for the complete sequenced genomes to be published for independent analysis. In the era of Open Sciencesaying “trust us” is no longer enough, as researchers want to see the raw data to understand the unique mutations of this “Barcelona virus” and trace its true family tree. And now what? The outbreak is currently active with more than 100 wild boars affected and the Civil Guard investigating the origin. It is true that the priority has gone from looking for culprits in white coats to contain an expansion that threatens the Spanish pork industry by quarantining those possibly exposed to prevent it from continuing to spread. What we know today is that technology has saved a laboratory’s reputation, but it has left us with a more disturbing reality: biosecurity depends not only on high-tech facilities, but on what we throw in the trash on a field day. Images | Kemal Berkay Dogan In Xataka | The Argentine sea hid one of the most disturbing animals in the world: an 11-meter-long “ghost jellyfish”

After “skincare”, the new cosmetic fever focuses on one of the most hidden corners of the body: the scalp

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For years the message was simple: maintain good hydration and, please, do not go to sleep without removing your makeup. Then we immersed ourselves and fell in love with a new trend: the skincare and his feared ten steps exported from South Korea. Now, in 2026, when it seems that we already have the keys to a good routine integrated, and our pulse does not tremble when deciding whether the serum goes before or after the moisturizing cream, a new task arises. In the midst of a fever to optimize health, the focus moves a few centimeters higher: the scalp. The ten-step routine falls short It is increasingly common to find yourself in cities or, failing that, on TikTok, with centers of hair spa Japanese inspired. Cranial massage, activation of energy points, water jets and hair diagnosisall seasoned with an environment that offers an experience of absolute relaxation. With a proposal this striking, it is not surprising that these treatments have become the new object of desire. beauty. But, as happens with almost everything that promises well-being and succeeds on social networks, an inevitable question arises: are we facing a new gesture to care for our well-being based on science or a new fashion without much sense? This “instagrammable” fusion of hair care with moments of relaxation was born in Asia but the franchise Japanese Head Spathanks to viral videos, has awakened the desire of thousands of users and has managed to adapt the treatment to the European public; especially when emphasizing the relaxation and well-being part. (Unsplash) Aída García, the promoter of the business, discovered the technique at a fair in Miami, but also through TikTok videos, mostly from accounts in Saudi Arabia, where many users wondered when something like this would arrive in Spain. It was then that it detected this gap in the market and decided to take the step, currently having more than 25 centers spread throughout the national territory. “It seems easy, but behind it there are years of experience, an incredible team and a very strong focus on marketing; for example, TikTok has been key because every time we upload a video, our agenda fills up” Aida Garcia, promoter of Japanese Head Spa It is clear that the virality and striking nature of the treatment is what attracts so many users, helping the proliferation of these establishments. Not in vain, these types of centers top the list of trends in spas and wellness, with a 233% increase in searches in 2025 compared to the previous year according to the report SpaSeekers. But there is undoubtedly another compelling reason for this growth. And it is that in a day to day where they prevail the rush and frenetic paceany help to lower the revs is welcome: “They come here from girls who give it to their mothers because they have seen it on TikTok, women aged 30-40 who come accompanied by their partners or grandmothers with their granddaughters. Nowadays, when we have cortisol through the roof and we are going a mile an hour, everyone needs to stop, that is why a hair spa treatment is super giftable,” explains García. This trend around the globe has meant that the endless skincare routines with ingredients such as hyaluronic acid or niacinamide are also transferred to scalp care. As an example, the term “scalp serum” recorded, for much of 2025, a monthly average of more than 910,000 results on social networks such as Instagram or TikTok; assuming an increase of 77% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, if we focus on the global market, sales of products and treatments dedicated to the scalp grew by 4.2% in 2024 and the trend continued to increase in 2025, the year in which articles intended for this area of ​​the body reached 9.6 billion of dollars. (Unsplash) South Korea is not far behind in this trend, honoring its deep cult of beauty. What’s more, the debate about hair loss has transcended the merely aesthetic and has become a public policy issue thanks to the South Korean president and his proposal to cover baldness treatments by the national health insurance. According to Lee, for many young people the problem has stopped being aesthetic and has become “a survival question“On the other hand, when it comes to the viral, there are many spa centers in the country in which famous and influencers enjoy those 15 or 18 steps which includes the Head Spa treatment promising to cleanse, revitalize and balance the scalp. Indeed, the entire experience of this ritual, if we focus on its relaxation aspect, is something positive and can benefit us. However, it is when it comes to hair diagnosis and the avalanche of products with active ingredients where we have to put the brakes on and be more cautious. There are no shortcuts to healthy hair The truth is that although these spas claim that in general they are treatments suitable for all types of hair and scalp, they always urge people with specific conditions such as psoriasis to consult with a dermatologist first. And that’s what we have done, although to satisfy all our doubts: “People have a profound lack of knowledge about health in general, and about the aesthetics and health of the skin and hair in particular, it is something that I see a lot in consultation, that false sense of information. Sometimes they make cherry-picking and they do not know how to relate the concepts, which in the end is the most important thing,” says Dr. Silvia Berjón, a specialist in trichology. The Glowmour Clinic doctor agrees with the sensory and well-being benefits that these treatments provide. Emphasizing “the value of human contact and the release of oxytocin that can cause this relaxation process.” Furthermore, from its focus on longevity medicine emphasizes that not only healthy habits influence a longer and fuller life but, as supported by science, “also activities that nourish emotionally and help reduce stress”, such as these types of rituals. Even … Read more

