growing

China has an “island” that does not stop growing. His name is Chengdu and his secret is what he does not have: big salaries

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It would be said that there are two very different “Chinese” in terms of aspirations. On the one hand, we have that imposing image of the nation whose cities accumulate the greatest multimillionaires numberthe country that attracts talent With salariesand that is even putting in check to the Almighty Silicon Valley wallet. And then there is the other China, whose labor crisis He is impacting on Many young peopleand the stagnation of domestic consumption is making a dent in the economy. For that “second” China, there is a space that is becoming a refuge. His name is Chengdu, and not to grow. Welfare refuge. I told it in an extensive report The New York Times. In the midst of a Chinese economy marked by the stagnation of domestic consumption, labor uncertainty and a growing political repression, Chengducity of the southwest of the country with more than 2,300 years of history, it is emerging as a symbol of a new youth aspiration: living better, Even if he wins less. The payroll is not so important. Far from productive frenzy and the increase in housing that characterize megacities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen or Guangzhou, Chengdu has seen its population grow 30% in just five years, reaching the 21.5 million inhabitantsand its real estate market has become the most dynamic in the country, with a price increase 16.8% Since 2021. The secret? A relaxed lifestyle, its flourishing artistic scene, its emblematic pandas And, above anything else, its low cost of life, a recipe that makes it a magnet for young people tired of the urban “grind” and eager to reconnect with a more bearable existence, without completely renouncing opportunities. Disenchantment with the classic model. The Times explained That the decision to move to Chengdu is not only geographical: it is existential. The report counts cases of young people Like Emma Ma, That Beijing changed for an affordable apartment, a study of video clips and domestic help for $ 400 per month, or Treasure Wu, which left Shanghai after a “gray and oppressive experience”, cases that exemplify that generational turn. Under this prism, the idea that long working hours and high salaries justify a life sacrificed in congested cities begins to lose strength in front of a narrative where everyday well -being It matters more. Chengdu, formerly considered a lazy or uninformed city, now embodies an answer to the other China that, despite its Technological modernizationfails to offer guaranteed social ascent that lived previous generations, at least NO TO A PART. Reinvent yourself from the cultural. There is more, of course. He remembered the medium that despite offering fewer opportunities for professional promotion or competitive salaries, Chengdu has managed to capitalize on Your quality of life and its cultural legacy. As? From its huge LGTBQ+ community and its hip-hop scene to its bustling circuit of tea houses and Hot Pot restaurants, the enclave is perceived as a Oasis of expression and stability In times of uncertainty. To this is added its growing relevance in sectors such as Digital entertainmentaudiovisual production and e-sports, with successes Like Ne Zha 2 or video game studies that have promoted the local economy. Historically linked to national defense for its Strategic locationChengdu could now benefit from the turn that Xi Jinping wants to print to the Chinese economic model: a commitment to key industries Like semiconductors wave national production Advanced, far from foreign dependence. Thermometer of a national transition. If you want also, more than an urban anecdote, Chengdu’s boom serves as the thermometer of the internal tensions that policy to the second economy of the planet. On the one hand, it reflects a country that seeking balance between technological modernity and quality of life. On the other, it exposes the dissonance between An economic model Centered on export, which no longer yields as before, and the individual aspirations of millions that want much more than survive: They want to live well. As They pointed to the Times Several real estate analysts of the nation, Chengdu has something as simple to understand as difficult to achieve at the present time: it offers housing prices according to salaries, a luxury unthinkable in other large cities (Not only from China, of course), but that perfectly explains why so many seem willing to assume less lucrative jobs in exchange for time, space and community. End to the cult of sacrifice. Perhaps it is the last of the legs that should be analyzed. The Covid pandemia finished consolidating that transition. While Shanghai suffered endless confinementsChengdu It offered stability. What was previously judged as routine provincial It began to be seen as virtue. In Spain we also lived when we talked about Exodus and “Back to town”. But there it has remained. Today, what Chengdu represents goes beyond his pandas or his historical heritage: symbolizes a form of Quiet resistance and pragmatic against systemic exhaustion of a nation that is redefining its own values. In the words of analyst Huang Xue to the Times: “In times of uncertainty, people want to enjoy life when they can.” Thus, in that silent desire, the city aims to become, not only in China’s happiest city, but also in its most clairvoyant mirror. Image | Kristoffer Trolle In Xataka | The list of cities with more billionaires: China gives the definitive sorpasso and Asia Copa El Top 30 In Xataka | China is democrating its factories to produce cheaper. But not in India or Vietnam: in China

