gap

There is a huge gap between what we think medical marijuana does and what it actually does.

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Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, relaxing, sleep inducer, anti-tumor, anticonvulsant… It is not the definitive medication leaflet, these are just some examples of what I have found when searching for “medical marijuana benefits.” According to a survey in the United States and Canada, 27% of citizens have consumed it to treat anxiety, relieve pain and sleep better. What if it is not as effective as we thought? This is what UCLA has just concluded after an extensive study in which they have analyzed fifteen years of data. The study. We have known him through New York Times. This is a very extensive review in which a group of psychiatrists from the University of California has analyzed more than 2,500 articles published from January 2010 to September of this year. They have included clinical trials, meta-analyses and clinical guidelines and have prioritized those that are based on larger and more relevant samples. The beliefs. In recent years, cannabis has become popular after its legalization in the United States, where It already collects more taxes than alcohol. According to the survey we mentioned above, people who used for medicinal purposes did so mainly to relieve pain (53%), sleep better (46%), treat anxiety (52%) and depression (40%). The conclusions. The study is conclusive: there is a huge difference between what we believe and scientific evidence. The evidence is strong in very specific cases, such as loss of appetite associated with HIV/AIDS, chemotherapy symptoms (specifically nausea and vomiting), and some severe pediatric disorders that cause seizures. However, for other conditions, the studies analyzed did not provide conclusive evidence of its effectiveness. For example, in the case of pain, one of the most common uses, clinical guideline from the American Association of Clinical Oncology does not recommend it as a first-line treatment due to lack of evidence. For anxiety there is also no solid evidence on the effectiveness of THC, but CBD consumed orally did obtain more notable results in reducing anxiety. Risks. While the evidence on its effectiveness is doubtful in many cases, the evidence on the risks is more extensive. Marijuana is associated with the appearance of psychotic symptoms and anxiety, especially that which has a high THC content, increasing the risk of anxiety disorder by 19.1%. Smoking marijuana daily increases the risk of coronary heart disease by 2%, the risk of heart attack by 1.7% and stroke by 2.6%. Addiction. On the other hand, there is the issue of addiction. The study estimates that 29% of people who use medical marijuana have a substance abuse problem, especially those who smoke it. Speaking to the New York Times, the professor and expert Ryan Vandreystates that this explains the improvements in insomnia that many consumers advocate; It is not that marijuana makes them sleep better, it is that they sleep worse if they do not consume it due to their dependence on the substance. “If they stopped using cannabis for a month, they might notice an improvement in their sleep. But most never make it to that month because, after a day or two without sleep, they convince themselves that ‘this is the only thing that helps me sleep, so I have to keep using it,’” he says. The excuse. It so happens that many medical marijuana users do not have any medical prescription. According to one survey published this year77% of consumers declared using cannabis for medical purposes, but only 28% consumed on medical advice. According to Kevin Hill, one of the authors of the UCLA review, there are justified and effective uses of cannabis, but there is a huge group of users for whom medicinal use is the excuse to “rationalize their recreational use.” Image | RDNE Stock project, Pexels In Xataka | The positive (and quite predictable) effect of legalizing the sale and consumption of marijuana

Netflix decided to kill sending content to the TV. Apple has taken advantage of the gap to score a great goal

