Global

After electrifying cars, China is targeting trucks. It is a slap in the face to global diesel consumption

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China is one of the oil monsters. Not so much in generation, where they want to start being a powerbut in consumption. It is the fuel of hundreds of millions of vehicles They hit the road every day, but things are changing. Although the Asian giant has become one of the powers in car electrification, diesel seemed to have a break thanks to trucks. Not even that anymore. Diesel down. China is second diesel consumeronly behind the United States. transportation concentrate between 70 and 80% of that final consumption, but in recent years, the market has been going down. It is estimated that, in June 2024, diesel consumption fell to 3.9 million barrels per day. It’s still stupid, but it was 11% less than during the same period the previous year. It was the biggest drop since mid-2021 (logical because of the pandemic and the world situation) and despite the industrialization of the country and the rise of both national and international trade, this consumption has remained at a “plateau” for more than a decade. That is to say: it should be much greater than 10 years ago, but that is not the case. Another fact: in August 2024, 8% of new trucks were electric, but in August 2025, the figure was 28%. electric trucks. He rise of electric cars could explain this negative trend in diesel consumption, but as we say, the boats and, above all, trucks continued to support the market. That is no longer so clear, especially with the recent involvement of the Government. In April this year, the Ministry of Transport published, with the support of other government departments, a program to encourage the majority of new truck sales to be new energy by 2035. To achieve this, there are objectives, such as that by 2027 the share of electrical energy in final transport consumption must be 10% and the proportion of new new energy vehicles must be increased each year. The heavy truck seemed to be the bastion of diesel, but now it is one of the central pieces of this decarbonization of transportation. Paradigm shift. To achieve this, in addition to direct aid for the purchase of heavy electric trucks, China has launched a specific action to eliminate and replace old diesel trucks, with subsidies for their removal and replacement with new energy units. In fact, there are advantages: freer access to restricted urban areasfewer time limitations and discounts on tolls. In a report by The Associated Press This paradigm shift is reflected: if in 2020 almost all new trucks in China were diesel, by 2025 electric trucks already represent 22% of new heavy truck sales. As our colleagues point out Motorpassionthe arrow is inverse to that of diesel consumption: in the same period of 2024, that percentage was 9.2%. And the load? It represents a paradigm shift and there are analysts who predict that, by 2026, diesel will only account for 40% of sales. The rest: electric and gas trucks. Is the charging infrastructure? Because we are seeing advances in the development of solid state batteries that will allow greater autonomy, but until they arrive, it is necessary that there be numerous charging points to support the electrification of transport. The National Energy Administration and the Ministry of Transportation have already affirmed that 98% of highway service areas already have charging points, with widespread installation of 120 kW chargers and, in some segments, 600 and 800 kW chargers. The intention is for there to be some 28 million charging points throughout the country by 2027, and one of the key pieces in that expansion is CATL. The company is one of those leads the battery sector worldwideand is currently tracing a “green corridor” that will cover the major freight hubs to facilitate loading, but also to implement its battery exchange system that speeds up the process. Green curve… and economic. This electrification of commercial transportation would add to the objectives of decarbonization of the countrybut obviously truckers and companies also see a benefit in their pockets, or so they esteem. Although electric trucks are between two and three times more expensive than diesel trucks and cost 18% more than LNGare more efficient, have less maintenance and can help save between 10% and 26% over their useful life. Horizon. This change to the electrification of trucks would already be reducing the demand for oil in the equivalent of more than a million barrels per day, and that a giant like China stops depending on crude oil for its trucks is something that can shake the market internationally. And that ambition is not going to stay within its borders. If in recent months we have seen that China has flooded Europe with his electric carswe can expect something similar for 2026, but with trucks. And, furthermore, it has torn off in Hungary the construction of a factory for electric trucks and buses. It is evident that this path started by cars will be followed by trucks, which in the end are a important source of emissions in a world with increasingly global trade. Specificallya third of all transport-related carbon emissions in 2019. Images | Volvo, Cheng Long In Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

An investment of 2,350 million will make Extremadura a global supplier of diamonds for chips

