future

China is telling us what a future full of electric cars looks like. And we already know which are the most reliable brands

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The conquest of China in the automobile industry global has made us increasingly pay attention to the country’s manufacturers and the models that are coming out every year. China leads in new energy vehiclesalthough the reliability of their cars has always been questioned. The latest report Quality test launched by the analysis firm LandRoads offers us a very interesting perspective, as it studies the models that have initially caused the least problems since their purchase. In this aspect, the ranking places the Xiaomi SU7 as the most reliable large sedan, while the Tesla Model 3 dominates among the midsize models. Below these lines we tell you all the details. What is the ranking about?. LandRoads has published its annual report on quality in electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the Chinese market, analyzing 6,950 incidents reported by users. According to the report, 3,687 were quality problems and 3,263 were design-related. In the overall ranking by brand, AITO tops the list with a quality risk index of 123 points, followed by Mercedes-Benz (126) and Tesla (146). Image: ChinaEVHome. Source: LandRoads Why does it matter? The Chinese electric vehicle market is immersed in a frenetic race to incorporate more technology and functions. However, the study gives us clues that not all manufacturers are facing this battle completely well. The three main problems reported were noise (24.6% of complaints), exterior components (18%) and failures in intelligent systems (17.3%). Together they represent more than 60% of incidents, pointing out the critical points where the industry needs to improve. Categories. Highlights of the report indicate that: In medium-large sedans and above, the Xiaomi SU7 wins with an index of 108 points, well ahead of the Stelato S9 (218) and the IM L6 (237), according to LandRoads data. In midsize and compact sedans, the Tesla Model 3 leads with 104 points, followed by the Nio Firefly, BMW i3, Geely Galaxy Xingyuan and BYD Seal 06 GT. Among large SUVs, the top three spots go to AITO models: the M9 (88 points), M8 (98) and M7 (135), with the Li Auto L8 and Voyah FREE completing the top five. In medium and compact SUVs, the Avatr 07 stands out (92 points), ahead of the BYD Sealion 05 EV, Yuan UP, Tesla Model Y and Yuan Plus. In MPVs, the Voyah Dreamer records the best result with 192 points. Balance. The report also points out a phenomenon he calls a “high-equipment, high-risk concentration zone.” And according to LandRoads, as some manufacturers rapidly accumulate new features, the maturity and stability of the systems does not advance at the same pace, amplifying the risk of vehicle quality. According to the study, AITO, Xiaomi, NIO, Zeekr, Li Auto and Voyah have managed to maintain low risk rates despite offering high levels of equipment. More mature electronic architectures, better coordination with suppliers and exhaustive validation systems in all types of scenarios come into play here. Looking long term. LandRoads concludes in its study that the electric vehicle industry is moving from simply adding features and functions to the integration capacity and long-term stability of all these novel systems. Furthermore, seeing Aito above manufacturers like Mercedes or Tesla gives us clues about the transition we are experiencing and the ability of Chinese manufacturers to produce a product that lives up to it. Cover image | aboodi vesakaran and Aito In Xataka | Aid for electric cars is complicated: the Auto+ Plan comes with less money, more demands and a key question to resolve

