grow

grow without destroying nature

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The growth of renewables is generating an obvious paradox: land use. In the fight to produce clean energy, natural spaces are being taken advantage of that they want to keep intact, as is the case of Jaén. However, a recent study suggests an alternative as simple as ingenious: solar trees. A megavatio without deforestation. Research, Published in Scientific Reports and led by DAN-BI UM of the Maritime Institute of Korea, modeled through geospatial simulations in 3D how these structures would behave in a coastal forest of the County of Geoseong, in South Korea. The chosen scenario was not hypothetical. In this area there has been a conventional solar plant since 2014 that covers 22,856 m² and houses 4,347 230 W flat panels, with a capacity of 1 MW. However, the environmental cost paid a high price: the elimination of 98% of forest coverage. Instead, simulation with solar trees threw a radically different panorama. To reach the same power megavatio, 87 trees with 330 W panels are enough, or just 63 trees with 450 W panels, preserving up to 99% of the forest. Clean energy without losing forests. As we have pointed out in Xatakathe expansion of solar energy usually causes conflicts between renewable energy objectives and the preservation of ecosystems. In fact, As detailed by the study, South Korea is an illustrative example: deforestation linked to solar plants went from 529 hectares in 2016 to 2,443 in 2018. In this way, solar trees offer a dual response: generating electricity while forests continue to function as carbon sinks, biodiverse habitats and natural barriers against erosion. According to UM, this proposal is aligned with international commitments such as Glasgow’s declaration on forests and the Global Renewable Pact of the COP28, which proposes to triple the renewable capacity to 2030 without destroying ecosystems. How are trees? Far from being a metaphor, these structures imitate the shape of a real tree. The first prototype was installed in 2017 in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, designed by Hanwha Q Cells. As for structure, it measures 4.8 meters high and 4.1 wide and its steel branches hold 35 solar panels. In total, each tree reaches a capacity of 11.5 kW (with modules of 330 W) or 15.8 kW (with 450 W panels), enough to supply several homes. In the simulation, the trees arranged at the edges of the land and along paths, separated every 20 meters. The design not only raises solar collection, it also allows light to reach the undergrowth and retain the original vegetation. In addition, the study adds an interesting nuance: solar trees could be integrated into spaces for social use. In urban parks or forest paths, they would also serve to feed night lighting with LED, offer shadow to walkers or even become fauna and flora observation points. Obstacles along the way. At the moment, technology is still incipient. According to a 2022 studythe so-called Forest-Thotovoltaic has higher construction costs than flat panels, since it requires reinforced support structures. However, in Korea – one of the countries with the most expensive ground in the world – to reduce the territorial footprint may be more advantageous in the long term. The problem is that there are still no international standards to certify the resistance of these structures to the wind or snow, or large manufacturers producing solar trees at an industrial scale. Today they are, above all, prototypes or pilot facilities. Beyond Korea. Although the study focused on South Korea, UM argues that the methodology is applicable in other countries that seek to expand renewables without sacrificing forests. In addition, the concept is related to other emerging trends such as agrevoltaic: use solar energy and at the same time maintain productive activities under panels. In Korea, for example, variants have already been tested in mountainous areas where mountain garlic is grown under solar trees installed per 100 meters. And in Europe, agrevoltaic begins to gain ground with vineyards and tomato garden that take advantage of the shadow of the panels to improve the quality and resilience of the crops. Symbolic solution or real revolution? The study offers the first rigorous quantitative comparison between a flat solar park and an installation of solar trees in the same land. Its results are clear: the same electricity can occur with a much lower environmental impact. As the investigation has concludedsolar trees represent “a promising dual solution” at a time when humanity seems forced to choose between clean energy and forests. Perhaps, with innovations like this, we no longer have to give up either. Image | Freepik Xataka | Pervskitas seasoned: how some salt has managed to overcome the efficiency of solar panels

After the hair industry, Türkiye is becoming a power of something much more extreme: paying to grow