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Trujillo will be a world center for the production of synthetic diamonds. A factory will be created there with a budget of 2.77 billion dollars (almost 2.4 billion euros) in which the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation will participate (SETT), with 753 million, and the American company Diamond Foundry (DF). And those diamonds will not be used for jewelry, but for especially powerful chips. The silicon problem. Current silicon chips have hit a “thermal wall.” By making them faster and more powerful, they get so hot that they lose efficiency or burn out. This slows down the progress of these chips and their application in fields such as artificial intelligence or automotive. Alternatives have been sought for a long timeand the diamond is precisely one of the most striking. The evolution of Trujillo. The Diamond Foundry factory will not make jewelry, but the synthetic diamond wafers it first produced two years ago. The diamond has a thermal conductivity much higher than that of silicon, with values ​​ranging between 1,000 to 2,200 W/mK compared to 153 W/mK for silicon. Or what is the same: it allows us to guarantee that, as they highlighted on IEE Spectrumthe chips of the future will remain “fresh.” The impact. By using diamond as the base or substrate for these chips, it is possible to run them at extreme speeds without overheating. This will position Spain as the world center of this critical technology. The North American company It already had two plants in Trujillo in which monocrystalline diamond (SCD) ingots were produced. The factories are also powered by solar energy, which is abundant in the Extremadura region. Zaragoza as a great ally. Those responsible for Diamond Foundry they explain in the official statement that the new factory is already underway with two construction shifts to accelerate the works. The ingots (the “raw” form of the material) will then go through a singling or cutting process that “slices” them into very thin sheets. These sheets, which are initially rough, are polished at a microscopic level and packaged in a sterile environment. Precisely this “post-processing” phase of production will be carried out in Zaragoza. The investment. The total budget they talk about in DF is 2,770 million dollars, about 2,392 million euros at the exchange rate. Of that amount, the SETT—which groups together previous investments such as PERTE Chip—, will contribute 753 million euros according to DF. It is expected that in the first ten years of the project the contribution to the Spanish GDP will be around 2,150 million euros, and it is expected to generate around 500 direct jobs and more than 1,600 indirect jobs. How to produce synthetic diamonds. While natural diamonds they take time to produce between 1,000 and 3,300 million years old, in Trujillo they are manufactured in approximately one month. To achieve this, DF uses 20 plasma reactors that exceed 1,000 degrees in temperature and generate conditions similar to those found in nature. The process starts with a 20.0 x 20.0 x 0.2 mm diamond “seed” that, when subjected to a combination of gases and a microwave process, grows until it reaches the optimal dimensions for use. Di Caprio, among investors. A curiosity: the San Francisco-based company was founded in 2012 by Martin Roscheisen and Jeremy Scholz, but what is surprising is its list of investors. Among them are iPod co-creator Tony Fadeel, Twitter founder Evan Williams and actor Leonardo di Caprio. The water problem. Diamond Foundry’s plants in Trujillo have faced significant problems related to their water supply. It is estimated that the plants need at least 730,000 cubic meters of water per year, which exceeds the annual drinking water consumption of the entire population of Trujillo. Various platforms such as Save El Berrocal and Ecologistas en Acción have warned of that danger, although Diamond Foundry has defended that its plan is based on the reuse of water from the Trujillo Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The Extremadura Government gave the green light to some modifications to the original DF project and considered that the factories would not produce significant adverse effects on the environment. In Xataka | China defies geology: it manufactures in a week what the Earth takes a billion years to do

The Earth is headed for a new ice age, according to a Science study. And it is precisely because of global warming

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Science is largely in agreement when it suggests that the Earth’s temperature it increases more and moreand logic could lead us to think that the world is going to become in a real desert like the one in Almería. But to everyone’s surprise, what can happen is a great ice agethat is, everything ends up covered in ice. And although it may seem illogical, science wanted to give light about this topic. They have been new models from the University of Bremen and the University of California Riverside, published in Sciencewho have located right there one of the great unexpected dangers of terrestrial geochemistry: under certain conditions, excess heat can activate “biological accelerators” that then cool the planet beyond its original state. Even to reach an ice age. Beyond the rocks. Something that may be unknown to many is that the Earth has a temperature control system like the thermostat in our home. The most accepted was regulation by the slow wear of silicate rocks. However, geological records show episodes in which this natural “thermostat” fails: the Earth freezes from pole to pole, as during the Precambrian glaciations. What is missing from the equation? The new study points to the decisive influence of marine biology and nutrient cycles, especially phosphorus and oxygen. An unexpected loop. When CO₂ emissions and global temperatures rise, the arrival of phosphorus into the oceans also increases, fertilizing the proliferation of algae. These remove CO₂ thanks to photosynthesis in the water, and when they die, they transport that carbon to marine sediments, where it can be trapped for millions of years. As if it were a dumping ground for carbon dioxide on the seabed.. But the key to the loop is oxygen: the explosion of algal productivity consumes the oxygen in the water, meaning that almost no living being can live here. Under these conditions, phosphorus stops being buried and instead of being eliminated it is recycled from the sediment. This fuels new “super blooms” and closes a vicious cycle: ‘More nutrients → more algae → less oxygen → more nutrient recycling → extreme cooling’. The result is that the biological thermostat goes crazy, sequestering carbon at a frenetic pace that the rocks’ slow thermostat cannot compensate for. The new model. The new model integrate these quick feedbacksadding sedimentary chemistry, the phosphorus cycle and the oxygenation state to the traditional silicate weathering models. Surprisingly, when predicting the effect of the “great human experiment” of releasing CO₂, he finds that the system does not always smoothly return to the previous statebut it can overcompensate and take the planet to colder times, in deep glaciations, for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years.​​ This only occurs when the atmosphere is less rich in oxygen, something common in Earth’s past, which may explain why ice ages coincide with intermediate periods of planetary oxygenation. Today, that same loop would make the “reward” much smoother, although there would still be the risk of long-term cooldown. If we continue burning fossils. In this way, other scientific studies already suggest that large inputs of phosphorus, whether due to massive mining or increased weathering induced by climate change, can increase the risk of anoxia and abrupt cooling events, although this scenario would take centuries or millennia to develop. This is why the acceleration of the phosphorus cycle together with the increase in CO₂ concentrations is conditioning us to the climate changes that we will see in a few million years. And although the Earth system may have the mission of stabilizing, the reality is that this system cannot always be trusted. Images | Denise Schuld In Xataka | We have just identified the oldest glaciers in the world. Where: under South Africa’s big gold mines