Stephen Hawking’s disturbing prediction about our future

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In 1818, when an expedition led by John Ross came across them around Inglefield Firth, the Inughuit had not seen another human being for centuries. Descendants of the thule villagesarrived in Greenland in the 13th century and lived a small golden age until, around the 17th century, climate change isolated them from the rest of civilization. They were a community of just over 200 people convinced that they were the last human beings on the face of the Earth. AND They were for hundreds of years. The ends of the world This case is very interesting because, although the “end of the world” has been a literary trope for thousands of years, there are not many communities that thought they were the last ones left. The ‘Apocalypse’ historically was more of a ‘reset’ than a ‘game over’. As I pointed out Thomas Moynihan in his ‘X-Risk: How humanity discovered its own extinction‘, the idea of ​​the world ending completely was “virtually unthinkable.” But 200 years ago something changed. It was when we began to understand that there is no “anthropic principle“, that we are not necessary, nor the natural result of the evolution of the universe. That is, we began to understand that we could disappear. The problem is that in these two centuries things have only gotten worse. It defended Nick Bostrom more than twenty years ago“due to the acceleration of technological progress, humanity may be rapidly approaching a critical phase of its career.” The ‘existential risk’ That is, “a threat that could annihilate humanity or permanently destroy much of its potential.” We are talking about a risk that could eliminate not only the current human population, but also all potential future generations. Dan Meyers A risk that, moreover, has not stopped growing since the beginning of the century because, given the threats we already had (the climatenuclear weapons, etc…) now the derivative of artificial intelligence is added. In 2016, in front of the Oxford Union (probably the most prestigious debating society in the world), Stephen Hawking Yogave a conference about cosmology that ended with a profound and terrible reflection on existential risk and the future of humanity. With that phrase (“I don’t think we will survive another thousand years”), the Hawking of 2016 was not inventing anything, he was putting into words something that experts had been ruminating on for many years. He was also giving us a solution. Because, although the quote is at the end of the conference, the British physicist still had time to add something key: that he did not believe that we would survive another thousand years, otherwise we would not “escape beyond our fragile planet.” It was a way of putting eggs in several baskets; but on an interplanetary scale. As the risks on the planet growthe space appears as “plan B.” Hawking is quite explicit about this: “it is not just an intellectual question,” he tells us. “It’s not even an economic issue, it’s an existential issue.” Obviously, it’s a tricky thing. The moral hazard is there. The risk that we use that scarecrow as an excuse not to reduce risks on Earth. However, if we read Hawking’s words in context, it is clear that that is not what he is telling us. “We need other worlds, but they are in this one.” Taking Hawking’s argument to the limit, we don’t even need to go to space, we need to want to go. We need the special dream because we need stories that tell us how far we can go; stories that motivate us to create new technologies and develop new ways of looking at the world. The case of the Inughuit is also very frustrating, because contact with the outside world changed them very quickly and did not give us time to study their way of life or their belief system. However, we can always make tales and that is what Hawking does. in the 2016 speech: realize something that, without a doubt, the Inughuit lost in the white hell realized, that “the important thing is not to give up.” Image | Tanya Hart | Alexander Andrews In Xataka | In 2009 Stephen Hawking hosted “the party of the century.” No one came precisely because Stephen Hawking organized it

has just opened a school to train its future “explorers”

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There was a time when talking about putting the Moon back on the calendar sounded like nostalgia, like distant echoes of another era. Today, that language has returned. The United States continues to push its return to the satelliteand China, meanwhile, is building its own path with an increasingly explicit ambitionalso in the human. In that context, the news is not just a new school in Beijing, but what it suggests: that space exploration is also becoming a talent problem. What exactly has been announced. The University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) just announced the creation of its Space Exploration School, defined as the first of its kind in China. It is not a space agency or a manned flight program, but rather an academic center oriented toward training and research. According to CGTN and CAS itself, the objective is to cultivate interdisciplinary professionals in fields such as interstellar propulsion, deep space communication and navigation, and space science, with a direct fit into large national projects. In detail. The school will offer an interdisciplinary curriculum that covers 14 fields, from aeronautics to planetary science, and will expand the current catalog with 22 new core subjects on a previous base of 97 courses. The idea is not only to add subjects, but to mix science, technology and real applications to form profiles capable of moving between theory and problem solving. Global Times points out an explicit objective: that students leave with a solid foundation in mathematics and physics, but with the ability to innovate and transform that innovation into engineering. Where and how. Students will have access to three major platforms and six training systems in Huairou Science Citywith examples ranging from simulation of unmanned space patrols to a circuit for developing end-to-end satellites and experimenting with collaborative space-ground innovation. New teaching platforms oriented towards internships and project work will also be launched, in an attempt to bring students closer to the mission logic. The admission. A double admission system is contemplated: choosing students already enrolled in the first year of the master’s degree and recruiting final year students for direct doctorate. In addition, a “dual mentor” scheme will be promoted with scientists and engineering managers, designed so that the student not only understands concepts, but also learns to convert them into solutions. This mix between research and engineering development is, in fact, one of the great promises of the project. “Explorers”, but not astronauts. The term attracts attention, and it is no coincidence that it appears repeated in the coverage. Now, we are not looking at a school to train crews, but rather to form scientific and technical profiles that make this leap possible, even for interstellar missions. They are asked to not only understand engineering to design vehicles or stations, but to have scientific literacy to investigate space science problems. The “explorer”, here, is the one who constructs and understands the exploration. Images | aboodi vesakaran | CAS In Xataka | Four astronauts are going to undertake an unprecedented journey to the Moon. They have no intention of stepping on it

Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores seemed like the future of commerce. Now they all close

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Amazon has announced the definitive closure of its 57 Amazon Fresh stores and its 15 Amazon Go establishmentsending a decade of experiments to reinvent physical shopping. Fresh They were classic supermarkets, but with technological touches. Go They were stores without cashiers where you entered, took products and left: sensors and cameras charged you automatically. The only staff was the replacement staff. Why is it important. This is Amazon’s most visible failure in its attempt to move its e-commerce dominance to the physical world. A company that has made a success of selling everything online has not been able to sell basic products in physical stores while being profitable. The context. Go opened in 2018, Fresh in 2020. Both represented the futuristic vision of retail: cutting-edge technology, extreme automation and a clear obsession with eliminating friction. Amazon has admitted that it “has not created a distinctive customer experience with the right economic model.” An elegant way of saying that they have not found enough clients willing to pay the extra cost of all that innovation. Yes, but. Amazon is not abandoning the food sector. Now it’s going to convert some locations into Whole Foods, the chain he bought in 2017. Whole Foods has more than 550 stores, has grown 40% in sales and will open one hundred new stores. In addition, Amazon is also already delivering food at home in 5,000 cities in the United States. Between the lines. These closures say a lot about the impressive technology that these stores had: not even it can compensate for a mediocre proposal. Amazon Go eliminated queues, but perhaps that did not solve much if its real competitors did not have a problem there. Of course, “Just Walk Out” technology now operates in 360 third-party stores and more than 40 Amazon fulfillment centers. As is often the case, innovation survives where it makes economic sense. The failure of Go and Fresh was seen coming for a long time. The pattern. History repeats itself. Amazon has closed physical bookstores, stores pop-up and now also these concepts. Each closing tells the same story: mastering online does not make you a good offline seller. Especially if you aim for profitability. Bezos built his empire by eliminating intermediaries and friction at Amazon, but the physical supermarket has friction for a few reasons: people want to touch the fruit, compare products, decide on the fly… Human behavior cannot always be improved by algorithmic efficiency. Go deeper. The failure contrasts with that of other technological giants that in one way or another have managed to dominate the retail. Apple dominates its stores because it sells an experience, not just its products. And Tesla controls its points of sale because the electric car requires a certain evangelization. Amazon tried to apply its e-commerce formula (full automation, speed, elimination of staff) to a business that simply has other dynamics. A supermarket is not a logistics warehouse. And not even an entire Amazon, with all its resources, can impose its vision of the future if the customer does not buy it. In Xataka | I have decided to become independent from all US technology and embrace European technology. This is how I’m getting it Featured image | Simon Bak

Russia has turned Ukraine into a scene from Minority Report. He has sent a “soldier” named Svod to anticipate the future