Starlink has been growing without competition for six years. Now an ambitious competitor has started throwing satellites: Amazon

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In the early hours First 27 operational satellites of the Kuiper constellation of Amazon. Starlink is at last company. An ambitious competitor. Project Kuiper was born in 2018, a year before Spacex launched the first 60 satellites of its Starlink constellation, which offers broadband satellite Internet. However, waiting for the vulcan rockets of ULA and New Glenn de Blue Origin to be available, Amazon only He had launched two test satellites… until now. The technological giant has finally began to deploy its initial constellation of 3,232 satellites in the low terrestrial orbit (between 590 and 630 km of altitude) to offer low latency connections in places where terrestrial networks do not arrive or are insufficient. When available, The service will have plans of 100 Mbps, 400 Mbps and up to 1 GBPS speed. Curves come. Although this launch marks Kuiper’s operational start, Amazon is still exposed to several challenges. The main is the time: the project has been delayed about its calendar and its FCC license for approximately one year have half of the constellation (1,618 satellites) In orbit for July 2026, a date that seems difficult to meet without an extension, since the company does not manufacture its own rockets like Spacex. Kuiper’s rockets. While Blue Origin is a company by Jeff Bezos and there is, say, certain synergies between both companies (in addition to a well -known enmity with Elon Musk), His New Glenn orbital rocket has only flown onceand has not yet managed to demonstrate its ability to land. Reuse has been fundamental in Starlink’s success: the Falcon 9 rocket, which Spacex partially recovers, has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites in six years. Amazon’s constellation depends to such a third party that Amazon made the “major Commercial acquisition of launch vehicles of the story “in 2022. Only with ULA has contracts to launch another seven atlas and up to 38 Vulcan. It has also reached agreements with Arianegroup to use the European rocket Ariane 6 and, of course, with Blue Origin to use the New Glenn; the only one with the capacity to land of the four pitchers. China and Europe go to their roll. Despite the difficulties, Kuiper is the first Starlink competitor who has a financial muscle at Spacex, provided that Amazon is willing to play in the long term. In Europe we have an already quite advanced commercial constellation, but that plays in another league. Oneweb of Eutelsat operates a constellation of about 630 Leo satellites, but its approach is mainly B2B and government, and its satellite density is much less than that of Starlink. China also goes to its roll, but it is deploying megaconstellations that could harm Starlink and Amazon. Spacesail already has satellites in orbit and plans to display 648 by 2025, with the aim of growing up to 15,000 satellites by 2030, with which could offer services up to 30% cheaper than Starlink in markets like Brazil. To this price war are added to others Chinese projects like Honguhu 3 either Guowangadding tens of thousands of satellites who will begin to cross the night sky without stopping. Image | ULA, Amazon In Xataka | Spacex has launched 8,000 Starlink satellites in five years, but they are not enough. And we are beginning to understand why

That solar energy stops growing in Spain

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This month will be remembered Like the rainiest, having water reserves in 65.8%, According to the miteco. However, it is not good news for solar energy that has fallen for the first time in three years. The data. According to the reports of the Spanish Electricity (REE), in the month of March, the Solar Generation He has reached 11% total, which represents a decrease with respect to the year 2024 (13.9%) and The year 2023 (12.8%). Heavy rains. We have had a couple of weeks that it is difficult to see the sun and it seems that You can extend even more. For this reason, one of the most harmed clean sources has been photovoltaic. However, other renewables have come out more than beneficiaries of this rain and wind, we are talking about wind and hydroelectric. Favored systems. On the one hand, wind energy It does not have the same capacity that photovoltaic, but when it comes to adverse weather conditions who eats the ground to solar panels are wind turbines. In fact, Ree’s real time data shows that wind is generating 46% wind energy compared to 12% of solar (These data may vary, since they are being taken when writing this article). On the other hand, as we mentioned above the total water reserve, this situation has allowed hydroelectric energy to have reached in what we have been 17.5%. However, it has not yet exceeded last year that achieved a level 21.5% of electric production, more than four higher percentage points. So how will my light bill be? Although solar energy always It had been key to the energy mixthis time the contribution of both wind and hydroelectric can be A small relief for consumers. However, like has denounced the OCU There are other factors that will make the light bill, such as The price of gas and electric tolls. Image | Flickr Xataka | Solar panels compared to 100,000 olive trees: in Jaén the neighbors are also protesting against renewable projects

