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Zuckerberg in the front row of Prada seems like a mistake in The Matrix, but it’s actually Meta’s biggest statement of intent

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Any regular attendee of Milan Fashion Week know what to expect in the first row: a perfectly choreographed ecosystem of K-pop idols, internet stars and Hollywood actors with million-dollar contracts. However, at the presentation of the Prada Fall/Winter 2026 women’s collection, a figure appeared which at first glance seemed like a mistake in The Matrix: Mark Zuckerberg. As the magazine points out GQthe usual fashion audience is undergoing a metamorphosis and the technological elite is reclaiming its place in the spotlight, as demonstrated the appearance by Jeff Bezos in Jonathan Anderson’s debut for Dior. However, the founder of Meta did not finish blending in with the environment. As described The Times With a certain British irony, Zuckerberg looked tense in front of the flashes, like “someone who has ever heard of the concept of sitting on a bench, but has never tried it,” awkwardly spreading his fingers over his pants and not really knowing where to look as the models paraded. But what are the Silicon Valley elite doing there? Despite its recent change of image – which some have dubbed the Zuckaissanceleaving behind his uniform of gray t-shirts for Balenciaga clothes and gold chains—his presence in Milan does not respond to the mere whim of a shopping tourist. It’s a top-notch corporate chess move. As detailed The Timesthe key was in the seating arrangement (the coveted Frow either front row). Zuckerberg was not placed next to any random celebrity, but strategically shoulder to shoulder with Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s marketing director and son of designer Miuccia Prada. At his side, his wife, Priscilla Chan, shared confidences with none other than Andrea Guerra, executive director of the Italian brand. Besides, they fulfilled the aesthetic duties completely changing her style for the sobriety of Prada. lhaute couture as a Trojan horse. All this social choreography points in a single commercial direction. According to the CNBCMeta and Prada are collaborating closely to launch luxury smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence. The corporate bridge that connects Silicon Valley with Milan is already built. Goal has been collaborating for years successfully with EssilorLuxottica, the Franco-Italian giant that manufactures the current Ray-Ban Meta. Glasses that, by the way, will reach the not inconsiderable figure of 7 million units sold in 2025. Given that EssilorLuxottica has just renewed its licensing agreement with Prada until the 2030s, the triangulation of the business is evident. The goal of this maneuver is to legitimize personal surveillance technology through exclusivity. As explained TechCrunch, Bringing AI to high fashion fills a niche that more sporty or casual brands like Oakley and Ray-Ban can’t reach. Consolidating these glasses as a symbol of status and luxury is the definitive step to benefit the global image of the Meta brand. The technological muscle behind the design. For a Prada product to make sense, the technology inside cannot fail, and this is where the specialized technology media provides the crucial context. As explained in an in-depth analysis by my colleague Lacort in Xatakahe hardware The current Ray-Ban Meta is brilliant—fantastic as speakers and great as a discreet camera—but its software is the weak link. Your “Meta AI” assistant currently feels like a “clueless intern” suffering from a lack of context and erratic responses. To solve this and live up to a luxury label, Meta has taken out the checkbook. Another recent report by Xataka details that the company has just signed a multi-million dollar agreement with NVIDIA to acquire its new generation of server infrastructure (the Rubin architecture and Grace processors). Mark Zuckerberg knows that to sell the glasses of the future he needs to achieve what he calls “personal superintelligence”, processing data in real time without the current glitches, whatever the cost. The elephant in the room. Despite the change of look and multi-million dollar investment, Meta faces a challenge that fashion cannot easily hide. Just a few days before sitting on the catwalk, the owner of Meta was testifying in a Los Angeles courtroom in a landmark trial over social media addiction. Most ironic of all, the judge threatened to hold her team in contempt for showing up in the courtroom wearing Meta glasses equipped with a camera, in a place where recording is prohibited. As he warns TechCrunch, Prada glasses will arrive at a time of growing citizen rejection of constant surveillance devices. Society is beginning to react against invasive technology. The rejection is so real that, as the media highlights, there is already a developer who has created a mobile application exclusively to notify you if someone around you is wearing AI glasses. This raises serious doubts about whether Meta will dare to incorporate controversial features such as facial recognition, something that The New York Times He already suggested that it was under study. Does the devil wear Prada? At the end of the parade, one detail did not go unnoticed. As observed Business InsiderZuckerberg was not wearing his signature Meta smart glasses while sitting in the front row. And he didn’t need it. The photograph of him sitting next to Prada’s leadership was the message in itself. Silicon Valley has finally understood that to convince millions of people to wear a camera, microphone and AI on their faces every day, design matters as much as microchips. The next great technological revolution will not be announced in an aseptic California auditorium with a presenter in jeans; It is being decided right now, under the spotlight on the Milan catwalk. Image | José Goulao and Mark Zuckerberg Xataka | AMD wants to be the great alternative to NVIDIA in AI chips, and Meta has a plan that involves both