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In a hotel on the outskirts of Istanbul, a man listens to the alarm of his phone and smiles. It is time to turn the key that separates the metal rods embedded in their femards. The procedure seems taken from a medieval dungeon, but for Frank – 38 -year -old patient – it means approaching, millimeter to millimeter, to his dream: stop feeling low. According to The Guardianeach turn causes intense pain and, nevertheless, insists on doing it more times than recommended to win a few extra centimeters. Türkiye, the new Mecca of the centimeters. The country was already famous for Medical tourism of capillary grafts. Now adds something much more extreme: leg elongation surgery for aesthetic purposes. What was born as a technique to correct bone deformities today attracts patients from Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia and all of Europe. According to the Wanna Be workshop clinicThey come willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the promise of growing. In an extensive report for The Guardian They quoted an Indian consultant who projects that the global market will reach 8,600 million dollars within five years. Türkiye’s appeal lies in its price, since with $ 32,000, it includes hospitalization and months of physiotherapy, compared to $ 50,000 to $ 150,000 that can cost in the United Kingdom or the United States. Dr. Kevin Debiparshad, founder of the Limbplastx Clinic in Las Vegas, I told GQ that the business has shot from the pandemic, with up to 50 new patients a month. Its customers include Google, Amazon and Microsoft engineers, in addition to executives, doctors and even celebrities. The last acceptable prejudice: be low. Why risk everything for a few centimeters? The testimonies collected by different media always point to the same direction: height remains a social stigma. In an article for vice, A 17 -year -old summed up without surroundings: “The only reason why someone would lengthen their legs is for women.” Another patient assured in The Guardian that “being low is the last acceptable prejudice in modern society.” Evidence supports these sensations. An Australian study of 2009 collected by GQ He showed that low men earn less than their high classmates and have less job promotion options. In the Netherlands, another investigation revealed that only 7.5% of couples the woman exceeds the man. Even Tinder came to try filters of height, According to The Guardian. And it is that obsession can become pathology. Elaine Foo, Interviewed by the BBChe confessed that since adolescence he suffered a fixation: “Being higher means more beautiful, more opportunities.” Psychiatrists call it body dysmorphia: a fixation with defects imagined in appearance. A brutal procedure itself. Although today it is sold as an aesthetic procedure, the technique originated in the 50s in the Soviet Union. The surgeon Gavriil Ilizarov devised a method to repair fractures and correct deformities. The beginning, As Mayic explainsis the osteogenesis by distraction: cut a bone and gradually separate it so that the organism generates new tissue that fills the void. The process begins with an osteotomy, the surgical cut of the bone, generally femur or warm. Then, the surgeon places an elongation device: an external fixative (a visible frame subject with bone nails) or an internal magnetic nail (inserted into the bone and controlled by a control). From there, the daily routine is to extend the device around one millimeter per day. The body responds by filling that space with new bone. The hard lengthening phase of two to three months. Then comes the consolidation phase, when the bone hardens, which can take another three. In total, complete recovery easily exceeds a year. During all that time, patients should use crutches or wheelchairs, undergo intensive physiotherapy and support constant pain. When growing almost costs life. Not everyone achieves their goal. How do you collect in The GuardianFrank’s case that traveled in the hope of moving from 1.70 to 1.75 meters. In the process he suffered a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot and was about to die. In the end he had to stop the elongation in 7.3 centimeters, without reaching his goal. The same medium reported the death of a Saudi patient at 16 days of the operation, also for a clot. However, Elaine Foo’s story is even more extreme. According to BBC, After paying 50,000 pounds to a private clinic in London, he suffered successive complications: a metallic nail crossed his femur, the bones did not consolidate and ended up undergoing eight surgeries in different countries. Eight years later, drag mobility problems, permanent scars and a post -traumatic stress disorder. Complications are not rare. Risks include infections in nails or incisions, nerve injuries, joint stiffness, chronic pain and insufficient bone consolidation, According to Cleveland Clinic. Self -esteem, the most fragile bone. Beyond the operating rooms, the question is what pushes so many men – and some women – to undergo such brutal surgery. Dr. Dorr Paley, pioneer in this field, He summarized it for vice: “It took us a long time to discover what plastic surgeons always knew: they were dealing with body image problems.” The background is really a crisis of self -esteem. The Guardian He recounts How Frank felt “almost damn” for his low stature, convinced that society favors the highs. In GQ, John Lovedale explains that he did it because “the highest people seem to have the world at their feet.” Most patients are men, crossed by an idea of masculinity associated with size. However, As the British media remembersthere are also women who resort to the procedure: some to lengthen and others, in very rare cases, to shorten their legs. Between secret and status. Interestingly, despite sacrifice and spending, many patients prefer to hide it. According to GQ90% does not reveal anyone who operated. Invent stories: a ski accident, a fall in the bathtub, a hip fracture. But others begin to exhibit it as a sign of status: an Asian youtuber paid for the operation with Bitcoins and documented the process … Read more