The first, create a global center that regulates AI. The second, be in Shanghai

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The Chinese president presented at the APEC summit your proposal to establish a World Organization for Cooperation in Artificial Intelligence. It is the first time that Xi speaks publicly about this initiative that Beijing has been working on since the beginning of the year, and the message is clear: China wants to lead the global governance of AI compared to the United States. A proposal in a regulatory vacuum. Xi Jinping defend that this international body should establish AI governance rules and encourage cooperation between countries, turning artificial intelligence into “a public good for the international community,” according to collect the Xinhua agency. The Chinese leader stressed that “artificial intelligence is of great importance for future development and should be done for the benefit of people in all countries and regions.” The United States, for its part, has rejected attempts to regulate AI through international organizations, leaving the door open for other powers to take the initiative. Shanghai as a technological epicenter. Official Chinese sources have confirmed that the organization would be based in Shanghai, the country’s financial and technological center. The election seeks to consolidate the city’s position as a global benchmark in innovation and strengthen the Chinese technological ecosystem at a time when Beijing is promoting what it calls “algorithmic sovereignty”, as they mention from Reuters. A recent example is that of DeepSeekwho launched cheaper AI models as an alternative to Western solutions dominated by advanced Nvidia chips. Additionally, China has a large presence when it comes to open source models, with companies such as Alibaba being the reference through their models qwen. Strategy. The proposal comes at a strategic moment. The APEC summit, which brings together 21 nations that represent half of world trade, approved a joint declaration and pacts on AI and the challenge of population aging. China took advantage of this scenario to position itself as a leader in multilateral cooperation, especially after Trump’s absence at the leaders’ summit held in the South Korean city of Gyeongju. The American president returned directly to Washington after his bilateral meeting with Xia meeting in which a temporary one-year agreement was promised to partially reduce the trade and technological controls that had triggered tension between the two largest economies in the world. Beyond AI: green technologies. Xi too took advantage the forum to urge APEC members to promote the “free circulation” of green technologies, a sector that ranges from batteries to solar panels and in which China largely dominates. This is a complementary strategy, as the country seeks to maintain its competitive advantage while proposing to regulate AI at a global level. Next stop: Shenzhen 2026. China will host the APEC summit in 2026 in Shenzhena city of almost 18 million inhabitants that Xi described as a former fishing village transformed into a technological power after becoming one of the country’s first special economic zones in the 1980s. Today it is a nerve center for advanced manufacturing, from robotics to the production of electric cars. It will be a new opportunity for Beijing to continue pushing its vision of technological and commercial cooperation. Cover image | aboodi vesakaran and Xataka with Mockup Studio In Xataka | Volvo and Pirelli have been in the hands of Chinese groups for years: they are just two examples of how China is buying Europe