It has Taiwan in front of it and Japan is going to fill it with missiles

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At the westernmost tip of Japan there is a paradise place where, on clear days, you can see another territory from the coast. It is the same enclave where they live more native horses than school-age children. That isolated corner, for decades outside the big headlines, has begun to occupy an unexpected space in the strategic conversations of the Indo-Pacific. Also to become in a fort. A red line. That island has become the new red line against China. The reason? Japan will deploy missiles 100 km from Taiwan. In this way, Yonaguni, the westernmost point of the Japanese archipelago, has gone from being a remote enclave in just a few years. a centerpiece of the Indo-Pacific strategic board. Its location, at the end of the Nansei island chainplaces it right in the geographic arc that connects the East China Sea with the Western Pacific, the same corridor that worries Tokyo and Washington facing a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The calendar changes. A few hours ago, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi set for the first time a very specific horizon: before March 2031, a set of surface-to-air missile medium range, projectiles with 360 degree coverage capacity and the possibility of intercepting multiple targets simultaneously. The decision is not isolated, but is part of the strategic turn started in 2022 to reinforce defenses on the southwestern islands, shifting the historical focus from Russia to growing Chinese military activity in the East China Sea. The diplomatic context and Chinese pressure. The announcement also comes after months of deterioration between Tokyo and Beijingaggravated by the statements of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about the possible Japanese involvement if there was an attack on the island of Taiwan that represented an existential threat for the nation. China’s response It was devastatingresponding with trade restrictions, diplomatic pressure and a battery of military demonstrations that, how do we countincluded drone flights and an increased naval presence in the area, while maintaining its claim to Taiwan and its dispute with Japan through the Senkaku Islandsadministered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing as Diaoyu. The internal transformation. Since 2016, the island has hosted a surveillance unit coastal with about 160 troops, to which electronic warfare capabilities and new military infrastructure will be added. In a community of barely 1,500 inhabitants, where depopulation has been a constant since the postwar period, the presence of military personnel and their families alters the structure demographic and economicgenerating a division between those who see militarization as an investment opportunity and those who fear that the enclave will become a priority objective in the event of conflict. From peripheral paradise to strategic bastion. From that perspective, the expansion of the base, the plans to improve the airport and port and the possible installation of advanced defense systems They consolidate Yonaguni as a key link in the Japanese deterrence architecture. What for decades was a marginal territory is now integrated into a defensive network designed to complicate any attempt to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, sending a clear message about even where is it arranged Japan to arrive to protect what it considers its most sensitive front. The new map. If you will also, the Yonaguni decision reflects a broader transformation in Japanese defense policy, one underpinned by a historic increase of the military budget and the security treaty with the United States, which could drag Tokyo into a larger scale regional conflict. What is clear afterto official statement of Tokyo is that, on the new strategic map of the Indo-Pacific, the small island is no longer a lost point in the ocean: it is the place where Japan has decided mark your limit and where any future crisis could have its first warning signal. Image | GetArchivejpatokal In Xataka | The Japanese island of Yonaguni was known for its beauty and Bad Bunny. Now it is a military fortress because of Taiwan In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: China has concentrated thousands of fishing boats off Japan, and its idea is not to fish

A group of Spanish pilots wait in front of Russia for an alarm that will sound 500 times in 2025. They only have 15 minutes to launch their fighters