Your strategy to grow is unpublished

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India is emerging. This Asian country, The most populated on the planetit has an economic capacity and very important geopolitical relevance. According to him International Monetary Fundits economy is one of the fastest growing, with an expansion forecast of the 6.2% in 2025 and 6.3% for 2026. Other great economies, such as the US or China, They are checking His growth forecast for 2025 and 2026, but India not. He advances day after day as an authentic summary. One of the pillars that support their economic growth is their domestic consumption. 31% of its population, which currently Broken 1,464 million peopleit has an average level of income, and the forecasts of the Indian government estimate that this percentage will increase until Reach 38% in 2031. If this trend persists in 2047 the middle class in India will bring together no less than 1,000 million people. However, the authentic engine of the growth of this country, and the reason why the middle class is expanding, is the policy of incentives linked to production that has deployed administration. This strategy seeks to develop and modernize Indian manufacturing capabilities, as well as boost exports. And it is working. Since the government put it in motion In March 2020, this plan has generated 1.15 million jobs. And, in addition, it has impacted in a very positive way on The following key sectors: electronics, electric cars, integrated systems and industrial automation, pharmaceutical and biotechnological products, drones, data centers and chemicals. They reside in the strength of this country. India wants to be the new Taiwan in the semiconductor industry One of the sectors that is giving India the most joys in recent years is dedicated to the manufacture of electronic products. In 2024 he billed 115,000 million dollarsand the government provides that this figure will triple in 2027. This enormous impulse is mainly held on THE SEMICON INDIA PROGRAMwhich seeks to drastically develop India’s relevance in the integrated circuit manufacturing industry. To achieve this, this plan pursues to attract foreign investment, and in recent years he is going like silk. India is preparing to be a very relevant actor in the semiconductor industry Apple, Amazon, Google or Microsoft are some of the large technology companies that They are already present in India. And AMD and Foxconn will be soon. It is clear that this country bids strong, and according to Digitimes Asiayou are preparing to be a very relevant actor in the semiconductor industry at a juncture that in the medium or long term It can unfavorable Taiwan. According to the consultant Deloitte The Indian integrated circuit market will exceed 55,000 million dollars in 2026, and to achieve this, the Government intends to attract as many chips manufacturers as I can. The American company Micron Technology, which is dedicated mainly to The manufacture of memory chipsit will have a very important role in the future of the Indian semiconductor industry. And he will have it because he has launched an avant -garde plant in the town of Sanand, which belongs to the state of Gujarat. Even so, According to Eric Chenwhich is an analyst and researcher of the integrated circuit industry, India will take a decade to achieve mass production of 28 Nm chips. This is what aspires in the medium term. Its main challenge is to put the plants necessary to achieve this goal with agility, and an avant -garde chips factory takes no less than four years in being fully operational. In Xataka | India has its own ‘Silicon Valley’ in Bangladés. The problem is that it is a ghost city In Xataka | India has been moving away from international payment networks. It is a hard blow for the giants Visa and Mastercard

A Netscape decision in the 90s explains why Google and Meta grow up with each technological revolution