This is how they are using oysters to stop global warming

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A few days ago we said that 55,000 oysters were about to invade the Mar Menor and, as strange as it may seem, it is good news. It is about the first step of a project of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography to recover the flat oyster in the largest lagoon in the country and, at the same time, introduce a natural biofilter that contributes to solving the dead end in which that area is. And this is just one example of something really curious: for years, oyster farming has been claimed as (perhaps) the (only) “agricultural” industry that is good for the global environment. And it’s not a ’boutade’: we have data. A few days ago, Nature magazine published a very interesting analysis of life cycle in Irish oyster farms. From there we can extract numerous data on its ability to reduce “environmental and climate pollution”: for every ton of oysters, 3.05 kilos of nitrogen, 0.35 kilos of phosphorus and about 70 kilos of carbon are fixed. All aquaculturists they know that oysters are “ecosystem engineers.” They filter water, reduce turbidity, eliminate problematic components and facilitate the robustness of habitats and boost biodiversity. That is to say, there is no doubt about the local benefits of this type of exploitation. The news is, in any case, that this contribution also goes beyond the local. And is it? Compared to terrestrial livestock farming, bivalves usually have a low carbon footprint in relation to their protein density. In fact, according to the analysis we were talking about, the footprint per ton is very manageable and a good part of it is offset by the mineralized carbon of the shells. If they manage well, of course. Because, if we look at the raw data, as a global climate solution, oysters are a modest strategy. In the end, carbon balances depend of the specific site, the management of the bivalves, the reuse of shells and, of course, the energy used throughout the production chain. Therefore, when we talk about “potential to fight climate change” we must keep two things in mind. The first is its ability to show that we can build another food industry. The second is to show that the impact of the things we do goes beyond what we are able to see directly. In the case of oysters, we have to take into account that their impact on water quality and biodiversity is not only powerful and cost-effective; but rather contributes to stopping climate change indirectly. Good news beyond the specific data. That’s the summary: if oysters can change the playing field; If they can push us, even an inch in the right direction… welcome. Image | Visual Animation In Xataka | The Mar Menor is so bad that scientists only see one solution: put 60 million oysters in there

OpenAI has turned the global economy into Russian roulette with a single bullet: AGI

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2025 is being the year in which OpenAI has ceased to be a technology company and has become a black hole that attracts capital, expectations and the destiny of companies that move billions, with a ‘b’. Sam Altman has designed a scenario where there are only two possible outcomes: AGI for them or collapse for everyone. Why it is important. OpenAI’s valuation has reached $500 billion as an unlisted company. It has moved more than a billion (also with ‘b’ and it is not a false friend of “billions”) in deals in recent weeks. Those figures only make sense if they get the AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). If not, everything explodes. The panoramic. A year ago, a round of 6.6 billion It seemed like an astronomical figure. Nine months later, 40 billion. Now we talk about 100 billion with NVIDIA. And so naughty. When we reach these magnitudes (and they are repeated) we stop talking about simple capital injections and talk about binary bets on the future of the world economy. The problem is that these figures have dragged other giants to the same precipice. The backdrop. Microsoft was the first to get hooked. Then he considered divorce and since then They are still together, but sleeping in separate beds. Furthermore, OpenAI has achieved something more dangerous: chaining Oracle, AMD and above all NVIDIA, the most valuable company on the planet on the stock market. If OpenAI clears its throat, all NVIDIA knobs jangle. And if NVIDIA falls, it drags down the S&P 500. The domino effect would reach pension funds, corporate spending and the US GDP. And from there, a chain effect for the economy of the rest of the world. behind the scenes. NVIDIA is not only funding OpenAI, it is also guaranteeing some of the debt the startup needs to build its own data centers. Is circular money: NVIDIA sends money in exchange for shares. OpenAI uses it to rent chips from NVIDIA. And those contracts allow NVIDIA to take on more debt to continue financing OpenAI. A loop that only works as long as the music continues playing. When the Titanic began to sink, the orchestra’s musicians were forced to continue playing. Yes, but. AI already works. It is already transforming sectors. Nobody doubts it. You don’t need to be AGI to have value. The problem is that OpenAI does need AGI to justify these insane valuations. They have set up a structure where any slowdown, any sign of doubt, will trigger panic. The money trail. Altman has found in Masayoshi Son to the perfect partner. The SoftBank founder has a history of big bets blowing up and miraculous saves (Alibaba, ARM). The Altman-Masa combination is a capital cannon pointing skyward. But it is also a detonator: if they fail, the explosion will be proportional to the ambition. According to Altman’s analysis, OpenAI has to beat Google before the latter’s TPUs hit the market and change the rules of the game. That’s why the rush. That’s why Atlas. That’s why the agreements with Broadcomconversations with Intel, promises to AMD. It’s not just about building the best AI, it’s about surviving until you get it. The big question. What if another macroeconomic event stops everything before superintelligence arrives? OpenAI is racing against the clock, it needs AGI before the economy trips over its own shadow. Meanwhile, the market rewards these alliances with instant increases. Oracle has multiplied its value just by announcing agreements with OpenAI. Capitalism of expectations: benefits are no longer needed, only promises of a future that does not yet exist. The same thing happens to others because OpenAI is the new King Midas. Decisive moment. This is no longer a bubble that can burst. It is a bet that can fail. And the difference matters. A bet drags down everything around it. OpenAI is already too big to fail without causing a cataclysm. Which makes it probable an Intel-type state bailout if things go wrong. Altman knows that many AI companies will disappear when the euphoria ends. Only the largest will survive. OpenAI plays at being so big that it has to be rescued. It’s already happened with the dotcoms‘. It can happen again. OpenAI has forced a binary scenario: either we achieve AGI or we face a brutal recession. AI works, transforms, improves processes. But that is no longer enough. We need trillions in value created. And if they don’t arrive in time, the collapse will be rapid. And ugly. In Xataka | AI is giving a second youth to unexpected actors: the old guard of enterprise software Featured image | OpenAI, Alexander Gray