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A few minutes from Russian airspace, a handful of Spanish pilots live in the most tense routine that exists in peacetime: be ready to take off at any moment from an icy base from the Balticone where the sky is watched as if each blip on the radar could be the start of something bigger. Fifteen minutes. At Šiauliai, a Lithuanian air base that functions as first line of surveillance over the Baltic, the routine can be broken at any second with a siren and a countdown. When the alert goes off (in 2025 alone it did so up to 500 times), the Spanish pilots of the 15th Wing They put on their equipment, get into the vans and run towards the hangars with a single objective: to be in the air in less than fifteen minutes. It is a millimetric mechanic, repeated so many times in training that becomes automaticbecause the mission does not wait for anyone and because in that area an unidentified plane, without a transponder or without communication, can be the beginning of a serious incident. The shadow of an enemy. The function of these quick exits, called “scrambles”is to intercept and escort suspicious aircraft until they leave Allied space or their intentions become clear, and in the Baltic they are almost an everyday language. The route is especially sensitive because it connects Russia with the militarized enclave of Kaliningradand there intersect fighters, surveillance planes and traffic that sometimes fly without a flight plan or without the expected signals. The result is constant tension: some days there are several outings and other weeks everything seems calm, but the feeling is always the same, that the next warning can come when you are resting or half asleep. 15th Wing Fighter Mission since 2004. NATO started this baltic air police in 2004 to protect the space of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and since then the countries have taken turns in rotation four months so that the umbrella is permanent. Over time, the deployment was expanded to other bases in the region, first after the first Russian invasion of Ukraine and later with further expansion, because the Eastern Front ceased to be a theoretical concept. In recent months, furthermore, the incursions became more disturbing due to a new detail: not only manned aircraft appeared, but also drones that crossed borders and forced us to react quickly. Spain and the fighters. The Spanish contingent arrived in December with more than 200 troops and eleven EF-18Ma modernized version of the Hornet that Spain operates and maintains ready to fly day or night. The planes are armed with air-to-air missiles and the pilots train with night vision goggles, because surveillance does not stop when the sun goes down. Behind each exit there is a system that monitors the sky relentlessly, control centers that detect traces on the radar and a decision chain that, when activated, turns the entire base into a fast, silent and perfectly rehearsed choreography. Drones change the script. The big twist is that now the problem is not only the classic military plane that approaches without identifying itself, but the emergence of cheap dronesslow, low and erratic, more difficult to classify and more complicated to stop with means designed for another era. It we have counted. In September last year, a wave of Russian drones penetrated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine, and then there were similar episodess that forced the activation of fighter jets in countries like Romania. In parallel, small unidentified drones began to be seen near airports, bases and sensitive facilities throughout Europe, fueling the feeling of vulnerability and suspect that someone is measuring response times and blind spots. Crow, the anti-drone. For this reason, in this deployment the 15th Wing arrived with a historical novelty for them: the Indra Crow systeman anti-drone defense that adds a different layer of protection to the base and its surroundings. Crow combines radars, cameras and sensors to detect small aircraft and, once located, attempts to take them down using signal jamming, that is, electronic warfare from fixed or mobile positions. Its range not only protects planes and runways, it also covers the nearby city, because the real goal is to shield critical infrastructure and reduce the risk of a cheap drone causing disproportionate damage. The cost dilemma. Behind this adaptation is a problem that NATO is being forced to solve at full speed: intercepting cheap drones with weapons designed to shoot down fighters is an unsustainable equation. Firing expensive missiles from a fighter jet to take down a small aircraft may work, but it turns every defense in a waste and opens the door to volume saturation. That is why procedures and tactics are being reviewed, looking for cheaper and more specific systems, and assuming that the fighter will no longer always be the best tool to put out the fire. The strategic signal. The arrival of fighters with anti-drone protection It reflects a Europe that begins to fortify the sky as if war were already knocking at the door, although it has not yet fully crossed. In the Baltic, each rotation is a political and military message: there is presence, there is a response and there is an intention to fill gaps that did not exist before. Thus, what was previously an almost routine escort and identification mission is becoming a comprehensive defense exercise against hybrid threatswhere the enemy can be a large plane, a tiny drone or a provocation designed solely to check if, when the alarm sounds, there is really someone capable of taking off in those fifteen minutes. Image | Pexels, Pavel Vanka In Xataka | There are “invisible” Russian submarines happily sailing through the Baltic and that has led Europe to unprecedented measures In Xataka | A Russian submarine has appeared off the coast of France. And Europe’s reaction has been surprising: have a laugh