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At the doors of fourth year of warRussia still has not found a consistent formula to break the Ukrainian defenses, despite having more troops, a much more stable flow of material and a wide repertoire of advanced technologies that, on paper, should have tilted the battlefield. If the war in Eastern Europe was already a unprecedented laboratory of war technologies, Moscow has taken the most unprecedented step of all. The problem that Russia is trying to solve. They counted in Forbes that, among the many causes of this below-expectation performance, there is one especially painful: the inability of many Russian officers on the front line to take quick tactical decisions and sustainable over time, precisely those that decide the outcome of local clashes that, accumulated, determine an entire offensive. This deficit does not arise from nothing, but from the combination of a military culture rigidly hierarchicaldesigned to execute orders rather than improvise, and from a generation of extremely young commanders with limited experience, pushed to lead units in a type of combat that mercilessly punishes hesitation and rewards immediate adaptation. The “soldier” Svod. The announced answer is Svod, a digital tool AI decision support system conceived as a tactical situational awareness system for front-deployed officers. Its function, according to the description of the Russian Ministry of Defensewould be to gather and merge in the same information space multiple sources of intelligence, from satellite data and aerial images to reconnaissance reports and open source material, to convert that chaos of signals into a common usable image. From there, the system I would apply advanced processing and models assisted by artificial intelligence to analyze what comes in, project operational scenarios plausible futures and guide the command towards the most convenient course of action. The underlying intention is not hidden: to accelerate the decision cycle, reduce friction between “what is happening” and “what is ordered”, and guide managers towards rmost effective answers in an environment where every minute lost translates into casualties, burned material and wasted tactical opportunities. Software connected to what already exists. Svod does not present itself as a device magical that a soldier hangs on his chest, but rather like a software architecture that is integrates into networks and media now available. It works as a layer that merges data and displays it to commanders on computers or tablets, with secure communications and decision support tools. The important thing is the effect it produces: converting a crowded battlefield of signs into something that looks legible, and that the tactical command has concrete guidance when the environment changes faster than the upper echelons can keep up. Deployment and focus. Furthermore, the plan wants to be implemented at full speed: after various operational tests in December 2025, it is expected to begin deploying it in April 2026 and extend it widely by September. In fact, the first units to receive it would be involved in the Pokrovsk axiswhere Russia concentrates part of its offensive effort. That portrays it as an immediate solution to correct command and control failuresnot as a quiet modernization ten years from now, and explains why it is prioritized where wear is maximum and the margin of error is minimum. A perverse incentive. In an army like the Russian one that rewards obedience and punishes improvisation, a local commander may be forced to attack even if he knows it is a bad idea. With constant pressure, some they execute and accumulate casualtiesothers seek to survive within the system by simulating results, sending small groups to mark their presence and using drones to appear successful. In this context, Svod intends to push more coherent decisions with the real situation, giving a shared and more immediate vision to the front without touching the core of the model: continuing to command from above, but with a tool that reduces “surprises” and imbalances. Minority Report in military version. There is no doubt, the bet has something of a futuristic scene that we had already seen in the cinema: just like works as Minority Report that had played with the idea of ​​algorithms that anticipate the future, Russia seeks to anticipate what is going to happen before it happens, with that “soldier” called Svod that calculates, projects and recommends. The promise is very easy to understand: if the system sees better and faster, it will be able to anticipate where the weak point is, when to press and when to readjust the attack. It is a way of turning combat into a prediction problemwhere human intuition and improvisation are replaced by a living map that attempts to order chaos. What it can contribute. If it works well, Svod could improve identification of objectivescoordination and detection of gaps in the Ukrainian defense, as well as other similar tools have proven valuable in other armies. The problem, most likely, is that its effectiveness will clash with the reality of the front: electronic warfare, degraded communications, incomplete data, and models that fail when the enemy learn and change patterns. In this sense, Ukraine has adapted quicklyand that makes it much more difficult for a system to accurately predict what will happen next. Still, the movement is more than significant: war is becoming a sensor competitionnetworks and decisions, and Russia is trying to have AI reduce a problem that has cost it too dearly. Image | Ministry of Defense of Ukraine In Xataka | 1,418 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine: the war has already lasted longer than the Soviet fight against Hitler In Xataka | The latest camouflages of Russian troops confirm an open secret: the war in Ukraine is the most Looney Tunes in history

The jobs that will grow the fastest in the next decade, in a revealing graph about the future

