fundamental

Perplexity has already marked its path for what it believes is fundamental

by

For years, advertising has been the silent fuel of much of the internet. It has financed search engines, web pages, applications and services that we use daily without paying directly for them, something that we have assumed almost as a norm in the digital environment. But the emergence of chatbots and search products powered by AI forces us to rethink that balance, because here the product is no longer just content, but answers that the public should consider reliable. In this area, any suspicion about who influences what is read stops being a technical detail and becomes a central issue. Clash between trust and monetization. In recent months we have begun to see how large AI companies take clear positions, some betting on introducing advertising in their free products and others rejecting it outright due to the impact it could have on user perception. The result is a map that begins to outline a division, just when the sector needs to demonstrate that it can become a sustainable business. And what’s at stake is not just how you make money with AI, but what kind of relationship you build with those who use it. Trust as a product. One of the clearest movements in this division is found in Perplexity. The company even tested ads in 2024, showing sponsored responses under the chatbot’s responses, but it began to withdraw them at the end of last year and now assures that it has no plans to continue down that path. “The user must believe that this is the best possible response to continue using the product and be willing to pay for it,” an executive explained to the Financial Times. The internal conclusion is direct: if the advertisements sow doubts, the value of the product itself is compromised, although the company leaves the door open to revisit that path in the future. War of ads against ads. Anthropic is in the same line as Perplexity, which not only defends keeping its chatbot without advertising, but has turned that decision into a public message. The company launched a campaign prior to the Super Bowl with a direct slogan, “The ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude,” which points to the direction of the sector without explicitly mentioning competing products. The campaign shows scenes that caricature commercial recommendations within personal conversations, underscoring the discomfort that such a scenario could generate. The reaction from OpenAI. Sam Altman rated the campaign of Anthropic as “clearly dishonest” and defended that the ad model his company is exploring would follow different principles, with advertising “separated and clearly labeled” and without influence on the system’s responses. The manager framed this decision as a question of access, arguing that expanding the free use of AI requires new sources of income, and he contrasted this with the idea that Anthropic offers an expensive product for those who can pay for it while OpenAI seeks massive reach with free access. Not everyone wants (or can) do without advertising. Training and sustaining these systems burns cash and has increased the pressure to find sustainable income as usage grows. In this context, some relevant actors are exploring advertising as a way to finance free access, with formulas in which sponsored content appears separated from the responses, with testing on products like ChatGPT and in formats Google Search with AI. It should be noted that Google has not introduced ads to its Gemini chatbot. Images | Perplexity + Nano Banana In Xataka | Claude Sonnet 4.6 promises to do the paperwork for you. Now he has the challenge of his life: dealing with the Spanish administration’s websites

The fundamental trick to perfectly control the car’s temperature is a (not) forgotten button on the dashboard

by

Although with the fury of bringing screens to cars There are fewer and fewer buttons, we still find a lot of old-fashioned controls scattered around the steering wheel and the dashboard of the car. However, there is usually a small element (sometimes shaped like a circular knob, which may or may not protrude) that usually looks like a button that goes unnoticed due to its location: it is far enough away that it cannot be easily operated. Spoiler: if you touch it nothing happens. And nothing happens simply because it is a solar sensor or solar load sensor (if we get more technical, a phototransistor), a piece little known to the general public but of great importance as it is the element that the automatic air conditioning uses to regulate the temperature correctly. It is essential to control the temperature of the car More specifically, is located at the bottom of the dashboard and in the central area, attached to the front window. It usually has the speaker grille or the air outlet grille nearby to defog the window. Hence it neither looks good nor is it comfortable to touch. That position makes all the sense in the world: it is one of the best areas inside the cabin to capture sunlight from outside. Precisely the reason for the sensor, since the sunlight that enters a car can reach represent up to 60% heat load that the air conditioning system has to overcome in the search for comfort. A good everyday example: the temperature difference between parking in the same place on a summer day when the sun is shining overhead or doing so at night or when it is cloudy. This solar load sensor It is actually a photodiode which measures the intensity of solar radiation in order to be able adjust climate controlwhich includes the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. On that hot day in the example, the air conditioning will have to work as hard as possible to cool the cabin as soon as possible. But if it’s night or cloudy, you won’t need to blow as hard. At a technical level, its mechanism is simple: the photodiode moves in an operating range between 0 and 5 Volts, offering more resistance as the light intensity increases, so that the sensor signal decreases as the solar load increases. This signal is what then reaches the control, which gives orders to the system to adjust the speed and intensity. The solar load sensor is not the only one responsible of the operation of the air conditioning, since the vehicle integrates more sensors such as the sensor to measure the interior temperature. And they also have other sensors to turn the lights on or off or configure the mode of the screens and dashboard depending on the exterior lighting. By the way, in some cars there is not only one solar charge sensor, but there are two, one on each side of the dashboard and in that same area adjacent to the front window: they are models that have dual zone air conditioning. In Xataka | The triangles on the plane window are not for decoration: they are a quick way to check that the flight is going well In Xataka | Few people know what the red balls on high-tension cables are for: they are a simple way to save lives Images | Skoda, Opel and SEAT