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In 1995, engineers of Netscape They faced a problem during a development night: how to allow websites to execute code without being able to steal user data? Thirty years later, its solution, the ‘Same-Origin Policy‘(Policy of the same origin), has become the invisible architecture that governs all the Internet. Why is it important. Each website became an isolated universe, unable to communicate with others. That night decision explains why we can barely escape the Apple ecosystem, why our data live trapped in silos and why each technological revolution makes the usual giants more powerful. The context. Alex Komoroske, former strategy director in Stripe and former director of Google for 13 years, He has identified what he calls the “iron triangle” of modern software. System designers can only combine two of these three elements: Sensitive data. Internet access. And non -reliable code. The logic is simple: if you allow unknown code to access personal data and have Internet connection, you can steal everything and send it anywhere. The solution was the total isolation. Each application became a fortress where your Instagram data cannot talk to Uber’s, your Apple photos cannot be processed by Google tools, and each service begins knowing zero about you. In detail. Komoroske Talk about this phenomenon With the water metaphor going down a mountain. Each obstacle does not stop the flow, redirects it where there is less resistance. Over time, channels are formed that attract more water to become increasingly large rivers. Planning a trip illustrates this mechanism: Flights in the mail. Hotel in another app. Restaurants in Google Docs. Calendar in a different tool. The constant friction of copying, pasteing and reformating leads to grant access to a single service that already knows all your context. Without friction, everything works perfect. When you share the trip, you use the tool that already has all the information. The threat. The AI promises to be different, but is inheriting the same physics. The LLMS They can create almost free software – a developer with AI can build in hours what it took weeks – allowing infinitely personalized tools. But this “infinite software” distributed through traditional stores does not solve our problems: it amplifies them. More applications mean more silos, more places where your data is trapped. The AI needs context to be useful, but our current security model means that sharing context is a commitment of all or nothing. Yes, but. The technical pieces to transcend this paradigm already exist. Modern Intel, AMD and ARM chips include “safe enclaves“, encrypted and protected memory regions of anyone, including cloud administrators. AI brings us a unique opportunity, because it makes the current limitation evident. The technical pieces already exist and it is the first time in thirty years that we can transcend this policy. While nothing changes, the concentration of power will continue to reinforce. In Xataka | What was ATI: to look at Nvidia to end and forgotten by the technology industry Outstanding image | Netscape, Xataka, Unspash

If the question is how long will the teles of our living room grow, the market speaks very clearly: until we have

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The size of televisions carries decades growing at great pace. And how It has happened with smartphones From the first Samsung Galaxy Note, on the sector always plans the question of until when. As in mobiles there are comfort limits in handling and portability, the teles face space limitations in the salons. The market speaks clearly. Based on GFK data, TCL shared a reality from the television market last year: The size of the teles grows 1.2 “a year in Europe. With an average that has gone from 32 “from 2010 to approximately 50” in 2024 (Samsung told us in 2023 that the average size was already in 55 “and that in 2025 the standard could already be 65”). Thus samsung money earns: the secret is on the iPhone The consultant Counterpoint Research He has shared data from the first quarter of 2025 compared to previous years, and the growth has shot: the distribution of televisions of 75 “or more has grown 79 % over the same period of 2024, and the income 59 %. The trend is clear for 15 years. The teles grow 1.2 “a year. Source: GFK The latter indicates a drop in the average price in the giant inches: income does not grow to the rhythm of sales. Also, according to DSCC dataconsultant that now belongs to Counterpoint, in the second quarter of 2024, the televisions of more than 80 “grew 29% compared to the previous year. Samsung saw it clear. In 2018, the company commissioned An Ipsos study where they got interesting conclusions. According to the company, the space of the Spanish halls is not the big problem to which it had signed up before: “87 % of households could have an 82 television”, since that is the percentage of households that are more than 1.6 meters away to the TV, a minimum viewing distance recommended for this size of televisions, according to the ITU-R “. The responses of the population surveyed also left many doubts: 70% of those who had bought televisions contemplated the possibility of buying a larger one, in a context in which 70% of households did not exceed 50 “. The biggest obstacles to buying large -inch televisions were space (50 %of users), the price (39 %) and the viewing distance (16 %). The most interesting is in the first two points. Space is the great impediment, but according to the company there was ignorance about what size is adequate. And the price issue: 39 % did not buy larger sizes due to the pocket cost. Something that we will see that the market is solving. The teles go down, and go down. In this sense, if something teaches us recent technological history, is that Almost everything is more expensive, but the smart TV are given: And much of the fault is the “mother crystal”. Another great responsible is the current strategy of manufacturers and developers of operating systems for televisions, which They have turned the teles into television. The extreme case of this is Tellya free television that the user pays with advertising present on a second screen. In 2017, Juergen Boyny, Global Director of GFK consumption electronics, He told us They calculated that “there will be a screen size limit for most consumers between 75 and 77 inches, and even so, that size will remain as a very specific niche.” Today we know that at least the second is not so. And according to Counterpoint, in the European Union we spend average 536 euros on a TV. Faced with the 20,000 euros of a 77 “TV of less than a decade ago, which we mentioned in Boyny’s article, today there are models for about 500 euros. And the United States indicates where the road is going: Walmart already has 85 “televisions for less than $ 600. The size of the stay has always conditioned what we thought was the optimal size of the TV. But analysts came to say that televisions of 75 “would be niche, and reality has shown not China smiles. TCL and Hisense are the main Chinese brands of televisions. According to 2024 last quarter quarterthe first surpassed LG in the distribution of premium televisions, and Hins is already very close. In the general market, Samsung has already exceeded him, being 16 % quota, TCL with 14 %, Hisense with 12 % and LG with 10 %. Xiaomi follows a certain distance with 5 %. In the context of the annual growth of size and explosion of the giant inches, China also wins the bet of its brands itself. As you remember HDTVTEST: “TCL is one of the most aggressive brands when betting on large screens, having launched in recent years several MINI-LED and LCD TV models of 98 inches.” And we already talk about numerous 110 “models and 115 “. The strategy to crush competition. Both brands do not stop presenting giant and innovative televisionsand above all, to reduce them and democratize them. They have already had the 98 “TCL C805, Minilad, less than 1,700 euros. A model that launched a couple of years ago at 5,000 euros. The growing domain of TCL and Hisense of the Premium market responds to the growing domain of the Minned Tves (those that market) in front of the OLED, which dominate from Korea LG and Samsung. In 2024 there was sorpasso of technology: MINILED surpassed Oled In sales. And it was so after years of dominance and the entrance of Samsung in Oleds with the Samsung S95B In 2022. Server has been enjoying an OLED TV from 2020 by having prioritized image quality. The following will be Minnedfor the balance between size and quality. The perfect cocktail, with a brake. We have a panel size that has not stopped growing for decade and a half, sales fired in giant inches and prices that break up at the rhythms of vertigo, Even in toe technology. To this is added, as Samsung pointed out, users who want larger sizes … Read more