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Netflix decided to start the month of December by eliminating one of the most basic and useful functions of its mobile application: the ability to send content (cast) from our smartphone to any television with Android TV either Google TV. An essential tool to find content quickly on your mobile and send it to your TV. What we did not expect is that, in less than two weeks, Apple has responded indirectly by bringing its Apple TV for Android the feature that Netflix has decided to kill. Better late. Goodbye to Netflix Cast. It was easy to realize this. At home I have a Google Chromecast with Google TV and a Google Nest. Every time I wanted to send content from my mobile to my television… only the Google Nest appeared. That’s when I read the confirmation of the disaster: Netflix had loaded the Cast without any explanation. The exceptions. In the Netflix support page An exception is specified to continue using the Cast function: having a third-generation or earlier Chromecast device. In other words, versions without remote control. The second, have a plan without ads. If you don’t pay, you can’t send content to TV. Cast icon on Apple TV, make a wish. Given the gap in the squad, great goal. Since yesterday, a couple of weeks after Netflix’s move, the Apple TV application for Android is compatible with Google Cast, a function that was missing since the launch of the app at the beginning of the year on the rival platform. It is necessary to have the app updated to version 2.2 to be able to send our content to the television on any Chromecast. Apple being less Apple. Apple has had to respond to Netflix in the face of an undeniable reality: its service is a minority within the ecosystem of streaming platforms. Netflix is ​​the absolute king, followed by Prime Video and Disney+. And one of the reasons was one that we know quite well: using Apple is using a product tied to its ecosystem. Despite this, Apple TV+ is dangerously close to HBO Max, about to take fourth place in the ranking, according to data from JustWatch. In this context, the introduction of Cast goes beyond a minor function: It is a surrender (more) from Apple towards a more open ecosystem. And this works in your favor Allows Apple TV+ to sneak into homes with Android phones and tablets Reduces friction of use Reduce dependence on Apple’s hardware ecosystem What are you doing to win in Spain. Apple’s strategy to continue growing in Spain is clear: swim against the current with a strategy that does not introduce advertising in the app, a small catalog but with a large presence of proposals (expensive) and own and, now, simplifying the use of its app to reduce friction that had been artificially introduced. It won’t be enough. We told it a year ago and the numbers reaffirm it: there is hardly any war in streamingsince most of the content is converging on Netflix. The post-pandemic stage forced platforms to fight to distinguish themselves, while Netflix went public at the end of December 2024 at pre-pandemic levels. Be that as it may, given the growth of Apple TV in 2025, fight head to head against an HBO focused on quality It is great news for the company. Image | Xataka In Xataka | The best streaming platforms 2025 | Comparison of Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Movistar Plus+, Filmin, Apple TV, SkyShowtime and Rakuten TV: catalog, functions and prices

and the gap is 787 euros

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In the middle of the debate on the pension revaluation Looking ahead to 2026, the data show a much starker reality: there is a significant (and growing) gap between the pensions charged in the most industrialized communities and those that are less. With an aging population increasingly dependent on pensions, this gap between territories has become one of the great axes of economic inequality in Spain, to the point that between Vizcaya and Orense there is already almost 800 euros of difference in the average retirement pension. The two Spains in retirement. The Social Security data of November 2025 show that the provinces with higher salaries and a denser industrial fabric also concentrate the highest pensions, while the areas with lower salaries and older people are left behind. Social Security places the average retirement pension in Vizcaya at 1,872 euros per month, while in Orense it remains at 1,085 euros, which represents a gap of 787 euros per month between the province that pays its retirees the best and the one that does the worst. In 14 payments, this difference is equivalent to more than 11,000 euros per year between a pensioner from Biscay and one from Ourense. An upward trend. If we compare these same data with those of the same month As of 2020, the distance between the highest and lowest retirement pensions by province was around 615 euros per month, so in just five years this gap has increased by just over 170 euros per month according to the series from the National Social Security Institute. The data for November 2025 confirm that the Basque Country remains at the top of the retirement pension ranking, accompanied by Navarra, Madrid, Asturias, Aragon, Cantabria, Catalonia and Ceuta, which are above the national average. For their part, Galicia and Extremadura remain in the pension queue, well below the national average. Average Pension by autonomous communities. November 2025. Source: Social Security The weight of salary and the industry. This pension gap It is nothing more than a reflection of the salary situation of each of these communities. The Annual Salary Structure Survey from the INE for 2023 indicates that the average annual salary in the Basque Country was 33,504.92 euros, while in Extremadura it was 23,684.22 euros; The difference is around 41% and indicates that the Basque Country is clearly the community with the highest salaries and Extremadura is the one with the lowest salaries. These territorial differences are not the result of chance, but of type of jobs and salaries that each community has had for decades. The Social Security distribution system itself rewards long careers with high contributions, so that provinces with more industry and high salaries transform that advantage into more generous pensions. They are the same positions that they occupy in the ranking of communities with the highest and lowest pensions given the close relationship between the salaries received by workers, your Social Security contributions and the amount of their pensions. Therefore, those from more industrialized communities that have traditionally paid higher salaries are the ones that now have the highest pensions. An increasingly decisive pension. Given the aging of the population, pensions have already become the main stable income of a growing part of Spanish households, especially in the territories of emptied Spain, with the highest average age. In provinces like Orense or Zamorathe number of pensioners is approaching that of busywhich reflects the extent to which the local economy depends on the money that arrives each month from Social Security. This reality is aggravated in communities with less industrial fabric and worse salarieswhich have average pensions clearly below the national average and negative balances between contributions and benefit income, as occurs in Andalusia, Extremadura or Galicia. In Xataka | Being your own boss has a price: an average retirement pension 657 euros lower than that of employees Image | Unsplash (Val Vesa)