Trying to understand why human beings like alcohol so much, these scientists have just found a fundamental clue: drunken monkeys

by

More than two decades ago, Robert Dudley wondered how it was possible that we liked alcohol. In 2014, the evolutionary biologist of the University of California in Berkeley published “El Mono drunk”, a book where he explored The evolutionary roots of that transcultural hobby to alcohol. According to Dudley, it is the fans of primates to fermented fruits (rich in sugars and with a very light alcoholic content) what is behind all this. The problem, as with all the hypotheses of evolutionary biology, was to demonstrate it. Now we have found some tests. Because Science Advance magazine He has just published a study which shows that wild chimpanzees consume the alcoholic equivalent to one or two human cups. That is, exposure to this substance is regular and “probably” was also in our past as a kind, as Dudley said. How have you discovered it? The team analyzed the fruits consumed by the wild chimpanzees in Uganda and in Ivory Coast. Thus, they discovered that these 21 species had a concentration of 0.3% alcohol on average. To the extent that these animals consume about 4.5 kilos of fruit, the amount of ethanol consumed daily is more than the 14 grams that has a standard glass in the US. Of course, “by adjusting for body weight, which in chimpanzees is around 40 kilos in front of about 70 in humans, the exposure equals almost two glasses,” Explain in SINKSEY MARO, main author of the study. It is true, however, that as consumed throughout the day, researchers have not found signs of drunkenness in chimpanzees. So drink alcohol is something natural? This is a usual confusion when we put on the table lAs evolutionary explanationsbut evidently it is not prices. To start because there is nothing ‘natural’ per se. The Natural-artificial ‘distinction It is something that has very little scientific, philosophical or social basis. We have reached a point where everything is artificial. But, on the other hand, the world has changed a lot. Although the hypothesis can explain the origin of the taste for alcohol in all human societies, constant exposure to alcohol of great concentration such as the one we suffer today has nothing to do with that of our ancestors. Therefore, our taste for alcohol may have a certain evolutionary base; The abuse of ethanol and the health problems it causes are something else. Something much more dangerous. Image | Adam Wyles In Xataka | The greatest fear of the alcohol industry is summarized in just five words: being abstemious is fashionable

The rent has risen so much in Galicia that its beaches have problems hiring something fundamental: lifeguards