It is possible to grow to beast and be about to break at the same time

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Last week the news jumped: the Asterion Investment Fund, through its Olin Group division, reached a principle of agreement To acquire Finetwork for about 200 million eurosto which another 100 million are added to deal with their main problem. Escaping from the wolf. The acquisition is a movement that will allow OMV to face Your debt Of more than 100 million with Vodafone, thus preventing your service provider from converting the debt into shares and ends up taking control of the company. The Finetwork case is paradoxical: it is the best example of how it is possible to grow and be about to break at the same time. The context. Finetwork has in Pre -conclusion of creditors Since May 2025. The Alicante operator signed in 2019 an agreement with Vodafone to function as a virtual mobile operator (OMV) using its network. A key alliance To expand through Spanish territory, be competitive in rates and try to stand up to unstoppables such as Digi. The debt. In 2021, Finetwork starts to breach payments for the use of Vodafone network: months without paying, partial payments and out of time. At the same time, Finetwork did more than visible an aggressive marketing investment. Sponsorships to the Spanish National Team and LaLiga teams. Sports figures such as Fernando Alonso either Pedro Acosta. Musical events with stars such as Alejandro Sanz or Manuel Carrasco. In 2022, Finetwork spent about 10% of its annual turnover in sponsorships. Óscar Vilda, CEO of the operator, aimed after knowing these data that the objective of the company was to cut its exposure to sponsors in 60%. The rocket. While a debt was cooked that would end up being unassumable, Finetwork exceeded the 1.2 million lines in 2024with an expected turnover of 165 million euros (year -on -year growth of more than 30%). A company that returned to benefits in 2023, continued to expand in 2024 and faces a 2025 key. Asterion will assume the debt of more than 100 million and close the purchase for about 200. The challenges. Finetwork has been maneuvering for months to ensure the service despite the conflictsomething that has not prevented him from offering aggressive and competitive rates, With fiber and mobile from € 14.90 direct hunting of competitors fighting in the lowest prices. The acquisition comes in full reconfiguration of the Spanish telecos market. Masorange is stronger than ever, Vodafone in the hands of Zegona, and Telefónica in full race to lead in Spain. Beyond the three big names, Finetwork will be as a player to stand up to the earthquake in Spain: a digi that does not stop growing and aspires to become In third Spanish operator in the short term. In Xataka | Guide to change your phone and internet operator: tips and things to take into account