Japan has encountered a problem with the aging of their growing foreign community: they cannot bury them

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Japan and their society have been immersed in a process of transformation where the role of “foreigner” every time It is more important. Waves arrive in the country, and in many cases to stay. The clearest example is giving with many Chinese who They arrive not to returnbut it is exponential to all nations. This is resulting in the population of advanced foreign residents is increasing, and with it, of deaths. A problem that nobody saw. I told this one Nikkei weekend. Foreign residents in Japan are dealing with serious difficulties in burying their loved ones. The reason? The Cremation predominancewhich has become the norm in the country. He 99.99% of the deceased In Japan they are cremated, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which leaves those who require burial for religious reasons or simply by tradition with very few options. The problem is especially critical for Muslim and Christian communitieswhich consider unacceptable cremation. The situation is aggravated as the foreign population ages and grows the demand for burial spaces, which has turned the issue into an increasingly urgent challenge for the nation. Examples of a crisis. In the medium report they had a case that occurred last January after the death of A Pakistani man in Kanagawa which unleashed a frantic search for a cemetery that allowed its burial. His family, with limited resources, could not repatriate his body, and after multiple rejections and high costs, they finally managed to bury him in the Cemetery Honojo Kodama in Saitama, for a amount of 300,000 yen (around 2,000 euros), paid by friends of the community. There are more similar cases that are repeated throughout the country. For example, that of a Korean Christian woman 80 years old who died in October, and his son took a month and a half to find a burial site. During that time, his body had to be stored in a police installation. Factors that hinder burials. There are several keys to understanding the controversy around the shortage of cemeteries that allow burials. The first one already said: the predominance of cremation. Japan has gone from burying their dead to incinerate them almost entirely in the last 50 years. In 1913, only 31% of the deceased were cremated, but by 1934 it had already become the majority practice due to health concerns and lack of space. But there is more. Another problem is derived from The scarcity of landsince the large amount of land necessary for cemeteries in a country with limited space is a key obstacle. Also the Environmental concernssince there is fear that burials contaminating groundwater (although there is no clear evidence that supports said statement). Finally, it points to the local community resistancesince in many regions residents oppose the construction of new cemeteries, which has frustrated several projects. The aging of the “foreigners” and the future impact. Japan currently houses 3.41 million foreign residentsof which 220,000 are 65 years or older, an increase of 150% in the last decade. The aging of this population implies that the demand for burials will only grow in the coming years. In this regard, Professor Hirofumi Tanada, an expert in the Muslim community in Japan, estimates that there are around 350,000 Muslims in the countryfacing problems similar to those of other religious minorities. Tanada warned that in 10 or 15 years could be even more difficult Find places of burial, which will intensify the crisis. Regional disparity in the availability of cemeteries. Another of the problems of the problem. Japan presents strong regional inequalities In access to cemeteries. Namely: while in the Kanto region (which includes Tokyo and its surroundings) there are four private cemeteries that allow burials, in regions such as Tohoku and Kyushu have none. Again: despite the growing need, the efforts to create new cemeteries have found obstacles. Last December, the governor of Miyagi proposed to build a cemetery in the region, but received an avalanche of calls and emails from Citizens expressing your opposition. The attempt of a Muslim cemetery. It happened in 2018when the Beppu Muslim Association in Oita Prefecture tried to build a cemetery in the town of Hiji. After seven years of negotiations, they finally agreed with local authorities and residents to build the cemetery in municipal land, with conditions such as the limitation of the use of the cemetery to residents of Kyushu and a regular monitoring of water quality. However, The project was canceled When a new mayor revoked the sale of the land, citing environmental concerns. This left the Muslim community without viable options in the region. Proposals and barriers for a solution. Professor Khan Muhammad Tahir Abbas, director of the Beppu Muslim Association, told that the lack of cemeteries not only affects foreigners, but also Naturalized Japanese and converts to Islam or Christianity. Since 2021, requests have been presented to the Ministry of Social Welfare requesting the creation of adequate cemeteries for religious minorities. However, to date, Japan has not adopted No clear policy about itarguing that differences in customs and beliefs make it difficult to implement a standard solution. Meanwhile, other countries have managed to integrate religious burials into their funeral infrastructure. In Norway, the United States, Canada or Singapore, among others, specific sections have been designated in public cemeteries for Muslims and other religious minorities. A challenge that the nation cannot ignore. With the Foreign resident figures In hand, Japan is facing a problem that cannot be ignored. The lack of accessible cemeteries For this group it is a challenge that will only be aggravated over time. Although the cremation remains the norm, the aging of the foreign community demands a more inclusive answer by the Japanese government. As They explained in Nikkeiif the nation wants to fulfill its objective of being a more diverse and cozy society, it should facilitate solutions that allow religious minorities to bury their dead with dignity. This requires overcoming the local opposition, adapting funeral policies and developing adequate infrastructure, as other nations with … Read more