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Knowing which professions are going to be the most in demand is always a good idea: either because you are in the academic period and want to better outline what to study or because you want a professional change or specialize. Of course, if it is also accompanied by the best conditions. The winning combo: demand and wages. Every era has its challenges, but undoubtedly the emergence of AI generates more uncertainty: from its usurpation of junior positionsnow you can program without knowing how to program and translators already live with the sword of Damocles on. Whichever phase you’re in, this graph of data on the fastest-growing jobs through 2034 is quite revealing in terms of bringing together both demand and salary range. The graphic is provided by Visual Capitalistwhich in turn uses information from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics collected by USAFactssomething to especially take into account due to the issue of salaries: Spain is not exactly in the United States in the rankings of salary from all countries in the world. What’s more, it is not even in the high area in the salaries of the states of the European Union. Care at the center. If there is an area that stands out in the coming years, it is those related to care, with home care and personal care assistants increasing abysmally compared to the rest by 740,000 new positions until 2034. A little further down, health classics such as medical and health area managers with almost 143,000 more positions and nursing, which both in internships and already qualified exceed 260,000 positions. Of course, this increase in auxiliaries does not go hand in hand with a huge salary: it is well below what can be achieved in nursing and medicine in particular, and the list in general. Technology is balance. If you are looking for a profession with demand and a good salary, the technology sector meets both requirements. The job that appears at the top of the graph is software developers, which will increase by 268,000 positions and will have an average salary of $133,000 (we insist, in the United States). A little further down, those responsible for computer and information systems, with just over 100,000 new positions between now and 2034. The jobs that will grow the most until 2034. Visual Capitalist Money, money, money. If you are looking for the positions with the best remuneration, a no-brainer: managers, specifically those in computer systems, which increase by 100,000 jobs and have an average salary of $171,000. However, in general the payrolls of data scientists, software developers, IT and financial systems managers, financial directors and nursing specializations stand out. Beyond the numbers. Leaving aside salary differences, there are readings of the figures and the graph that cross borders. As the population ages, the need for care of all kinds inevitably increases, whether in residences or at home. On the other hand, it is true that AI is already affecting the IT sector: big tech companies are already slowing down hiring and there have been layoffsbut also that it will take someone who knows how everything works to implement it in different industries. In fact, one of the most in-demand profiles is AI engineering: it has increased by 278.5% since its lowest point in 2023 and currently has 24,957 vacancies open, according to data by TrueUp. In Xataka | What salaries are like in Europe, explained in a revealing graph In Xataka | The main companies in each province of Spain, on an interactive map that says a lot about the country’s economy Cover | Visual Capitalist

The future of energy lies in fusion, and China aims to light the first light bulb with the power of the Sun in 2030