There is such a fever for melatonin in children that in the US we already have cases of “overdose”

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Over the last decade, melatonin has gone from being a specific resource for him jet lag to become a permanent tenant of millions of families and is present in many places to buy it. And it’s cheap, can be bought without a prescription and has an aura of “natural”. However, science is pointing to a problem it is creating: the use of these hormones in children has skyrocketed. Its main use. At a time when stress is accompanying us on a daily basis, insomnia is undoubtedly a serious problem for anyone, and solution that seems easier is melatonin. Under the pretext that it is something natural and without a prescription (in its lowest concentrations), it can be abused indiscriminately. The problem arises when children who cannot sleep well are also given a melatonin gummy so that they can sleep. Something that has already triggered cases of overdose and chronic treatments without medical supervision. The blind experiment. The study, led by the University of Kansas, has put figures to a trend that pediatricians have been observing in consultation for some time. By analyzing 19 studies (which include children up to 6 years old), researchers have drawn a worrying picture: between 2009 and 2021, accidental ingestions and overdoses of melatonin in minors in the US grew by 500%. And it is something that seems quite normal, since at the beginning the use of melatonin is applied to help sleep on a difficult night, but in the end it is becoming chronic by showing that between 40 and 50% of children who start the treatment continue taking it two or three years later. The problem is that today There is no solid data on the long-term safety or effectiveness of melatonin. in typically developing children. The legal vacuum. One of the big problems in Spain and the European Union is the product label. Currently, melatonin can be found as a dietary supplement in supermarkets, health food stores and countless other places. But it is also available as a medicine with pharmaceutical quality controls and intended primarily to treat chronodisruption severe. This is why some experts, such as Carlos Javier Egea Santaolalla, president of the Spanish Federation of Sleep Medicine Societies (FESMES), warn that this is a major public health problem. The proposed solution? That melatonin is always considered as a medication that must be prescribed to guarantee control of the duration and dose administered. Recommendations under supervision. It is the right thing to do when we talk about using melatonin in the little ones in the house, since it has been seen how it can be useful in children with ADHD to advance sleep. But the problem is that there are no studies that tell us about the consequences of using it for more than two years in a row. This is something that is also conveyed by the Spanish Sleep Society (SES), which recognizes that melatonin is a valuable tool in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A quality problem. When purchasing melatonin as a supplement, the consumer is faced with a “lottery” of formulations. Previous studies have shown that the actual amount of hormone in an over-the-counter gummy or pill can vary drastically from what the label says (sometimes up to 400% more). For Spanish experts, medicalizing its use would not only limit unnecessary consumption, but would guarantee that what the child ingests is exactly what the doctor has prescribed. In this way, the scientific community has pointed out that melatonin is a powerful drug that disrupts the endocrine system, not a magic solution so that parents can rest. Images | Annie Spratt Myriam Zilles In Xataka | I got my hands on some “sleep headphones” in the hopes of finally falling asleep. It came out regular