We have been growing lettuce in space for years. Now we have discovered that they are more likely to get sick

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Bad news for astronauts who usually eat healthy. That is, for all astronauts. The crew members ago of the International Space Station consume the vegetables that they themselves cultivate in microgravity: lettuce, peppers, radishes. Some spicy Chile. More recently, vegetables have joined the autoconsumo astronauts of the Chinese Space Stationwhich already has lettuce, cherry tomatoes and chivesalthough it does not carry so much in orbit. The problem is that space salads They are not as safe for consumption as we thought. A team of researchers from the University of Delaware has discovered that lettuce and others Microgravity cultivated vegetables They are more Pollution prone by bacteria such as Salmonella. The study, funded by NASA, shows that under conditions of microgravity, plants tend to open their stomata (the small pores of their leaves and stems) instead of closing them to prevent the invasion of pathogens. To reach this conclusion, the team created a simulated microgravity atmosphere in the laboratory with a device called clinostat, which rotates plants as a chicken in an grill. The results showed that, under these conditions, the salmonella more easily infects the tissue of the leaves. Friendly bacteria also lose their protective effect The researchers explored the use of a friendly bacterium, B. Subtilis, as a solution to the problem. However, bacteria, which on earth helps plants fight pathogens, He failed to protect them in it Simulated microgravity environmentwhich suggests that space changes significantly the interaction between plants and microbes. The finding is important. Not only because he doubts that the salads of the International Space Station are totally safe, but also because it helps to understand the challenges of agriculture in future space colonies. With population growth on earth and the loss of agricultural land, space is an increasingly realistic option for food cultivation. But if they want Avoid an outbreak of salmonellosisthe future farmers of space be worth the future farmers to wash their hands well with soap and water. Image | NASA/Cory Huston In Xataka | The space dream was to spend billions of euros to go to Mars to end eating crickets In Xataka | The food knows very different in space. The reason is more intriguing than it seems: confinement *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2024

The number of students copying their assignments from ChatGPT results is growing

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A recent investigation of Pew Research Center has revealed that the 26% of teenagers in the United States use ChatGPT to do their schoolworkdoubling the 13% recorded in 2023. This increase highlights the growing integration of artificial intelligence tools in educational environments. Demographic differences in ChatGPT usage The study points to significant variations in the use of ChatGPT by race and ethnicity. Both black and Hispanic adolescents reported 31% usecompared to 22% of white adolescents. This trend represents a notable change from the previous year, where the percentages were similar between groups: 11% for whites and 13% and 11% for blacks and Hispanics, respectively. Besides, students in higher grades show a greater propensity to use ChatGPT. 31% of 11th and 12th graders reported using it, compared to 20% of 7th and 8th graders. No significant differences were observed in terms of gender or family income. Perceptions on the acceptability of using ChatGPT Adolescents’ opinions on the acceptability of using ChatGPT vary depending on the academic task. 54% consider it appropriate to use it to research new topics, while only 18% see it appropriate to write essays. Regarding solving mathematical problems, 29% approve and 28% disapprove. These perceptions reflect ongoing discussions about the ethics and role of artificial intelligence in education. Familiarity with ChatGPT directly influences its use. Of the total number of teens surveyed, 79% have heard of the tool, up from 67% in 2023. Among those who have heard a lot about ChatGPT, 56% have used it for schoolwork, up from 18%. of those who have limited knowledge. This increase in ChatGPT use among teens underscores the need for educators and parents to understand and address the impact of artificial intelligence on learning. As these tools become more integrated into academic life, it is essential to establish clear guidelines on their ethical and effective use. Keep reading:– OpenAI launches discount for ChatGPT Plus if you meet these requirements– This famous university will allow its students to use ChatGPT in classes– Is ChatGPT smart enough to get an engineering degree?

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