by

The tourism industry has faced for a long time A worrying dilemma In Spain (as in other countries): as its main destinations grow and gain attractive, The price goes up of the accommodation, which makes things more and more difficult for workers who support the sector. We have seen it In Tenerifewhere there are hoteliers who are forced to Sleep in caravans For the high cost of rentals. And we see it now In Galiciawhere housing is affecting an even more sensitive group: lifeguards. Although in the official registry of the community there are registered Thousands of lifeguards Prepared to monitor the beaches, some locations are costing to sign them. And one of the reasons is the high price of rentals on the coast. Costs. The news He has revealed it The Galician mail: Although the official registration of the Xunta has more than 4,500 inscribed lifeguards, a record that exceeds 13% to those accounted for in 2024, there are areas of Galicia in which it is not easy to “sign” professionals. It is not a general something. In fact there are municipalities that have covered their vacancies well. But there are certain points in the region in which not even this abundance assures them to find vigilantes. And what is the reason? There are several factors at stake. Input, how the population is distributed. Not all municipalities have the same bag of inhabitants and, therefore, of neighbors with the lifeguard title willing to cover sand sands that remain close to their homes. Another key is working conditions. The salaries are around 1,200 euros per month, according to Precise The Galician mailand they are hired for very short periods, from two to three months. These circumstances lead to professionals who choose to move to other more southern or warm destinations, such as the Canary Islands or Andalusia, in which they can opt for six -month jobs or for full years. To solve it there are those who even has raised The possibility of betting on “a permanent body” of lifeguards who cover the heat months, more extensive. Another handicap that affects the sector is the bureaucracy: the longer the aid takes, the greater the risk that the lifeguards have sought alternatives. Housing slopes. The above are, together with the regulatory issues of the sector, the factors that have marked the guild in Galicia in recent years and explain that the region has suffered shortage of lifeguards. Now one more factor comes into play. The mail assures that this summer the consistors are proving easier to sign vigilants, but where the reason has been found with difficulties is another: the housing price, In full climb. The general price increase in Galicia as a whole, 7.1% in the last year According to idealistadded to the high seasonal demand of coastal destinations during the summer months, Galician lifeguards who have to leave their locality and rent a floor. In practice that hinders hiring in localities that have to ‘import’ lifeguards out. Is the house so expensive? A few days ago Technitas published A report in which he points out that an 85 m2 apartment on Riazor beach (A Coruña) reaches € 1,400 per week, one hundred more than last year. In Vicedo (Lugo) a 65 m2 floor costs 650 euros, one hundred more than a year ago, and in O Grove (Pontevedra) a 75 m2 house requires a disbursement of 950 euros per week. The report speaks of vacation leases, but that scenario fully affects seasonal professionals who, like lifeguards, seek accommodation for a few months. Beyond Galicia. It is not a problem that affects only Galicia. Recently Antena3 He spoke With José Luis, a lifeguard who has been in Ibiza for 25 years and who has not left any choice but to buy a caravan to have a place to live. Renting an apartment is discarded, he explains, because it costs more than he earns with his watchman work. Even the caravan option begins to complicate. “Being in a campsite costs me about 1,800 euros per month.” “This is something that happens throughout Spain and the most affected places are the ones with the greatest tourist influx, such as Balearic Islands, Valencian Community and some areas of Andalusia and Catalonia,” Confirm to The mail José Palacios, coordinator of the Research Group in Aquatic Activities and Saporrism and President of DEAC, the entity responsible for granting the blue flags to the sand. Healing in health. To make sure they will have lifeguards there are consistories that directly choose to form them. This is the case of Ribeira, in the Barbanza region, which in 2024 and 2025 He has conducted courses Own who have allowed him to prepare the young people who will be in charge of controlling the sands of the region. Another strategy to prevent them from opting for less seasonal destinations is to expand their work period: instead of hiring them in July, they are incorporated into their positions in June, when many beaches of Galicia begin to fill. Images | Pedro Dias (Flickr) and Carmelo Peciña (Flickr) In Xataka | “Fodechinchos Free”: in a bar in Galicia Tourism Fobia is being redirected against the Spaniards of other regions