In 2007, 20% of homes were bought by young Spaniards. Now that gap is being filled by another group: foreigners

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With the skyrocketing priceshe decoupling between supply and demand in cities and a market increasingly inaccessiblethe notaries of Spain have found themselves with a curious fact (not unexpected) when reviewing the home buying and selling data. Operations led by young people have collapsed in recent decades. If in 2007 they represented 22.5% of the total, now they do not reach 10%. Of course, all groups have followed the same dynamic. The statistics Notaries show that there is another group of buyers that has experienced a diametrically opposite trend: foreigners. What has happened? That the General Council of Notaries (CGN) has launched a new tool on-line which helps us better understand the Spanish real estate market. Above all to study key aspects such as the evolution of prices, the pace of purchases and sales or the amount of operations, offering an alternative vision to that of portals such as Idealista. If something has attracted attention During its presentation, however, another indicator was: the weight of young people in the real estate market. Or rather, how it has been receding little by little. What does the data say? The conclusion of the notaries is quite clear. If we look back and analyze the last two decades, we see that “the presence of young people in the market has been drastically reduced.” In 2007, the younger population (those between 18 and 30 years old) was behind 22.53% of sales. Today that percentage has been reduced to 9.55%. In fact, the statistical portal shows that they are one of the groups with the smallest footprint on the market, only behind the group that is already over 70 years old. In general the latest data Updated CGN data show that those under 31 years of age have represented 9.35% of buyers over the last year, far from the 25.7% of the 31-40 age group or 26.89% of the 41-50 age group. For more than a decade, in fact, the average age of those who buy has been around 50 years old. It’s not surprising at all. Other studies have been pointing out for some time the difficulties with which young people encounter to access the real estate market (only a part manages to buy or rent) and above all its gradual weight loss. Do they show anything else? Yes. Young Spaniards may play a much more discreet role in the sector today than just a few years ago, but there is another group that has grown. So much in fact that has covered the gap left by those less than 30 years old. CGN data show that operations carried out by foreigners have skyrocketed in the last two decades: from representing 7.5% of the total in 2007, they have risen to 20.1%. The Vanguard specifies that the increase has been especially pronounced in the case of non-residents, who would be purchasing of the order of 50,000-60,000 properties per year. He statistical portal of notaries allows us to go a few steps further and get a more approximate idea of ​​which foreign citizens are interested in the Spanish real estate market. According to their updated data, the British represent 8.7%, the Moroccans 7.7% and the Italians are close to 7%. They are followed on the list by Germans (6.9%) and Romanians (6.4%). It is interesting that in some of these groups, such as the British, the percentage of non-resident buyers is higher than those who do have their habitual residence in Spanish territory. When comparing the evolution of foreign buyers and young people (between 18 and 31 years old), the data must however be handled with some caution, since the General Council of Notaries does not clarify to what extent they overlap. And what about the prices? In recent years the real estate market has been marked by another phenomenon as or even more relevant: rising prices. The data of Idealistic show that, in Spain, on average, the square meter of residential use cost 1,522 euros in September 2015. It now stands at 2,517. The data does not exactly match the calculated by the notaries, but it still gives an idea of ​​the increase in housing prices. The group estimates that last year the sector recorded a variation rate price increases of 7.12%, one of the highest in the last decade. In fact, it was only surpassed in 2022, when the figure was 7.23%. “From January to August 2025, apartment prices in Spain (new and second-hand housing) have increased by 8% compared to 2024. This situation is worsened in the country’s capital, with Madrid registering a price increase of 15.2%. In Barcelona the increase reaches 9.23%,” concludes the CGN. The director of the Technological Center of Notaries, Alberto Martínez Lacambra, admits In fact, the rise in housing prices “is beginning to be worrying.” And beyond prices? The weight loss of young people is explained by several factors. Although the increase in the price of residential m2 is a key factor, there is an added difficulty in saving (costs rise in the purchase and sale market, but also in the rental market) and accessing credit or deep imbalance between demand and supply that the most saturated markets suffer from. The situation is so complex and young people have it so difficult that in fact notaries have found another revealing surprise: they are increasingly most common donations of housing (or cash for purchases) between parents and children. Regarding the increase in foreign buyers, the trend coincides with another undeniable reality. One that goes beyond the effect of extinct ‘golden visa’: he general increase of the foreign population, which has helped Spain increase its GDP and strengthening of the registry, a reality recognized by the INE itself. In recent years, the country has also gained appeal as a vacation destination, to the point that it threatens to become with more visitors of the planet. Images | Emil Gabrovski (Unsplash) and Roberto Tjalondo (Unsplash) In Xataka | A 40m2 “capsule” for 25,000 euros: the Chinese solution to housing that … Read more