AI fever

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Something is changing in the bitcoin business, and it doesn’t just have to do with the price of the cryptocurrency. As mining becomes more demanding and less profitable, artificial intelligence is triggering a race for electricity and computing power. The result is a striking paradox: companies that see their historical activity losing traction possess exactly what is now scarce. Infrastructure, land and electrical contracts that, suddenly, have become worth much more than expected. This combination of factors is beginning to reorder the map of crypto mining. The sector is transforming. Beyond the currencies, the true value of many miners lies in access to electricity and the infrastructure already deployed. For years, these companies ensured stable supply, built industrial warehouses with refrigeration and signed energy contracts that are difficult to obtain today. The Wall Street Journal points out that this set of assets fits precisely with the current needs of the technology sector, which seeks immediate capacity to deploy large-scale computing. Now, going from traditional mining to supporting advanced loads is not a simple change of machines. Bitcoin-oriented centers are designed for a very specific type of work, while intensive computing demands more sophisticated infrastructure and much lower tolerances for failures or latencies. This requires updating internal electrical systems, cooling and networks, in addition to completely replacing the equipment. The process can be profitable, but it is not trivial, and it marks a clear border between companies capable of assuming that effort and those that are not. The infrastructure hosting model. Instead of competing for the purchase of chips and assuming their rapid obsolescence, some miners have chosen to rent what they already control. In this model, they cede buildings, electrical power and cooling capacity to hyperscalers and large technology companies that install their own hardware. In exchange, they sign long-term contracts with more predictable income and counterparties with great financial capacity. The logic is clear: less exposure to the volatility of the crypto market and a more stable use of assets that were already on balance, even if some traditional mining continues to operate. One of the most illustrative cases is that of Core Scientific, whose data centers began to adapt for artificial intelligence loads long before July 2025. its acquisition by CoreWeave will be announced. The company has been modifying facilities designed for bitcoin mining with the aim of hosting AI-oriented GPUs, replacing environments based on ASIC for more advanced infrastructure. This previous work explains why these assets have gained strategic value, regardless of the final outcome of the corporate operation. Flexibility as an advantage over the network. CleanSpark proposes a different path, based on combining bitcoin mining and infrastructure aimed at other uses. Its central argument is not only economic, but also operational: mining companies can provide flexibility to the electrical grid. By being able to disconnect part of their consumption in times of overload or instability, they offer an adjustment capacity that data centers dedicated to AI do not have. According to its management, this capacity has become increasingly in demand by electricity companies, which are looking for large consumers capable of adapting in real time without compromising the stability of the system. The market has reacted quickly to this change in narrative. The shares of several companies linked to mining have registered strong increases even in a context in which bitcoin has shown a decline. The most visible case is that of CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETFwhich has accumulated a revaluation of close to 90% in the year, driven by companies that have announced long-term agreements linked to infrastructure and data centers. For investors, the appeal is not so much in the cryptocurrency as in the possibility of transforming a volatile business into one with more predictable income. A turn that is not without risks. Strong appetite for AI infrastructure has reignited the debate about a possible bubblefueled by demanding valuations and highly capital-intensive investment plans. For mining companies, the leap requires significant disbursements and impeccable execution, with the risk of being left halfway if demand cools. Additionally, shifting focus toward AI-oriented data centers could reduce mining capacity in the United States, pushing some bitcoin production to other countries and altering the geographic balance of the sector. Everything seems to indicate that we are not facing a simple technical change, but rather a more profound reconfiguration. Some miners are no longer thinking of themselves as actors linked exclusively to bitcoin to become owners and operators of infrastructure, while others use AI as a hedge against an increasingly demanding business. The AI ​​fever has not saved mining, but it has opened a new vein. In Xataka | Erling Løken Andersen | Amjith S | Igor Omilaev In Xataka | Something is going wrong with AI. The US is turning to energy solutions that it thought were buried to power data centers

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