Vodafone negotiates with Telefónica and Orange to create a common front: a RANco

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Eamonn O’Hare, CEO of Zegona (the owner of Vodafone Spain), has confirmed to Expansion which is in talks with Orange and Telefónica to create a RANco, a mobile network joint venture in the style of the fibercos which launched in 2025. Why is it important. Spain has three large operators managing three national mobile networks with identical fixed costs, but Orange and Telefónica have double Vodafone’s customers. This asymmetry makes Vodafone’s mobile network, comparatively, inefficient. A RANco would allow sharing infrastructure, reducing expenses and improving quality without eroding profitability. The context. Vodafone has multiplied its share price by 12 in 20 months after reducing costs and close two fibercos that generated 2.2 billion in value. The share went from 345 pence (things from the London stock market) when they bought Vodafone Spain to more than 1,565 pence now, and has returned 1,400 million in dividends to its shareholders. It now trades at 9 times its cash flow when its competitors do so at 13 times. The RANco is the missing piece to close that gap. How a RANco works. A RANco is a wholesale mobile network company shared between operators that provides services to its owners. It is similar to fibercos: the network is unified, synergies are captured and a minority stake is sold to an international investor. Vodafone pays 150 million annually to Vantage Towers for towers at double the market price. With the RANco, those costs are divided. Two possible scenarios: With Orange: easier to execute and attract investors, but fewer synergies because they already share a network in some areas. With Telefónica: more synergies by not having anything shared, but more complex to incorporate a financial partner. The calendar. O’Hare puts the closure of RANco within a year and a half. And in November 2028, the window opens to abandon the contract with Vantage Towers. Vodafone has already made a decision: either Vantage reduces its rates by 50% or terminates the agreement. Yes, but. Mergers between operators are not on the table. O’Hare rules out short-term purchases or sales because the regulatory risk is “too great” and would distract the group from its three priorities: Align your stock valuation with the competition. Reach 1,000 million in cash flow. And develop the RANco. The figures. Vodafone Spain generated 400 million in cash flow when Zegona bought it. Last year it reached 600 million. This year it will be close to 800 million. The goal is to reach 1,000 million in the coming years. At stake. The RANco is not just a financial movement. Turning off the cable network will take three or four years migrating customers to fiber. Small operators will disappear, devoured by Digi and Finetwork. And Vodafone keeps open a possible IPO in Spain within three or four years, when it would complete its transformation. The shadow of Telefónica. As published Populi Voice A few days ago, Telefónica began talks to buy Vodafone Spain and close the operation in the first half of 2026. But a RANco with Orange or with Telefónica itself, in addition to O’Hare’s own interview, would change the equation: Vodafone would enter that negotiation with shared infrastructure and long-term contracts that would make the purchase more expensive or directly unviable. Zegona negotiates the RANco also as a policy. Featured image | Orange, Movistar, Vodafone In Xataka | Any teleoperator would be worried about making less money with each client. Digi is exactly what you are looking for

is putting them in front of stores

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There are those who are clear that, not soon, robots will be like current smartphones: we will all have one. There is not enough time for prices to become as democratized as to get to that pointbut if there is a country that has taken the lead when it comes to push humanoid roboticsthat’s China. And the Hobbs W1 is the latest example: a humanoid robot with a human face, and hands capable of doing fine motor work. And they have already put it to work. Hobbs W1. A far cry from Star Wars robots and closer to the uncanny valley. Hobbs W1 still looks like a robot, but the fact that they have given it a face and a body with an absurdly stylized female silhouette is a declaration of intent: they want us to feel “comfortable” with their presence. Very low on the evolutionary scale of robots are those tray holder (or Sardinator) with faces that look like emojis and cat ears: the Hobbs W1 has no legsbut it does have a face, upper joints and a screen. They are tools that are used to give instructions to people. Because Hobbs W1 is already working and those responsible, the Pekingese Noetix Roboticsthey point to a very clear segment: commercial spaces where you can guide clients, answer questions and perform reception tasks. great players. Noetix is ​​one of the many – many – Chinese startups that the country itself is promoting. The strategy of China is to become a robotics power (technological, in general, especially promoted by the ‘Delete A’ plan), and although there are many companies, we can now talk about very prominent names. Hobbs W1 It is estimated that Unitree, UBTECH and AgiBot they control practically the humanoid robot market in China. It is still a small market, but these three companies are looking to position themselves as soon as possible. Its key is the ability to manufacture at scale, but also specialization: Unitree may be the best known name. The most direct comparison would be with Boston Dynamics, since it has its ‘robodog’ – the Unitree Go2 – and its humanoid, the G1. Unitree is already selling units to end customers. In fact, you can buy that Go2 on Amazon. UBTECH has the Walker S1, a robot focused more on professional use. It is the one that directly seeks to replace humans on assembly lines and, in fact, it is already working in one of the plants Geely -manufacturer of electric cars-. AgiBot It is the third in contention. Instead of being specific, it has specialized in being multiplatform and going to volume so that they can do tasks in different sectors. It has humanoid robots from its X series, but also much more specialized ones from the A and G series (although they also give them faces to humanize them. Image: Unitree. Muscle and brain. These companies are closely linked to the development of another of China’s priorities, lto artificial intelligencebut there is a fourth that stands out for its focus. It’s Galbot, and he’s taken a less conventional route. Instead of focusing on promoting their robots as mountebanks or capable of lift heavy weights in factoriesGalbot has developed multimodal AI models with one thing very clear in mind: that they can now care for humans in the real world. When we talk about topics of this type, it is always difficult to know to what extent it is smoke, promises or there is someone with the controls behind the scenes. In the case of Galbot and his G1I can say that, although slow, it works. It already serves a store of just 10 m² in Beijing and you can order drinks perfectly. There is no human nearby and the company plans to expand with more than a hundred automated stores throughout the rest of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. From the laboratory to the store. Therefore, the Hobbs W1 is just one more of those humanoid robots that China has already put to work. And the truth is that it contrasts with what we see in the West. We have been talking about robotics for many years, but the proper names were different. China has arrived later in this racebut it has managed to position itself as the country to beat. And the reason is your approach. While Tesla promises to have “many” Optimus and Boston Dynamics continues to show his Atlas performing jumpsChinese robots are already in stores, but also walking through the subway supplying the 7 Eleven either extinguishing fires with real firefighters. The vast majority of the startups that are starring in the conversation have been created in the last two years and make it clear that the country is very interested in leading the sector. It’s not only to show off. And it may not just be a strategy to demonstrate technological muscle. we come it counting for months: China faces a future with many more elderly and, as a consequence, much less labor. Have a tremendous rate of youth unemploymentbut even so in the medium term the country faces a dramatic demographic contraction. Putting the elderly to work It’s an option –also in Japan-, but at a certain moment, and with a low birth ratehaving only the elderly work is not an option. That’s where the country’s strategy comes into play: leading the conversation in roboticsattract talent and, in addition, develop robots that can fill that job hole that is anticipated in a few years. Stepping on the accelerator. In whatever way and for whatever reason, it is clear that both the country and the startups are in a hurry. HE they estimate 800 humanoid robots sold in 2024 compared to more than 4,000 in 2025. By 2045, the projection is that they will have more than 100 million operational units with a market of 1.4 billion dollars. And the main advantage is that economy of scale, the national push and being able to access key elements in the … Read more