Volkswagen has put $ 6,000 million in Rivian to grow in the United States. Tariffs are truncating their plans

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At the end of 2024, Volkswagen confirmed that Inject almost 6,000 million dollars In Rivian. During the previous summerThe Germans announced that they invested 5,000 million dollars in the US car and electric vans company. Then they defended this measure within a generalized adjustment Within the company as the way to gain presence in the United States and, at the same time, learn in software matter of what is worked on the other side of the puddle. An especially important facet for Germans who have been looking for alternatives in other companies, including China Xpeng. Almost a year ago, in Volkswagen they claimed that this decision would allow them increase your sales in the United Statesa country where the company has more problems to satisfy a market that demands huge vehicles whose production is available for a hand for the Germans. That promise, to continue growing in sales, was especially important in the Context of cuts mentioned above. In fact, the workers’ representatives came to wonder what guarantees were that the last and new party committed was not A new way of burning another 1 billion dollars. To this difficult situation, Donald Trump’s tariffs have been added. The commercial barriers of the new president of the United States have led Volkswagen to look for solutions to alleviate economic damage to their finances. From having hundreds of audi units stops on the border until a conversion of one of their plants In the country. Now, Rivian already adjusts his sales goals. Down. The excuse is the tariffs Rivian should deliver 51,000 units of their cars, pick-up and electric vans at the end of the year. But he already announces that he will not fulfill the plans. The figure has been adjusted downwards, reducing forecasts between 10 and 20%. According to their new accounts, they will put in the market Between 40,000 and 46,000 vehicles. They ensure that the reason is the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump’s government in the United States. Collect in Bloomberg that the company manufactures all its cars in the country and that the vast majority of the pieces are also local but that they warn that the company “is not immune to the impacts of world trade and the economic environment.” Of course, the company ensures that it can meet the objective of offering a gross benefit at the end of the year. Once taxes and other items are discounted, Most likely, Rivian continues to give losses. Tariffs are assuming a real headache for the industry and even is a problem for who manufacture in the United States. Tesla, for example, is the company that Less impact will suffer With these commercial barriers but Elon Musk himself wanted to make it clear that They were also affected by them. Giants like Ford or General Motors have been Looking for formulas To alleviate the economic blow to its accounts but the situation is especially complicated for two types of companies: those that export to the country most of its production or pieces (such as Japanese and Europeans) or those of smaller. The largest companies have giving way to a stock they had already accumulated. Applying great discountsit is certain that they have not achieved the benefits per unit that they would expect but at least it has allowed them to move forward until knowing the possible new conditions. However, for small companies such as Rivian the situation is much more complicated. We have already counted to start a car company forces to lose money for years and that it is only sustainable if other companies and Investors They are willing to Leave your money until you see benefits. In this case, a commercial sway is much more pronounced than in any other situation. Now, Volkswagen has no choice but to maintain the road map and continue supporting Rivian although the economic context that makes it even more complicated. The Germans aspired to learn their company from this company Secrets around softwarea division that is Bringing the entire Volkswagen Group and? He already expelled some of his CEO. Photo | In Xataka | The sensitive data of 800,000 electric cars from Volkswagen have leaked: from homes to the routines of its owners

Microsoft’s general director’s opinion about AI is unusual. And suspect how much the global economy will grow thanks to it