IA is now a “fundamental requirement” for all workers

by

Companies are betting on the use of different artificial intelligence models to expedite their internal processes and, with it, Improve productivity of its employees. Along the same lines, Tobi Lütke, CEO of Shopifywhich is convinced that your company is missing the tools of AI And he has urged his employees To use it more in your work. If they do not, they will not be given the resources or new hiring they ask. Shopify’s bet on AI. According to a memorandum published by Lütke himself In his X profilethe manager affirms that he already uses AI as a complement in many of his tasks, so he invites all his users to Develop your skills With these tools to improve your productivity. According to the memorandum, Shopify already has several models of IA specifically adapted to different tasks, which include Copilot de Microsoft, Claude de Anthropic and cursor. “What we need to succeed is the sum of our collective skills and ambition to apply our trade, multiplied by AI, for the benefit of our merchants,” says Lütke. AI is the future. However, according to Lütke, not enough employees have taken advantage of this technology. For this reason, the manager has hardened his message turning what were previously simple suggestions in mandatory management. “Using AI effectively is now a fundamental expectation for everyone in Shopify,” the CEO wrote. This means that Use of AI tools In its workflow, you will take into account in employee performance reviews. “It is a multipurpose tool today and its importance will continue to grow. Frankly, I do not think it is viable to give up learning to apply AI in your profession,” he specified in his statement. Use in the innovation phase. Lütke considers it essential Very well documented. According to its manager, the AI ​​will transform and accelerate this process by simplifying the documentation of the different areas. An aspect in which other companies like AWS too They have put to work at AIfor their engineers to spend more time improve the product. “The prototypes are designed to learn and create information. The AI ​​drastically accelerates this process. You can learn to produce something (with AI) that other teammates can see, use and analyze in much less time than I used to carry,” said Lütke. If there is no more resources. One of the conditions that reveals how serious the bet of Shopify for AI, is the one that forces to demonstrate that a certain task or objective cannot be achieved using an AI tool before requesting more personnel or resources. That is to say, Before expanding the template Or invest in other tools, those responsible for the project must exhaust all the ways to do so with the tools of AI that they already have available. This approach changes the personnel hiring dynamics to new projects, rationalizing the use of the resources offered by AI before expanding the templates, as happened in the templates between 2020 and 2022, giving rise to mass dismissals and relocation of personnel in 2023 and 2024. An assistant, not a substitute. With this statement, Shopify shows his vision of AI as a support tool for employees to do their job better in less time. No replacing employees by AI models. In that sense, Tobi Lütke aligns with other relevant opinions in the field of technology Like Mark GarmanAWS CEO, or Sam Altman, who stated in an interview that “the AI ​​will multiply by 10 the productivity of employees”, and will be a great contribution to the creation of new products, or accelerate their development thanks to the ability to automate routine tasks offered by AI. In Xataka | Founders of small startups and large technological ones already has something in common: they are millmillonarios thanks to the AI In Xataka | “I have three years of work”: more and more IA managers believe that AI will end up removing the position Image | Shopify, Unspash (Mohammad Rahmani)

Human beings are evolving live and direct on the Tibetan plateau. And understand what happens there will be fundamental in space

by

It is not easy to breathe on the roof of the world. A few days ago, Kilian Jornet told in the revolt that, while he went down from Everest, He began to suffer hallucinations And convinced that he was dreaming he was about to jump into the void. And it makes sense because, thousands of meters above sea level, there is simply less oxygen in each breath of air. It is, we could say, pure physics. However, for more than 10,000 years, Tibetans have not only survived these dementeial conditions of that environment: they have prospered. But how? It is a question that has intrigued anthropologists for years. And if we think a little, he has his crumb. For decades, it has been said that evolution is slow and that, in general terms, human beings are more or less the same as we were in the Paleolithic. How could it be that Tibetans (who would not cease to be people like us) have prospered all this time If that is so? The answer is very simple: not being. A few months ago, anthropologist Cynthia Beall, from Case Western Reserve University, published PNAS investigation which clarifies all this and reveals “how the physiological features of Tibetan women improve their ability to reproduce in an environment with such a shortage of oxygen.” It is live and live evolution. What did they do? Beall and his team They studied 417 Tibetan women between 46 and 86 years old who lived around 4,000 meters above sea level in Alto Mustang, Nepal; that is, at the southern end of the Tibetan plateau. They collected many data: from their reproductive history to physiological measurements, DNA samples or a wide set of social factors. Its intention was precisely to understand how the characteristics of oxygen supply in high altitude hypoxia conditions influenced the number of living births. Because? Because it is a key measure of the evolutionary aptitude of these women. And so it was. Because what they discovered is that women who had more living children had a “unique set of blood and cardiac characteristics” that helped their bodies to distribute oxygen. Specifically, They discovered That although these women had middle levels of hemoglobin, it was more saturated. It was a fantastic solution because it allowed an efficient distribution without increasing the viscosity of the blood (and, therefore, without forcing the heart more than necessary). What does all this mean? Something really interesting. Because work Not only does it underline “the remarkable resilience of Tibetan women”but they also offer valuable information about the ways in which human beings can adapt to extreme environments. After all, “it is a case of natural selection in progress. Tibetan women have evolved in a way that balances the oxygen needs of the body without overloading the heart,” Beall explained. And, understanding how populations like these are adapted, “it gives us a better understanding of human evolution processes.” Something that, on the other hand, we need. Because in the end, it turns out that the unity of the human species is only sustained by the similar environmental conditions in which we move. But what will happen when we become an “interplanetary species”? And the answer is simple: that We can never go home. The unity of the species will be detrimental to our adaptive success. Image | Will Pagel In Xataka | To what extent are Elon Musk’s plans to settle on Mars? A planetary scientist explains it to us