The clash between a polar front and the Atlantic threatens Twelfth Night

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Just a few hours away from closing 2025, all eyes are already on the weather at the beginning of January and especially on Three Kings Day. after seeing that New Year’s Eve will be quiet. And although there is still room for change, current models already suggest a drastic change in weather with a general drop in temperatures and a large amount of snow spread across the peninsula. The model. The last installment that we have the European model of the ECMWF proposes a scenario of great instability for January 4 and 5, 2026, with snowfall that could reach unusual levels and affect a large part of the center and northeast of the peninsula. Something that is already being shared on social networks by accounts specialized in meteorology. A situation of great instability that would respond to the entry of a cold front of polar origin and the arrival of Atlantic storms loaded with humidity. Two factors that when they collide are the perfect ingredient for widespread snowfall. Although there is still room for this to change, since reliability is low for periods longer than five days. The position of the AEMET. The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) maintains a much more conservative position. In its special prediction for this Christmas, the agency confirms that the beginning of 2026 will be colder than normal, especially due to the arrival of the storm Francis. This will leave rain starting on January 1 in the Canary Islands and starting on Friday the 2nd it will affect the west of the peninsula. From here, what is expected is that on January 4 there will be strong northerly winds and a generalized thermal drop. But from day 5 there is a “high uncertainty.” Although the models indicate persistent low temperatures, the agency does not currently confirm snowfall at low levels that could turn Three Kings Night white. Fifth anniversary. It is impossible to ignore the psychological component of this forecast, since this coming January marks five years of Filomena. That is why at this time it is easy to look at the maps with a little more disbelief in case there are signs of something similar, although at the moment nothing similar is confirmed. For now wait. With all this, the most prudent thing is to wait until this Twelfth Night approaches to have clear conclusions, especially in view of the different parades that leave in different parts of Spain that can be threatened by adverse weather, but that can always change up to at least 48-72 hours before. Images | TheWeather In Xataka | La Niña is going to be meteorologically “less intense” than we expected. And that actually hides a problem.

We believed that nothing would surpass the Russian robot that ended up on the ground. Until they made one dance in front of Putin