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Satya Nadella, the general director of Microsoft, has intervened in the Dwarkesh Patel podcast. During Your interesting conversation of something more than an hour and a quarter duration This executive has touched many sticks of hot actuality for its relevance in the world of technology, but in this article we propose to investigate two of them: the artificial intelligence (AI) and the Quantum computers. And Microsoft objectively has much to say in these two disciplines. With regard to quantum computers, Redmond’s have surprised us with the presentation of a new architecture expressly conceived for these machines. Majorana 1 It is the first quantum processor devised to Use the exotic particle Theoretically proposed by the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana almost 90 years ago. Whatever the really important thing is that Nadella argues that it is possible that thanks to this Microsoft technology you can put a quantum computer equipped with millions of cubits and capable of solving a very wide range of problems in just four years. Satya Nadella believes that AI is not being evaluated correctly We are all witnessing the thrilling rhythm of development that is experiencing AI. In fact, during the last two years this technology is monopolizing the attention of the great powersresearch institutions, companies, and, of course, also of users. And nothing seems to indicate that this trend will change. Not at least in the short or medium term. Satya Nadella’s speech defends the importance of AI, but, surprisingly, this executive argues that her evolution is not being evaluated in the proper way. “Thanks to AI it is possible to increase productivity (…) The real reference point is that the global economy grows 10%” “For me it makes no sense to self -proclaim (human beings) that we have reached some milestone in the field of General Artificial Intelligence (AGI for its English denomination). It is only a manipulation of the performance tests that, in my opinion, is meaningless (…) the winners will actually be the industries that Be able to use this technologywhich, by the way, is abundant. Thanks to it it is possible to increase productivity, so the economy grows at a faster rate. The true reference point is that the global economy grows 10%”, SATYA NADELLA has pointed out During his conversation with Dwarkesh Patel. It is worth not overlooking two important points of this statement from the head of Microsoft. On the one hand it is evident that it is moderating the enthusiasm that They have triggered Openai and other companies in the always controversial land of the AGI. And, what if possible is more relevant, proposes a bar to measure the development of the different AF -is being used, and that requires evaluating its direct impact on economic growth. But there is something else. Something very important. And it is that Nadella has suggested, as we have just seen, that AI could trigger a global economic growth of 10%. We will see if the time finally is right, but a priori does not sound at all far -fetched. Image | Microsoft More information | Dwarkesh Podcast In Xataka | 38% of the US experts have formed in China. They are essential to sustain their leadership

Spain lives a brutal birth crisis. And that is causing mothers above 40 years to grow more than ever

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In Spain they are born every time Less children. And increasingly. The balance That the INE has just published with the first global photography of birth and mortality in Spain throughout 2024 leaves some surprises but above all confirm the trends that have been marking the demography of the country for years. And one of the clearest is the gradual delay of motherhood: more and more women have children turned 40 or even with 50. And there is a fact that clearly reflects it: 10.4%. A (small) joy. They are still provisional data, so the photo that leaves The last report of the INE could vary over the coming months. However, waiting for the definitive balance, Spain seems to have closed 2024 with a (small) demographic joy. His birthday has rebounded. In a shy and that has not served to compensate for the number of deaths and thus avoid a vegetative balance in Red numbersbut at least allows you to cut the negative trend of the last decade. A percentage: 0.4%. That is the birth increase registered by the INE in 2024: 0.4%which translates into 1,378 births rather than in 2023. Throughout the last year they came to the world in Spain 322,034 babies, almost 1,400 more than during the previous 12 months. The data leaves a positive reading and another that is not so much, depending on how much we amounts to the temporal focus when analyzing it. The first is that it represents the first birth rise since 2014, when the balance touched the 427,600 babies. However, despite that climb, the Spanish demographic engine does not have today Nothing to do With the years of the Baby Boomthere for 50, 60 and mid -70s, when they were born in the country between 650,000 and 660,000 babies a year. The INE reflects for example that in 1975 they were noted almost 669,400so since then the collapse has been 52%. And a figure: 33,570. The balance of the INE helps to understand another of the key factors of Spanish demography: maternity. And when analyzing one of Trends clearer is its progressive delay. More and more Spanish have children with 40 or more years, to the point that in 2024 that profile was behind 33,570 births. What does that mean? That one out of ten Babies born in Spain (10.4%) already do it from women who exceed thirty. In 2014 that percentage was significantly lower, of 7.2%. Year Births of women 40 or more years Middle Ages to Maternity 2000 10,163 30.72 2004 15.017 30.87 2008 22,026 30.83 2012 28,289 31.56 2016 34,452 32.0 2020 34,858 32.3 2024 33,570 32.6 (data of 2023) Looking back. In 2014 the INE scored 30,946 births of women of 40 or more years, so that the increase has been 8.5% in a decade. During the same period the number of babies born of mothers under 25 years fell 21.9% and the births of women between 25 and 39, the one with the greatest weight, retreated 27.9%. If you look further back the trend is even clearer. In 2000 the INE counted in Spain 397,632 birthsof which 10,163 were related to women who had already arrived or exceeded quarantine. That is, at that time its weight was only 2.5% of the total and the number of lighting has shot 230% since then. In 2004, women of 40 or more years starred 15,017 birthswith what your number has doubled. The other indicator: Middle Ages. There is another clue that helps to understand how they are quickly changing motherhood in Spain: its Middle Agesan indicator that has practically not stopped growing over the last decades. If in 1976 it was located in 28.51in 2000 it was already 30.72, in 2010 it climbed at 31.2 and in 2023 it was 32.6 years. That is, the average has increased more than four years since the 70s. In the EU, a gradual increase of the age at which women have their first offspring. What are the causes? The big question. The increase in what the INE calls “Middle Ages to Maternity” And the number of women who give birth to the 40 years coincides with other phenomena that directly affect women, as the Professor of Human Geography Rafael Puyol recently pointed out in An article dedicated to the Spanish demographic crisis. The expert specified in particular the educational revolution and the incorporation and women into the labor market, in addition to cultural changes and the family model. Images | Jessica Pankratz (Flickr) and INE In Xataka | Spain has turned paternity into a poverty risk factor: raising a child costs 758 euros per month