There are more robots working in Chinese factories than in the rest of the world together. Beijing’s strategy is already a blow of global authority

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Close your eyes for a moment and imagine The country with more robots in its factories. The logical thing would be to think of Japan, and not a few would also include the United States in the quiniela. However, the most recent figures point out another destination and do it clearly: China, where robotics has ceased to be an experiment to become the daily pulse of production. It should be specified from the start: we do not talk about showcase humanoids, but of industrial welding robots, manipulation and assembly, which are transforming how it is already manufactured what speed. The last report From the International Robotics Federation offers the clearest photograph of this phenomenon. In 2024 alone, Chinese factories installed about 300,000 industrial robots, a figure higher than the rest of the combined world. In parallel, the total park exceeded two million active units, well above any competitor. In contrast, the United States added 34,000 new robots in its production and Japan lines around 44,000, confirming the magnitude of the Chinese jump. China not only competes, already dominates China’s hegemony in industrial robotics has not appeared out of nowhere. Since 2017, its factories have installed Between 145,000 and 295,000 annual robotswith a especially strong jump from 2021. Pandemia barely slowed that progression, and in 2024 the figure was again located around 300,000 units. In contrast, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Germany not only started from much more modest volumes, but also registered declines in the last statistics. The next step in the Chinese strategy was not only to install robots, but to manufacture them on a large scale. For the first time, Chinese suppliers sold more than foreigners in their own market: 57% of the 2024 facilities were of local origin. On a global scale, Japan remains the main manufacturing country (around 38% of the world supply, according to IFR). This turn reduces dependence, although it does not equals full technological autonomy Chinese industrial policy has been decisive to accelerate the transition to automation. The initiative Made in China 2025 marked the first great milestone in 2015, with the aim of REducate dependence of imports in key sectors. Six years later, in 2021, the country adopted a specific plan to multiply the deployment of industrial robots. This planning added loans at low interest from state banks and support for technological purchases abroad. The result has been a fertile terrain for the expansion of Chinese robotics. When talking about robotics, the most common image is that of humanoids as Optimus either Figure. However, the figures that place China in the lead correspond only to industrial robots: mechanical arms that weld, assemble or move materials in the production line. The report leaves humanoids out, still in an experimental phase and with very small sales. Even so, the state impulse has generated an ecosystem of humanoid -centered startups, such as UNITREEalthough its weight in the industry remains marginal. The figures that place China in the lead correspond only to industrial robots. The integration of artificial intelligence into the factory is not exclusive to China: Japan, South Korea, Germany or the United States also apply with vision systemsautomated failures and quality control algorithms. What distinguishes Beijing is the scale with which this practice has spread, until it becomes a usual component of its industrial strategy. In many plants, the AI ​​monitors real -time machines, anticipates breakdowns and adjusts processes. This broader and more coordinated deployment has multiplied the impact of automation. The technological jump also depends on the people who make it possible. China has a large number of specialized technicians, from programmers to industrial electricians, capable of installing and maintaining robots in complex environments. Even so, the demand exceeds the supply and salaries of the installers have shot, already around $ 60,000. This talent gap reflects a global bottleneck: automation does not advance with capital and machines, it needs professionals who integrate it into the factory. Chinese leadership in industrial robotics still has clear borders. Although the country already manufactures a third of world robots, it continues to depend on foreign supplies for some key components. High precision sensors and advanced semiconductorsfor example, they are still domain from Japan and Germany, with decades of technological advantage. This deficit limits China’s ability to assemble higher range robots, especially humanoids. Even with a thriving ecosystem, technological autonomy is not yet complete and marks one of Beijing’s pending challenges. Although China continues to depend on foreign suppliers, the weight of its market already conditions global dynamics. By producing and installing more robots than anyone, it achieves economies of scale that reduce automation projects and pressing international prices. Its volume also gives it the capacity to influence technical standards and equipment interoperability. In the supply chain, the center of gravity moves to Asia, forcing other countries to adapt to an ecosystem in which China marks the rhythm, even without still controlling all technology. The map of industrial robotics is no longer understood without China in the center. In the next two years, the attention will be to verify whether to reduce its dependence on key components and if it maintains the rhythm of 300,000 new annual facilities. Beijing does not hide that he wants to extend this model to emerging sectors such as humanoids and reinforce their weight in global chains. For the rest of the world, the question is not whether China will continue to lead in volumebut how to respond to a strategy that combines scale, industrial policy and technological ambition. Images | Simon Kadula | Arthur Wang In Xataka | Qualcomm believes that the 6G will be the final network for AI and has already set it: the reality is that 5G is still in diapers