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When it seemed that the humanoid robotics board was dominated by the United States and China, with proposals such as Neo from 1X startup or the Unitree G1 —which even starred in a moment at the Xataka NordVPN 2025 Awards—, Russia decided to make a move with AIDOL, presented as “the country’s first domestic anthropomorphic robot with AI.” The problem was that its debut did not exactly show technological stability: the robot began to wobble, lost its balance and ended up falling face down in front of the cameras. All this with the music of ‘Rocky’ playing in the background. The scene went viral in a matter of hours, overshadowing any technological message that the manufacturer intended to convey. The explanations came quicklybut the public conversation was filled with parodies and memes. In a context where every step in robotics is also measured in terms of reputation, Russia needed a response that showed more than just a failed prototype. Green, the technological replica of Russia. Now, the images arriving from Moscow show a project of a very different nature. Green is an AI-powered humanoid robot that, according to its creators“can move independently and interact with targets in real space.” All development, from mechanical design and electronics to GigaChat-based artificial intelligence, has been carried out by Sberthe country’s largest bank and an increasingly visible player in the Russian technological ecosystem. The humanoid that danced in front of Putin. His debut was very different from that of AIDOL: Green was presented at the conference Artificial Intelligence Journey 2025where he spoke a few words and then, as we can see on YouTubedanced in front of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. “My name is Green. I am the first humanoid Russian robot that has embodied artificial intelligence. This means that I am not just a program on a screen, but a physical embodiment of technology. I was created by Sber engineers,” the robot said before beginning its demonstration. According to Sber, Green incorporates more than a hundred motors and a large number of sensors, allowing it to maintain balance even during rapid and coordinated movements. This time, the presentation did not only seek to surprise, but rather to convey control, stability and a more mature image of the Russian commitment to humanoid robotics. What it means for AI to become embodied The idea of ​​embodied artificial intelligence, according to Sber, goes beyond running models on a screen. It is not just about responding to what a user writes, but about interpreting the environment through sensors, cameras and microphones, processing that information in real time and physically acting. It means providing technology with perception, movement and the ability to make decisions in real situations. That approach proposes a model where hardware is built around artificial intelligence, and not the other way around. What is Russia looking for with humanoid robots? It remains to be seen whether humanoid robots will end up integrating into everyday life, as anticipated by Elon Musk and other figures in the sector. But, should that scenario materialize, Russia wants to ensure that it will have models developed within its borders. Its strategy aims to build technological sovereignty not only in the hardware of the automata, but also in the AI ​​models that drive them and in the infrastructure necessary to train and execute them. For now, there is no information on whether Green will ever become a commercial product or how much it might cost. It is still a technological demonstration and not a robot designed for the market. It is also not easy to place Russia within the global race for humanoids, because there is still no clear data on their real development, their autonomy or their possible applications. What it does seem is that, for the moment, the United States and China are setting the pace in this industry, with more consolidated and visible projects. Images | Kremlin In Xataka | Satya Nadella made the world love Microsoft again. AI is making people hate it again

We sensed that arguing in front of small children was a bad idea. Science has revealed to what extent

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Arguing in front of a small child is something that classically always has been discouraged for the problems that it can cause for the minor himself. And this is something that is not nonsense, because a child seeing this scene does not think that he is witnessing the conflict between two adults, but rather he thinks that it is his fault. And it is not an exaggeration that has always been done, but developmental psychology and neuroscience have been explaining for decades why something as human as this happens. Self-blame. The minds of little ones function very differently from those of adults, and it is logical because they are developing over time. And this is something that was already defined by Jean Piaget, who attributed he “egocentric thinking“to children who are in their first years of life. In it, children interpret the world through their own perspective, and psychologists Wesley Rholes and John Finchman they showed it in the nineties when seeing that minors tend to take responsibility for conflicts family members, especially when they do not understand the causes or why. This causes minors to interpret the situation in a very emotional way without thinking about the reasons why it is causing this (which could be friction between two adults). And it is logical, because at an early age the mind is not yet learning to distinguish between what is internal and what is external. The impact. When these discussions are intense or frequent, children may develop anxiety, stress or guilt. It is something that is proven also by Edward Cummings and Patrick Davies, from the University of Notre Dame, who pointed out that unresolved conflicts between parents affect children’s ability to regulate their emotions and maintain a sense of security. Other studies reinforce this idea, showing that family tension can increase a child’s risk of have emotional problems with the passing of the years. The solution. So… Shouldn’t we argue in front of minors? This may become impossible in some situations, especially when living together. That is why the secret is not in avoiding them, but in how adults manage them and explain it later. This is something where psychologists agree when they point out that the strategy should be for the parents to clarify that the dispute has nothing to do with the child, to help neutralize feelings of guilt and strengthen the emotional bond with them. What the brain says. From neuroscience, we know that when a person (whether adult or child) is angry, the brain strongly activates the amygdala, which is the center where emotions are processed in the brain. Although logically we have a brake which is the prefrontal cortex as it has the activity of reducing this activity. Based on this, science suggests that in moments of intense anger, one cannot ask for calm because physically there are no neural resources that can calm someone down. Therefore, parental calm acts as a brain “anchor.” Its serenity not only calms, but also offers the child a model of self-regulation that his own brain cannot yet achieve alone because it does not have this brake. The link. Ultimately, understanding emotions—your own and those of others—is a shared learning process. Children don’t need arguments to go away, but rather to understand that these tensions do not threaten their safety or self-worth. This understanding does not arise by instinct: it is cultivated with words, presence and emotional coherence. And science backs it up. From Piaget to modern neuroimaging, everything indicates that the true antidote to childhood guilt is not adult perfection, but the opportunity to teach, with each conflict, that love and disagreement can coexist without breaking the bond. Images | Vitaly Gariev Marcus Neto In Xataka | If the question is where to find the time to play sports or learn languages, you have the answer on your mobile