Toyota already knows that the gap with Tesla and Byd has its origin in its Japanese company culture

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We are living the future. The transition to the electric car and how this is being carried out will define what we will see in the coming years. With a changing political environment, hard emission regulations for Europe And a Chinese market that seems to Just look at borders insidethe investments that are made and the focus of how the future is faced will be key. Right now, saying what will be the design of a traditional car brand to ten or fifteen views is little less than adventurous. There are those who assume that Tesla has reached her roofthat Chinese manufacturers have complicated to follow Breaking barriers (economic and psychological in consumers) and that Toyota, very conservative, is the one who is playing the smartest game. And there are those that defend with cape and sword that Tesla has created a new way of understanding the vehicle, based on software. Also that China carries the front and that it is only a matter of time that we embrace throughout Europe the Byd, Nio, Xpeng and, of course, Xiaomi proposals. They are usually the same as they point out that Toyota is only taking the first steps of their decline or, at least, a logical setback given its brand strategy. Be that as it may, decade and a half will have to know who is right. However, we must recognize the latter who, in part, Toyota is concerned about how things advance internally. Also that you are taking measures to solve it. And that your business culture is key. The software as an example of a major problem We counted a few weeks ago that in Toyota they were worried about the way of working in the company. In their collaboration with Byd in China they had discovered that the company of the neighboring country worked at a devilish pace implementing changes in record time. They explained then in Reuters that much of the secret were in the evidence that each new change passed before being approved. While European manufacturers made thousands of kilometers before giving green light to each small modification, Chinese brands preferred put it as soon as possible on the street And, if necessary, apply changes when the vehicle development phase was already very advanced. That cultural shock is even more pronounced with Chinese manufacturers. Consulting specialized in the automobile market have already advanced to Toyota and the rest of Japanese manufacturers that their business culture, in which it is about working on the same concept and repeatedly improve it in search of perfection, is outdated. Then the Caseoft company already encouraged them to expedite the deadlines and think about electric cars from scratch and not only as a purely electric alternative of their combustion cars. This would allow them to save on components (applying plastic instead of more noble materials) and directly eliminate some of them (such as reinforcements that make sense not to transmit vibrations inside the car but lack them when what moves the vehicle is a combustion engine). On that path to adapt to the new times, Bloomberg Explain that Toyota has hired Code Chrysalisa Start Up based in Tokyo specialized in software development. That consultant says that Toyota has already understood the importance that software will play in the future but “remains slow.” Code Chrysalis is organizing intensive camps in Silicon Valley to improve the programming knowledge of Toyota employees With the latest ads about its upcoming electric cars and plug -in hybrids, Toyota confirmed that had worked in software completely renewed and anticipated that they would show more details when these cars are launched to the street. In the presentation of the new TOYOTA RAV4 It was specified that we were facing “the first step towards vehicles fully defined by software.” Already in May, Financial Times He echoed that Toyota had put a greater effort to evolve his software, understanding that in the future it will be a purchase value (if it is not already). With them, we knew that Toyota looked at Chinawith the aim of evolving and learning from those who have revolutionized the interior of their vehicles. Now we also know that, by the hand of Code Crysalis, the company is organizing camps in Silicon Valley to learn coding intensively and then try to replicate what they learned in its future models. However, in Bloomberg They point out that part of these chosen employees are disappointed Because they understand that efforts are still insufficient. In fact, the media indicates that the division designed to develop software has not been directly integrated into the vehicle development chain and that, among hands, have digitalization projects that affect the entire company. For some of the workers, the strategy is still too conservative. In your information, Bloomberg He explains that the company follows a too conservative philosophy in which those who have a long curriculum within the company are greatly rewarded and the labor harmony over risks. They put as an example the case of a worker interested in autonomous driving who, however, when he entered the company, he was doing a quality control of low importance quality. It is just another example of what Toyota defends as Kaizen philosophy. A business culture directly linked to a philosophical posture in which it is preferred to improve until the exhaustion is known before taking a new product and starting from scratch, on a blank paper. It is not accidental, therefore, that the company’s strategy is (at least for the moment) strikingly conservative. Toyota does not stop repeating that they will sell the proper car (electric, plug -in hybrid or combustion vehicle) In the right market. At the same time, what is undeniable is that they have a five years being the company that sells the most cars. The big doubt is whether in decade and a half we will be talking about the first steps of its stagnation or the winning strategy in front of a competition that launched into the arms … Read more