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When we think of the future energyit is easy for us to think about renewables. Much of Europe has a while running with renewables, China is an expanding power and even some states in the United States They are seeing its benefits. However, the future lies in nuclear power. But not because of fission, but for the fusion. And China has just taken a giant step in the forecasts of its BEST program with a single objective. Replicate the process that powers the Sun. China and the ultimate energy. Fusion and fission are nuclear reactions that release energy from the nucleus of the atom, and That’s where their similarities end.. Briefly, fission consists of breaking the nuclei of heavy atoms such as uranium to release energy. It is the process that we use in current nuclear power plantsand decades ago we managed to make it something stable. Fusion is the reverse process: it joins light atoms to generate energy. It is tremendously unstable and the heat generated is enormous, but the process generates a much higher amount of energy. Imitate that star power It is extremely complex, but we have been trying to replicate it for years for a very simple reason: it is estimated that it will offer almost unlimited energy and long-lasting waste-freesomething against which nuclear fission can’t compete. China is one of the countries that is pushing the development of nuclear fusion plants the most, so much so that it intends to put the first plant into operation a decade before its competitors. EAST. It stands for ‘Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak’, an experimental program that China has been developing since 2006 to test the viability of commercial fusion energy. After setting some records for temperature and operating time, in 2021 achieved continuous plasma operation for 17 minutes in which the core operated at 70 million degrees Celsius. They are five times the sun temperature and, although temperatures of up to 160 million degrees were previously achieved for 20 seconds, the ideal is to maintain a very high temperature for as long as possible. Steps have continued to be taken and researchers recently discovered that the reactor could work at 165% of its maximum theoretical capacity without suffering disruptions. To contextualize, it is as if we have an engine designed to go at 200 km/h, but we discover that we can drive at 330 km/h constantly without it overheating. In short: China is taking steps to control the enormous challenge represented by the magnetic confinement of plasma. BEST. The ‘Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak’, for its part, is the spearhead of its nuclear fusion program. If EAST is the proof of concept, BEST is the demonstration of feasibility. The EAST steps are those that will be replicated in BEST, a reactor built on a larger scale that will operate for a shorter period of time in a sustained manner, but under conditions of greater energy gain. Goal: 2030. China began construction of the BEST in 2023 and hopes to complete it by 2027 to begin testing with plasma. If it goes well, the CFETR reactor will be the one that pours fusion energy into the grid. In a statement published by the state media Xinhuawe see that the intention is to generate electricity by 2030 and start do it commercially by 2035. If the goal is reached, China will be the first country that will be able to commercially emulate the power of the Sun to light the “first nuclear fusion light bulb” in history. Although, of course, the United States and Massachusetts They also say that they will be the first. They are not the only ones. If they reach the goal, it will be a fundamental step in achieving new generation energy, and they want to reach that future a decade before the rest of the countries, or so China suggests. In this race for nuclear fusion, the BEST is expected to begin operating commercially between 2030 and 2035. Meanwhile, in France there is the ITER. With 24,000 million euros in budgetis the most expensive international program in history, only surpassed by the Apollo Programthe International Space Stationhe Manhattan Project or the GPS system. It aims to be very powerful, but has constant delaysa budget that has overflowed and an operational date that has not been fulfilled. In the United States, a private startup is building SPARCmuch smaller than ITER, but more profitable. United Kingdom has the STEPJapan JT-60SA and Russia the T-15MD Hybrid. Talking about dates is complicated, since there were tests that were expected to be obtained in 2025 and were not achieved… and there is talk of between 2040 and 2060 for the commercial viability of this energy “from the stars”, although the calendars have been readjusted. China has turned new generation energy in a matter of stateand we will see if they meet their goal of starting production in 2030. And, although it seems that we have to put the artificial intelligence even in the soup, the enormous energy needs of this technology are encouraging advances in nuclear fusion. The joke that nuclear fusion energy always has 30 years to go may have come to an end. Images | Oak Ridge National LaboratoryNASA In Xataka | Europe is looking for where to put its first nuclear fusion reactor. And Spain is one of the best candidates

The director of the DGT says that in the future cars will not enter cities. It’s more of a wish than a reality