send an army in front of Russia with its most advanced tanks

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Since 1945, Germany has lived cautiously everything related to the use of force beyond its borders. Even when he participated in international missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan or Mali, he always did so in a rotating, temporary format and under strict frameworks, avoiding establishing a permanent presence. The memory of the Second World Warthe initial demilitarization and the subsequent political reconstruction left a doctrine where stable deployment abroad was, more than a red line, a taboo. And then came the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The German deployment. Germany’s decision to establish its first brigade permanently deployed abroad since 1945 marks a historic turn in its defense policy and European military architecture. The creation of the 45th Armored Brigade in Lithuania, with 4,800 soldiers and civilian support personnel, responds to an increasingly clear reading of the Russian threat and the recognition that the defense of NATO’s eastern flank is, in reality, the defense of Alemani herselfto. The Chancellery in Berlin not only assumes this presence as a symbolic gesture, but as a structural pillar of a new military era, in which Europe must assume greater responsibilities strategic, reduce absolute dependence on the American umbrella and rebuild capabilities what were deliberately dismantled after the end of the Cold War. The brigade is, therefore, both a message to Moscow as an internal message: Germany is abandoning its former military prudence to occupy the role that its economic weight demands, and that its partners (and adversaries) take for granted. Kamikazes, software and more. He German rearmament It is not limited to heavy armor or territorial presence: it extends to the domain of war through saturation and accelerated adaptation, where kamikaze drones have become one of the most decisive tools of contemporary combats. The plan for acquire 12,000 drones suicide bombers, with contracts of around 300 million euros for each manufacturer, reveals a clear doctrinal change: the armed forces should no longer accumulate equipment in static arsenals, but rather maintain them in permanent update cycles, with the bulk of the arsenal under the custody of the industry itself to be modified almost in real time. The war in the background. The reference is direct: in Ukraine, innovation cycles are measured in weeksnot years. Every change in software or payload redefines the tactical value of the dronewhile traditional systems become obsolete due to the frenetic pace of electronic countermeasures. This massive purchase points to a military on the edge facing Russia that understands that the battlefield of the immediate future will be hybrid, digitalized and deeply dependent on agility to adapt to an enemy that learns as quickly as it attacks. Leopard 2A8. The deployment of the 45th Armored Brigade cannot be conceived without it Leopard 2A8the most advanced version of the German battle tank, updated based on the lessons learned from the systematic destruction of armored vehicles in Ukraine. Far from abandoning tanks, Germany has concluded that They are still essential for combined operations, but only if they adapt to an environment where the priority threat is no longer anti-tank missiles guided from hills, but cheap drones capable of descending on vulnerable domes. A tank to anticipate. Hence the integration of Trophy system active protection, early warning sensors, modular armor and electronic packages prepared to counter swarms or loitering munitions. The brigade is thus deployed not as a symbol of the European industrial past, but as a platform that attempts anticipate war to come: coordinated mobility, continuous real-time intelligence support, layered anti-drone defense, and a distributed weapons network that prevents excessive concentration of risk. The presence of the Leopard 2A8 is less a reaffirmation of the tank as an icon and more a doctrinal statement: the ground battle is still valid, but only if it is handled with precision, integration and constant adaptation. Rearm to last. On the whole, these movements They express a conclusion that is already beginning to be accepted unambiguously among European capitals: the peace of the last thirty years was a historical exception, not the norm. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced Europe to rebuild military industryreactivate strategic reserves, reinforce borders and recover the idea of an integrated defensesustained and modernized. Germany, which for decades was considered the “weak link” in European defense, is reconfiguring itself as the core potential continental rearmament operation. The 45th Armored Brigade in Lithuania, the 12,000 kamikaze drones and the Leopard 2A8 are not isolated pieces, but pieces of a same transition: preparation for a scenario where deterrence no longer depends solely on political will, but on technological capacity, speed of adaptation and territorial firmness. If you also want, the sign to Moscow is direct: the baltic border It is not a negotiable void, but a very clear line on which the greatest economic power in Europe now stands, permanently. And this time, with armored vehicles, drones, reactivated industry and a strategic mandate that looks decades forward. Image | nara, Boevaya mashina, 7th Army Training Command In Xataka | The most pacifist city in Germany lived off its legendary train factory. Now they will make it from a gigantic tank factory In Xataka | The “rearmament” of Europe has begun at a Volkswagen factory in Germany: instead of cars they will produce tanks