15 years ago, a forest engineer decided to grow sponges in Galicia. The war against plastic has ended up giving him right

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In the mid -90s, Juan Carlos Mascato finished studying forest sciences in Hamburg and enrolled in a company in the area. He was lucky: of all the things that company could have needed, he needed someone to speak Spanish, someone to send to Paraguay. It was then that he met the Lugfa and began his crusade against the plastic. Today is the largest producer in Europe in the sponges and natural scourers. And all from a small town in Pontevedra. What is the LUFFA? The LUFFAS are a genus of plants slightly related to pumpkins, cucumbers and melons. In fact, in Southeast Asia is a Very popular food as long as they are collected soon. Otherwise it becomes too fibrous to be consumed. So fibrous that, duly processed, they can be used as exfoliating sponges. For centuries, this type of vegetables (or some of its variants) were widely used and were among the crops of any orchard that would be precious. But the irruption of plastic from the 40s sent them to the drawer of history. Until now what THE WAR OF THE PLASTICS They have returned them to the first line. And what does the European Luffa giant do in Caldas de Reis? It is an excellent question. As Silvia Rodríguez explained in the countrythe clearest reason is that the Mascato family (of German mother, but Father Gallego) had a farm available in a town with a very particular climate that made it a good candidate to try subtropical crops: Caldas. Chance does not end there, of course. Because the processing of the LUFFA includes a fermentation phase in which the hot springs of the Gallego municipality fit as a ring to the finger. No one is a prophet in their land … And in this case it doesn’t happen either. Because the truth is that Iberian vegetable sponges It is little known here in the country. Of the 200,000 sponges that manufacture a year, only 10% stay in Spain. The rest goes to countries such as Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Norwegian or East next … Right now, the company works on an online marketing project in Germany and expanding its productive infrastructure to the US. What sponges can teach us. Because although the story is already very interesting, there is something that really crucial: that for decades we have despised many traditional solutions simply because they were. And that is a mistake. This was made clear in 2015 Karolinska Institute of Stockholm when granted your youyou The Nobel Prize in Medicine. Many interpreted him as a prize for traditional Chinese medicine, but it was not accurate: your feat was incredible. Since 1965, your youyou It was analyzing thoroughly Each and every one of the remedies that the millenary Chinese civilization had been selecting. And, indeed, most pure superstition, pseudoscience and placebo. However, he found the Artemisininea revolutionary treatment against malaria. Rethink the past. This is an example of the book that if we approach us with an open (but rigorous) look at the technological history of humanity, we can find really creative solutions to the problems of our day to day. In the middle of a world invaded by plastics, natural sponges are an excellent example. Image | Jan Helbrant | Tony Buser In Xataka | How an idea can model societies with hundreds of millions of people almost 1000 years later: Schultz’s hypothesis

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