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Today is January 14, 2026 but, really, it doesn’t matter when you read this: Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, is once again in the news for some controversial statements. We could have titled this article that way, in fact, because the truth is that every time the Director of Traffic speaks at an event broadcast by the media there is something to scratch. This time it was at an event organized by Europa Press where Navarro showed off this particular superpower. There, he has assured the following: “We are all day with emissions, yes emissions, no such and such. Don’t look, you don’t go to the city center with electric, diesel or gasoline. Let’s not make a mistake. You go with public transportation and if you’re in a hurry, taxi, Uber or Cabify” They are literal words. There is no possible misinterpretation or audio cuts to take the message out of context. You can check it yourself in the tweet that accompanies this article. Click on the image to go to the original tweet The words clearly point to an ambition: to get the car out of the city center. It doesn’t matter if it’s gasoline, diesel or electric. There is a goal and that goal is vehicle sharing and public transportation. We could put our hands on our heads. We could say that they want to prohibit us from moving where the elites want. Of course, there will be those who relate this to 15 minute cities. However, we have been hearing similar messages for so long and the measures to be taken have been so lukewarm that, without fear of being wrong, I say: calm down. Once again, the same old thing This is not the first time, far from it, that we have heard this type of message from the director of the DGT. For two years, news and articles have been recurring that point to supposed prohibitions on using our cars if they are only occupied by one person. One of the most repeated formulas is found in these words from Navarro himself at an event called Global Mobility Call held in Madrid in 2024: “The future of traffic will be shared or it will not be (…) we must make a collective change in mentality that allows us to encourage high vehicle occupancy, because we cannot afford to move 1,500 kg every day to move a single person. Increasing vehicle occupancy is a challenge and a necessity” Navarro too has come to be described as “luxury” moving a single person in a vehicle. And in November he insisted again in that it doesn’t matter if the car is electric or not because the future of cities depends on public transport. However, the DGT has not taken any action that points in this direction nor is there anything on the table to debate it. The closest thing is the creation of a Bus-HOV lane at the entrance to Madrid where cars with two or more people traveling inside are rewarded. And that in 2019 it was also advocated from the DGT magazine for a city “with more pedestrians and fewer cars.” The statements have also been used to fill the network with articles pointing out that we will not be able to enter the center of our cities by car, linking them with the creation of low-emission zones. But the truth is that these low-emission zones have a very limited scope. In some of them, such as Madrid or Barcelonavehicles without a label are prevented from entering, but either there are exceptions or they allow all cars with a label to enter the very center of the city. It is true that sometimes you are forced to park in a parking lot but the passage, if our car has at least label Bit is open. Despite many statements by the DGT, the truth is that the efforts to reduce or not reduce traffic in cities go through the municipal corporations of each place. A context that has led to turning the issue of urban mobility into a political weapon. To the point of defending that traffic jams can be “a hallmark” of a city. The comparison between Madrid and Barcelona are two good examples. In the capital, the Popular Party won an election by ensuring that it was going to lift all circulation restrictions, something he didn’t do and that, in fact, he maintained to eliminate all unmarked cars (regardless of whether the driver lives in Madrid or not) from the city. Barcelona en Comú promoted a completely different way of understanding the city in Barcelona, ​​betting on pedestrianization, reduction of lanes in the city center and the creation of what are known as Superilles. It has also been promoted to be more aggressive and fence off the entrance to the city from the most polluting vehicles. Two different approaches that, however, have given a very similar result. And the measures against the car have been very lukewarm. In both cities, if the vehicle has an environmental label it can circulate inside, just taking into account a series of obligations that, in practice, barely change our daily lives. In Madrid, the idea of ​​preventing unlabeled cars from being banned was finally scrapped (as long as they are registered in Madrid). And prohibiting entry to city centers with cars is not something that is catching on in Europe either. Yes, the main cities have restrictions and barriers that discourage its use, but in all of them you can continue to travel to the city center by car. In London you want reduce traffic with tollsin Paris punishing street parking and in Berlin you are also forced to drive with certain modern vehicles. Be that as it may, the only certainty is that total prohibitions do not come and if citizens end up leaving their cars aside in the cities it is because they have been transversal jobs in different areas and sustained over timewith investments … Read more

There is a material on which the future of the iPhone and AI depends. And almost everything is manufactured by the same Japanese company.