His startups are born thinking of global

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Factorial announced a few days ago that It has already reached 100 million dollars of recurring annual incomebecoming one of the twenties Scaleups European that achieve this figure in the last decade. The human resources startup founded in Barcelona by Jordi Romero, Bernat Farrero and Pau Ramon already serves more than 14,000 companies in ten countries. Why is it important. This figure marks a change of mentality in the Spanish ecosystem. For many years, the country startups have focused on the domestic market of 48 million inhabitants (since this year already 49), Treating international expansion as an optional second step. Factorial is different: since 2019 he thought of global, not local. “We are equally ready, handsome, high and strong anywhere in the world,” Its founders have said. A phrase that summarizes the new attitude: Spain as a trampoline, not as a final destination. In perspective. Other recent cases reinforce this trend: Lingokids He has raised 120 million dollars to climb his global educational product. Ultralyticswith headquarters in Madrid and London, it processes 2,000 million daily inferences in 200 countries. Wallboxborn in Barcelona, ​​quotes in New York and sells electric loaders in more than 80 markets, although it has been collapsing for years. Jobandtalent It has expanded strongly in the United Kingdom and the United States After consolidating in Spain. Glovo demonstrated the ability of a Spanish startup to expand to dozens of countries in record time, although it is in the hands of Delivery Hero. There are also less brilliant examples, such as Faver, today turned into a global reference of entertainment, which failed in his first attempt to internationalization and had to forward his strategy before growing again. Cases that show that going out soon is an opportunity, but also a risk. The context. Talking about the “49 million” is to fall short: it is not only the size of the market, but its fragmentation. Climbing a B2B product in Spain is to face regulatory barriers, client dispersion and a purchasing power lower than that of the greats hubs Europeans There is the difference with markets such as Germany, France or the United Kingdom, where many startups can grow at home before going outside. In that sense, Spain is approaching the logic of small countries where unicorns proliferate, such as Lithuania (Vinted, Nordvpn) or Norway (Opera, Remarkable), forced to be born global. Between the lines. The change goes beyond the strategy. It is a mental revolution that leaves behind the “Spanish imposter syndrome”. In 2000 and 2010, success used to be selling a foreign buyer (such as Tuenti to Telefónica either Social Point A Take-Two). Today, the horizon is different: Maintain independence. Quote in the bag. Become buyers instead of acquired. Factorial has rejected purchase offers and plans to reach 1,000 million income without selling. The threat. This new ambition also uncovers the shortcomings of the ecosystem. They are needed … Funds capable of leading rounds of 50 or 100 million. An international talent that still does not flow with the same ease of Madrid or Barcelona as towards London or Berlin. And a investment culture more willing to assume long -term risk. The Spanish venture capital market has grown, but is still limited to the hubs Dominants from Europe. Deepen. Spain, however, has structural advantages to sustain this turn: Spanish connects with 500 million speakers and opens a natural bridge to Latin America. The geographical position places the country as a hinge between Europe and America. Talent costs remain competitive in front of large European centers (Aka “We are cheaper”). In a world where teleworking allows you to attract engineers and managers from anywhere, Spain can become an attractive pole not only to create, but to retain global companies. At stake. The turn to the global is a change of role for Spain in the digital economy. Spain can become an exporter of technology with a global influence capacity, or resign to remain an acquisition nursery for foreign multinationals. The difference will be made by the maturity of its venture capital, the ability to attract and retain international talent and the ambition of its founders. Factorial and its contemporaries have shown that it is possible, now it remains to be seen if they will be exception or precedent. In Xataka | The Spanish unicorn that does not stop growing: the unstoppable promotion of factorial within the technology industry Outstanding image | Factorial