Europe has seen that Gen Z is full of militarism, body worship and a desire to party and has told them: go to the front

by

First there were technical shoes, then sports watchesand now the military backpacks: khaki, resistant, full of patches and straps. Europe dresses usefully, as if preparing for war were just another aesthetic trend. In the gyms, more than in the barracks, a new type of citizenship is trained: bodies ready, gazes focused, backpacks ready for something that we still don’t know if it is a fad or a calling. Those who wear them seem to embody a new European trend: the return of the body as a patriotic symbol. A few weeks ago, the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, declared: “It’s tiring to see obese troops.” His comment—as provocative as it was political—coincided with an unexpected finding: Generation Z, the same one that grew up among screens and anxiety, is recovering the cult of the body, the taste for action and, in some cases, a renewed curiosity for the idea of ​​serving or protecting something bigger than oneself. Europe has taken note. Atasila ne aniram? In a chapter of The SimpsonsBart and his friends formed a music group with subliminal lyrics to encourage young people to join the navy. A joke that, with the passage of time, has become another pop prophecy fulfilled. In a Financial Times column have started to unravel the new military movement. European armies have detected an unexpected change: young people who previously fled from conscription now sign up for military or civilian volunteering. In Germany, applications for voluntary military service They have grown 15% in a year; In Finland, the Government has announced his intention to increase to one million reservists in 2031, For its part, Sweden, with its “total defense” system (Totalförsvaret), already integrates 380,000 citizens into radio, transport or dog training associations that support the Army without holding weapons. According to official data from the Swedish governmentdue to the War in Ukraine, registrations skyrocketed: in a few months they received as many volunteers as in a normal year. Meanwhile, in the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—they are also reinforcing their “civil militarism.” The three states prepare plans mass evacuation and citizen response to a possible Russian attack. The maneuvers include everything from logistics volunteers to farmers who learn to drive light armored vehicles. Furthermore, Estonia has created units of cybervolunteers to protect digital infrastructures and Lithuania just launched a program to train 22,000 drone operators. Europe is not raising massive armies: it is cultivating available, disciplined and functional bodies. A low-intensity militarism that mixes gym, volunteering and “healthy patriotism.” But why Gen Z? The simplest answer is because it is shaped by the mirror, but there is much more to it than that. Currently, we live in the era of protein chicof spiked shakes, sculpted bodies and extreme routines. The psychologist Sara Bolo warned that “Many apparently healthy behaviors hide disorders disguised as fitness culture.” But beyond the excesses, the cult of the body has become an ethic: physical self-discipline as a sense of purpose. And behind it there is something else: 36% of European Gen Z exercise regularly and another 50% want to start. However, the most revealing fact is not that, but the void it fills. Sociologist Robert Putnam already diagnosed that “we stopped bowling together.” Today, the gym replaces the social club, the bootcamp the summer camp, the weight routine the collective ritual. In other words, Generation Z isn’t just looking for muscle: it’s looking to belong. In a Europe where 13% of citizens and 20% of young people say they feel alone “most of the time”, according to Eurostatcivil defense appears as a new type of functional community: a gymnasium with anthem and purpose. The body as a political border. This cult of the body, born in gyms and amplified by networks, has also filtered into institutional discourse. What was once individual well-being, today takes on a collective, even patriotic tone. On the other side of the Atlantic, body obsession has acquired ideological overtones. Hegseth himself gathered hundreds of top brass to reprimand them: “No more beards. Let’s trim the hair, shave the beards and go back to standards.” His speech was more focused on appearance than performance, more on the image of the ideal soldier than on his operational capacity. Europe observes with caution, but the impulse is the same: the body once again becomes a metaphor for the nation, a space where the moral and physical health of the State is projected. Trained, vigilant, prepared. Recruit with algorithms. For now, the old continent is strengthening its network of civil associations. But if you look to the United States, you could find a more aggressive recruiting model. The US Army has hired e-girls and influencers like Hailey Lujan, an employee of the psychological operations division (PSYOP), who combines uniforms and beauty filters to attract new recruits. On the other hand, the Pentagon He also tried video games: America’s Armya shooter free launched in 2002 so that players wanted to get ready after playing. It worked for two decades as the first major gamified recruiting tool. For now, the European version of digital recruitment is more sober – campaigns about volunteering and civil protection – but the logic is identical: convince Generation Z that the uniform can also be a lifestyle. Fragility disguised as strength. On the margins of the gym where discipline and self-improvement are preached, a digital manosphere thrives that turns fragility into ideological fuel. On TikTok and YouTube, figures like Andrew Tate or anonymous accounts with a military aesthetic promote a masculinity “based on strength and control.” fitness has become in a gateway to the digital extreme right, where the body symbolizes purity and the enemy is always the weak. Cases like that of the Spanish influencer Llados, who combines coaching physical with discourses about “traditional masculinity”, illustrate that blurred border between personal improvement and emotional manipulation. The risk is not only the militarization of the body, but also its ideological instrumentalization. The gym, a space of redemption, can become soft indoctrination campwhere loneliness and … Read more

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