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More than 100 years ago two Japanese textile companies called Fukushima Boseki Co., Ltd., and Katakura Seishi Iwashiro Bosekisho they joined forces to become Nitto Boseki Co. Ltd, also known as Nittobo. A century later we have encountered a giant on which a critical material for the future of our chips depends: glass fabric. Technological glass artisans. The Japanese company was the first in industrially producing carbon fiber. They did it in 1938, almost right at the same time as Owens Corning Fiber Glass in the US. Later, in 1969, they developed the “crystal fabric” or “glass cloth” (glass cloth), a material that began to be used in printed circuits Hello, T-glass. That material evolved and in 1984 they launched their T-glass, an even more specialized glass fabric that began to be used as a substrate in chips of all types. This material is different from the common fiberglass like that used in surfboards or in insulation solutions. Thus, it has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion, which ensures its good performance even when the chips are operating at maximum performance. Japan, we have a problem. As indicated on Nikkeiexperts warn that the lack of this material has become a major obstacle to chip manufacturing and the advancement of AI in 2026. Nittobo is practically the only company in the world capable of manufacturing this glass with the necessary quality. Its glass fabric is extremely thin, bubble-free and heat-resistant, which has made it a fundamental part of chips such as those used in iPhones. Apple, in fact, was one of the first major technology companies to reach an agreement with Nittobo to use this material. Everyone loves Nittobo. The good performance of this material has now made companies like NVIDIA, Google or Amazon also demand T-glass for their chips, and that has generated a worrying competition due to inventory that is quickly depleted and it is not clear that it can cope with demand. Apple asks for help. The situation is so tense that Apple has sent some managers to Japan and has even asked the Japanese government to intervene to ensure supplies from Nittobo. Once again the objective is to guarantee the launch of its key products, and at Nikkei they point directly to the expected foldable iPhone. The fiberglass fabric is a critical layer on the chip substrate and ensures that everything works perfectly even under heavy workloads. Source: Nikkei. Capacity will grow, but not immediately. At Nittobo they know very well what the situation is like, but they can’t do anything to remedy it, at least in the short term. A company executive quoted in Nikkei indicates that “if we do not have additional capacity, it means that we do not have additional capacity no matter how much pressure is put on Nittobo. The way I see it, the situation will only improve significantly when Nittobo’s production increase becomes a reality in the second half of 2027.” Looking for alternatives. Apple and Qualcomm are looking for plans B, and their initiatives to find new suppliers in China or Taiwan are already underway. However, the demand for the quality of this type of material is very high: an error in the quality of the glass of the chip substrate cannot be repaired, and would ruin entire batches of components. AI causes chaos again. We already saw it with memories: the AI ​​industry needs immense quantities of DRAM and NAND memory chips, and that has now meant that the rest of the world is suffering from a huge rise in prices. The same thing is happening with this glass fabric: AI chip manufacturers have an exaggerated demand for this material, which harms the rest of the “traditional” chip manufacturers and, therefore, the users. bad business. And as happens with memories, in the end the material is sold to the highest bidder, which are usually companies like NVIDIA that have exceptional profit margins. That leaves consumer electronics manufacturers in a vulnerable position and with declining sales forecasts. Nittobo does not want to saturate the market. And as happened with the memory market, Nittobo does not want to oversize its business in the face of this demand and prefers to be cautious. Japanese suppliers already suffered losses from overstocks in 2022, so they are now reluctant to expand their factories aggressively. It is precisely the same speech that Micron made, which already suffered from excess inventory after the pandemic: although they could now manufacture more memory chips, for them that means risking history repeating itself. In Xataka | A thousand-year-old mystery allowed us to put nanotechnology into modern screens. Today the discovery has a Nobel Prize

Carrefour has this 65-inch Samsung TV at an outlet price and gives you a coupon of more than 100 euros for future purchases

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Carrefour has been becoming, for some time now, one of those stores where we can find very good opportunities to buy a TV for our home. Now, it is celebrating its “Save the VAT” campaign and one of the bargains is this smart tv samsung TU65U7025FKwhich is reduced to 499 euros. Plus, you get a worth 104.79 euros for future purchases in your hypermarkets or in your online store. If you want it and you have the Carrefour Pass card (if you cannot request it easily), you can finance this TV in 10 installments of 49.90 euros. Samsung LED TU65U7025FK 65″ 4K UltraHD Smart TV Tizen HDR10 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A good, pretty and cheap TV This TV from the Korean firm has a 65 inch LED panel diagonal, making it ideal for setting up your own home theater. It offers 4K Ultra HD resolution and is compatible with HDR10+ and incorporates Filmmaker mode. Its speakers offer a 20W RMS power and incorporate Q-Symphony technology. Regarding the operating system under which it works, it is tizenwhich is typical of the Samsung firm. Another thing that this Samsung television stands out for is its compatibility with Apple AirPlay 2 and allows voice control through voice assistants Alexa, Google Assistant and Bixby. Finally, it is worth mentioning its connectivity section, since it has WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.3, three HDMIs, a USB 2.0 port and Ethernet. Some accessories that may interest you for this TV Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Sound Bar HW-B450F/ZF 2025 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Webedia and Samsung In Xataka | Best home theater projectors. Which one to buy and five recommended models from 299 to 18,000 euros In Xataka | Mega-guide to set up a home theater: projector, screen, sound system and more

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