What North Korea is a global threat by land, sea and air

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It happened a few hours ago. Kim Jong Un revealed A plan to develop a new intercontinental ballistic missile of solid fuelthus showing the advances of your arms program just before traveling to Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping and Putin in the framework of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Because North Korea has gone from being a possible threat To confirm as a challenge to international order. The new axis and an impulse. The weekend, The Washington Post dissected the latest advances by Pyongyang. Since 2021, when Kim Jong a presented a five -year plan to develop nuclear capabilities of great powers, North Korea has made unexpected advances thanks to a favorable international context and the direct support of Russia. We have gone counting. The war in Ukraine opened a Cooperation channel Strategic: Pyongyang He provided artillery and troops to a moscow eager for ammunition, I have already received Technological transfermilitary assistance and economic support. This turn reduces North Korean dependence of the United States as an interlocutor and reinforces Kim’s ability to challenge the West with a more diverse and modern arsenal. Progress in eyelets and deterrence. One of the recent milestones has been the presentation of the HWASAN-31a miniaturized tactical eye that reflects progress in the adaptation of nuclear weapons to missiles. Although it has not yet been tested in detonation or atmospheric reentry, its mere existence suggests that Pyongyang advances towards a more flexible and difficult arsenal to neutralize. At the same time, Kim maintains the ambition of completing the development of a bomb high -power hydrogensupported by continued production of highly enriched uranium, which reinforces the threat of an increasingly varied repertoire of weapons. Missiles, satellites and saturation. In the last four years North Korea has tried Intercontinental Balistic missiles with reach to American continental territory, in addition to tactical missiles for Japan and South Korea. After several failed attempts, he managed to put a Military Recognition Satellitea long -distance strategic objective. The current challenge lies in the development of multiple reentry vehicles (MIRV), which would allow a single missile transport several heads nuclear towards different targets, complicating the American antimile defense. An essay in 2024, although failed in its propulsion phase, confirms the seriousness of the project and anticipates more evidence in the immediate future. Nuclear and hypersonic submarines. It We also count. The regime has shown the structure of what it states will be its first submarine of nuclear propulsiona technology reserved for a small world club. Although experts believe that it is far from operability, the Russian experience in this field could accelerate the deadlines, as already happened with India in the 1980s. At the same time, Pyongyang has tried hypersonic missiles and a new generation planning vehicle, The Hwasong-16bwith an alleged flight of 930 miles at speeds superior to Mach 12. Although doubts persist about the veracity of this data, the continuous effort suggests that North Korea wants to enter the most advanced technological career of contemporary weapons. Drones and the lesson of Ukraine. The use of drones has become A plan pillar North Korean. Pyongyang has deployed recognition models and is producing armed devices capable of launching GPS guided bombs. His direct learning of war in Ukraine, together With Russian cooperation In manufacturing of geran drones (Derivatives of the Iranians Shahed), has allowed a qualitative leap. Russian instructors They train to North Korean pilots, consolidating a new dimension of the Technological Alliance. The slowness of Seoul to develop an equivalent strategy reinforces The tactical advantage of Kim in the Korean Peninsula. Satellite image that shows the Operational Base of SinPung Dong missiles in North Korea on August 12 The magnitude of the program. Had a few hours ago The CNN that the discovery of the secret missile base of Sinpung-Donglocated just 27 kilometers from the border with China, confirms the existence of strategic facilities that Pyongyang has never declared and that are part of a hidden network of between 15 and 20 complexes of storage and deployment of ballistic missiles. The report The Center for Strategic and International Studies warns that from there they could deploy to nine intercontinental nuclear capacity missiles with their respective mobile pitchers, configuring a direct threat not only for East Asia, but also for much of the United States continental territory. Location and base size. Raised in a mountainous valley and crossed by a stream, the base occupies an area of 22 square kilometerswhich makes it more extensive than, for example, the JFK International Airport in New York. The first evidence of its construction date back to 2004, and satellite images point out that it has been fully operational since 2014. Since then, it has remained in good condition, with continuous extensions that reflect the modernization of North Korean Arsenal. The site also gives a Geopolitical advantage: By being so close to the Chinese territory, any military operation against the base entails the risk of triggering an incident with Beijing, a strategic calculation that reinforces the deterrent value of the complex. So that. Although it is not known with certainty what type of missiles are stored in Sinpung-Dong, analysts consider it likely to be The Hwasong-15 or Hwasong-18both intercontinental and with nuclear capacity. The complex would also be equipped with Mobile transport units And launch, capable of leaving the enclosure in crisis situations, meeting with nuclear eyelets and executing shots from previously prepared scattered positions. This operation scheme increases the survival of arsenal and the difficulty of neutralizing it with a preventive attack. Camouflaged infrastructure. There are more, since The study details The existence of control stalls, warehouses, command buildings and small homes inside the complex, some of them camouflaged under thick trees and thickets, invisible in most satellite images except in winter. In other words, this degree of concealment seems to reveal a dispersion and deception strategy that seeks to guarantee the operational continuity of the program. The base fits what experts call The “missile … Read more