Samsung and Google already have almost lists their own vision pro. And they have two fundamental advantages: Gemini and La Voz

by

Last week we were able to attend the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event. The South Korean firm presented its new Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultrabut I also had another ace in the sleeve: He spoke briefly about Project Moohan. This is its ambitious project to develop augmented reality glasses in collaboration with Google. There is already someone who has tried them and has discovered a potential advantage over the Apple vision. Look mom, without hands, voice. The well -known Youtuber Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) can try them briefly and published A video on your YouTube channel With your impressions. He told many things, but one especially caught his attention: to be able to handle many options with his voice. The recognition of gestures is very good and very useful, but Gemini’s power It was especially striking to be integrated into the glasses. Talking to glasses. This differential point allowed for example by using Google Earth could move to points of the map with a simple voice order. Also Gemini “see what you see”, so you can ask things about what you are looking through the glasses. Another striking option is to act on the intertfaz, opening or closing applications, or even asking you to reorganize your virtual desk to order the open virtual windows that you have at that time. Other Gemini options such as “surrounding to search” are also striking, but as Brownlee said, that integration of Gemini and the voice is an important advantage of Project Moohan About the pro vision. This is the Samsung and Google vision. Brownlee made it clear that the design of Project Moohan glasses is very similar to that of Apple’s vision. Even so there are differential elements, such as the buttons of the glasses frame, the tacile panel of one of the sides or the rear support, which inherits its design of the target Quest Pro. A promising screen. Although there are no technical specifications for the moment, MKBHD did notice that the quality of the screens in these glasses was fantastic. Maybe a small step behind the vision Pro, but very good. In the video the level of detail does not seem very remarkable, but the YouTuber said that in person everything is seen much better. Immersive contents. What is not so clear is what the options will be in one of the key sections of the glasses: the immersive contents. He did show for a brief moment how you could see videos on YouTube with a more immersive virtual environment, but did not give details about videos or space photos that are so striking in the pro vision. Games, controls. Nor did he mention it, but he did glimpse that controls are likely to appear for these glasses to take advantage of virtual reality games. That would be another differential element with respect to the pro vision, which have games but not specific controls. But how much do they cost? Unfortunately, at the moment there are no details about the departure date of these glasses or indications about their final price. Brownlee did notice that they would launch them this year, and the forecast (or hope) is that they are sensibly cheaper than the pro vision, which are not sold in Spain but that in Germany they start from the 3,999 euros. AI and voice can be winning argument. The truth is that this possibility of using the voice to interact with glasses is especially promising. Using your hands and having your arms in motion can get tired all the time, so this type of interaction is very interesting. If we unite the promising paper and options of AI models that can make more up to this whole area, we are facing a product that we have many, eager to know closely. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Google has declared war in the augmented reality segment. Apple and goal will not make it easy

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.