The decision that opens a gap between China and the United States and will define the future of AI

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It is one of the hottest debates in the AI race and that is making the difference between the two most advanced powers. China is committed to Open Source with models such as Deepseek, while in the United States they lead private developments such as Chatgpt or Claude. Meta, on the other hand, has been defending the Open Source for a long time. Or we believed. According to the New York Timesnew Mark Zuckerberg Superintelligence Team I would be questioning this strategy in favor of developing a closed model. Flying. If confirmed, it would be a drastic change in the finish line. In 2023, goal It joined other companies To defend the creation of open source models and have not been few times when Mark Zuckerberg has said that his AI is Open Source (although not all true). Now that the new Superintelligence Team commanded by Alexandr Wang He has started working, they are considering whether to continue with the plan or choose to develop a closed model. Behemoth. It is the name of the AI Open Source that Meta was developing, its largest model to date. In fact, Behemoth’s bad results would have been The trigger for Zuckerberg decided to create the new AI team. Nearby sources claim that one of the first discussions of the team has been to leave its development. There is also the possibility that Behemoth’s development continues and that the new team focuses on developing a new model that points to the great goal of goal: Create a general artificial intelligence. What is an open AI. The Open Source concept is not new, but with the arrival of AI there has been enough debate about its definition. The AI models are very complex and the classical definition did not adapt to them, so in October last year the Open Source Initiative agency The Osaid published (Open source ai definition), a definition with which Target I did not agree. In order for an AI open source, it must allow the following: Use the system for any purpose and without having to ask permission. Study the operation of the system and inspect its components. Modify the system for any purpose, even to change your performance. Share the system so that others use it, with or without modifications, for any purpose. Chinese patience. The United States and China are the two most powerful players in the AI race, but although they play the same game, they do it with Very different strategies. With Deepseekhis most famous AI model, China surprised to bet on the open source, a strategy that has allowed him Avoid the zancadillas that your rival puts With vetoes and restrictions. And it is not the only oun source in China, there are many more: Qwen from Alibaba, Doubou by bytedance, Ernie from Baidu, Hunyuan Turbo of Tencent or Kimi From MoNshot AI. It is not a matter of giving in exchange for anything, behind there is a strategy of Soft Power Technological: Today I give you access, with the intention of being dominant tomorrow. China wants to create global dependence on its models and be an alternative to the payment models of the Americans. China has the future vision and patience to do so, we have already seen how invested for decades to form engineers And that today gives a clear advantage in the AI race. American immediacy. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google… The greats of the AI of the United States have opted for private development and subscriptions to access their most leading models. The exception to the rule was put by the goal with flame, the only one whose code is accessible (at least part), But if they focus on private development, that closed approach will be armed even more. The objective is clear: they have the most advanced models and resources to continue training them, so they can obtain an economic benefit by monetizing them. They do it through subscriptions to pro versions or with specific products such as AI agents, it is the case of the newly announced Chatgpt agent. The trap. China’s strategy makes all the meaning if we take into account that they were behind their rival (although They have managed to cut positions in record time). With open and free IAS they manage to create a great very fast user base and create that dependence. However, it is not a good long -term strategy from the economic point of view. If in the future they begin to monetize, that sooner or later they will have to do it, they face two problems: that their users come out in disarray and that the regulators put their eyes in them. The United States maintains strong control and obtains benefits from minute one. Has the most sophisticated models, but every time prices are higher And that makes a luxury within reach of a few. Many will look for alternatives and there will be China with their open and free models. They are two opposite visions: one focused on the present and one in the future. We will have to wait to see what vision is imposed. Image | Bibek ghosh, and Kaboomps (Pexels) In Xataka | Four AI companies are monopolizing the intellectual future of humanity. They are not good news

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