What is global warming, what are its causes and how we are trying to fight it

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The concept “global warming” seems to have fallen into disuse. Today we often speak of concepts such as “climate change” or even “anthropogenic climate change.” Are synonyms? Two expressions with which we can refer to the same phenomenon? Not quite. We could say that global warming is a single Appearance of climate changealthough perhaps it is the central aspect of this. The difference between one concept and another can be subtle but understanding it can help us better understand the phenomenon as a whole. What is global warming Let’s start with the basic question: what is global warming. We call global warming to a phenomenon observed in recent decades: a Increase in the global average temperature Atmospheric This increase in temperatures is not uniform or constant, but the records indicate that it has been producing, at least, Since the beginning of the 20th century. It is impossible to give a concrete measure of this increase since it can vary depending on the reference period we use. For example, According to the data of the surveillance system Copernicuswe can ensure that the temperature of the year 2024 was 1.65º Celsius higher than the pre -industrial average temperature, understood as the average temperatures between 1850 and 1900. It was the first year in which we exceed the imaginary figure of 1.5º, a key figure for climate experts. The figure must be taken with caution: the natural variability of global temperatures, including factors such as the oscillation of the southern El Niño could have contributed to an extremely warm year. That is why the trend is in this case more important than the data itself. Difference between global warming and climate change We indicated at the beginning that global warming It is one of the aspects of a more general phenomenon, Climate change; also called anthropogenic climate change to distinguish it from the numerous climate changes that have occurred throughout the geological history of our planet. We generally see the weather as something static, in contrast to the weather, changing. However, the weather varies not only depending on our location but also over time. What makes special climate change are two factors: the rapid speed at which the climate and its anthropogenic origin change. He Average increase in global temperatures It is the key characteristic of climate change, but not the only one, so the distinction between both concept is important. Climate change includes changes in the evolution of rain patterns or extreme weathering phenomena, changes in atmospheric and oceanic circulations, or even Located atmospheric cooling. Causes of global warming Something that have in common climate change and global warming is their origin, the accumulation of Greenhouse gases. Although we continue studying the details, the scientific community keeps a general consensus in regards to the triggers of this phenomenon. The industrial era has seen a rapid increase in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and other gases greenhouse effect like methane. Under normal conditions, part of the solar energy that our planet reaches is reflected back to space. These gases favor the retention of an important portion of this energy. This generates an imbalance that causes the Earth’s atmosphere to accumulate energy in the form of heat, thus causing the so -called global warming and thus unleashing changes in the climate that go beyond the simple increase in temperature. How global warming affects us We have been studying the consequences of this accumulation for decades in the atmosphere and the possible impacts planned in two dimensions: its severity and the certainty we have about its appearance. The increase in temperatures has direct consequences. More heatFor example, It implies health riskssuch as heat blows or cardiovascular problems, but also implies a greater energy expenditure when it comes to refreshing households, workplaces or vehicles. Also can affect agricultureto the Habitats of many animals and implies greater evaporation of water which increases the risk of drought. Not all impacts in the planet’s heating are negative: in some areas, an increase in temperatures can have positive effects for agriculture or for the health of those who inhabit these areas. The problem is that it does not seem that these advantages will compensate for the negative impacts we expect. Periodic reports of the Intergovernmental Panel against Climate Change of the UN (IPCC), dedicate part of their attention to the impact evaluation, taking into account the aforementioned dimensions: severity of the impact and the degree of certainty that we have regarding these impacts. The last iteration of this report, the sixth evaluation report, was published in 2022. How can we reduce global warming Strategies to dodge the impacts of global warming (and climate change in general) are divided into two groups: adaptation strategies and mitigation strategies. Those that lead us to reduce warming in itself are what we call mitigation. Mitigation strategies seek accelerating speed with which these gases are extracted from the atmosphere. For now the efforts to stop this increase in concentrations have served little, but at least we have managed to reduce the rhythm at which concentrations increase, According to the latest IPCC report. How can we adapt to heating The strategies that are based on assuming that a certain degree of heating is, at least, very likely so We must adapt To this they are classified, as its name suggests, as adaptation strategies. Although we left today of emitting greenhouse gases, the concentrations of this would take years to reduce to a “pre -industrial” level, so a certain degree of heating is inevitable. Adaptation strategies are varied and depend on the different impacts that climate change can imply. We know, for example, that the increase in temperatures puts cities at greater risk due to heat island effectso that adapting the architecture, the green spaces or the urban framework of these are possible strategies with which to face the change. Another example is in Adapt the coastal lines at a somewhat higher sea level, also in introducing new mechanisms to reduce the risk of floods in … Read more

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