happened

Something has hit a Boeing 737, injuring the pilot. The truly unheard of: it happened at 11,000 meters

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A shattered windshield, a pilot with his arm covered in cuts, and United Airlines Flight 1093 diverted for an emergency landing. The plane that covered the route from Denver to Los Angeles has become the aeronautical mystery of the moment after, apparently, something hit the cockpit at 11,000 meters above sea level. What we know. The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating an incident that occurred Thursday with a Boeing 737 MAX 8 flying over Moab, Utah, at cruising speed. The plane was traveling at an altitude of 36,000 feet when a suspected impact occurred in the cockpit. Photos of the incident show the captain’s side windshield completely splintered, the plane’s center console splattered with glass, and the pilot’s arm covered in small cuts and abrasions. According to initial reports, the captain “thought they had been hit by a piece of metallic space debris.” When they made an emergency landing in Salt Lake City, they ended up discovering a “3.5-inch” impact on the outer panel of the windshield, but the cabin did not depressurize. Space junk? The plane’s windshield has been sent to NTSB laboratories for analysis, but researchers are not working on the hypothesis that it was a space debris impact, but rather part of a more mundane object that also flies higher than airplanes: a weather balloon. Although space junk be a growing problemthe United States Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) considers the risk “minuscule” of a piece of satellite or rocket hitting an airplane. That it also injures a person on board has a probability of “less than one in a billion.” The famous popularizer Scott Manley points out one of the main reasons for skepticism: modern satellites are designed to disintegrate into small pieces. Upon reaching cruising altitudes, these pieces are no longer hypersonic and have low impact energy. So a balloon? If it wasn’t space debris, what could have broken the windshield and injured the pilot? One of the exterior images of the plane shows, in addition to the broken windshield, dozens of small marks and dents on the metal fuselage of the plane, just above the window, which could be an indication that they encountered a hail storm. Hail is rare at 11,000 meters, but not impossible. However, the NTSB is working on the line of investigation that it was “a piece of a weather balloon data packet,” according to the specialized website AVBrief. These balloons and their payloads usually operate at 25,000-40,000 meters above sea level. Of course: if the piece was still tied to a balloon, it is strange that the pilot confused it with space junk. The windshield failed. Whatever hit the plane, the photos suggest the windshield didn’t do its job. The cabin windows of a 737, Manley explains, have multiple structural layers: glass on the outside and inside, with a polymer layer in between. The impact did not cause depressurization, indicating that the main structure and polymer layer held, but the inner glass layer fractured violently, projecting “glass dust” and small fragments toward the pilot, and causing the abrasions and cuts seen in the photos. The crew descended to 26,000 feet after the incident to reduce the pressure differential over the damaged window, and landed without further complications. The definitive answer as to what hit Flight 1093 will have to wait for the forensic analysis the NTSB is conducting on that shattered windshield. Images | JonNYC In Xataka | Three large pieces of space debris reenter every day: “one day our luck will run out and they will fall on someone”

In 1901, Russian explorers found the corpse of a frozen mammoth. What happened to his meat is a mystery

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Although we are trying to bring them backthousands of years ago mammoths disappeared from the face of the Earth. However, for centuries, humans fed on its flesh, created tools with their bones and were protagonists in the stories that were drawn on the walls. Now, although they disappeared about 4,000 years ago, there are stories that claim that less than 100 years ago, there were those who ate mammoth meat. Its flavor? Like a sirloin of the time. Of course, there is quite a bit of ‘sauce’ that masks this culinary story. The Berezovka mammoth. Otto Ferdinandovich Harz was a Russian-German naturalist who, at the beginning of the 20th century, participated in the famous Siberian excavation of 1901 in which the Berezovka mammoth. It is about one of the best preserved specimensif not the best, because he died when he was between 45 and 50 years old in the Permafrost, more than 44,000 years ago. That’s how they found it. The most superficial part, the skull, had been gnawed by wolves, but look at the state of the buried paw The peculiarity. This exposure to extreme temperatures allowed researchers to find a piece in enviable conditions. The wolves had eaten some of the meat, but the carcass was complete and even herbs in its mouth and 12 kilos of food in its stomach were recovered. The conditions allowed us to determine that the skin was a reddish brown color, with curly hair about 50 centimeters long, a 35 centimeter tail, a penis in good condition and a layer of fat nine centimeters thick, key to withstanding low temperatures. The size? 2.8 meters high by just over four meters long. Reconstruction of the mammoth at the time of its death “Appetizing“Unearthing the animal was not quick. The researchers set up a tent at the excavation point and got to work. Here we entered turbulent terrain because legends begin. Nobody was there on those cold Siberian nights to see what was being cooked, but there are those who point out that there was mammoth meat in that casserole. Due to the good conservation of the meat, the rumor was that the members of the expedition ate part of the mammoth to last the nights. But there’s a twist: it turns out that although it didn’t look bad, when it thawed, the smell could be nauseating. Even seasoned, it was too much for the human nose and, although jokingly they dared to try it (after a story which points to alcohol consumption as a trigger), it seems that in the end they gave it to the dogs at the camp. The Explorers Club. Another story goes in the opposite direction: after arriving at St. Petersburg Zoological Museumwhere you can see both the remains and a faithful representation of the mammoth at the time of its death, Otto began to sort through the remains and realized that the meat was of no use. Therefore, he organized a dinner for colleagues. The requirement? That these also carried something from prehistory. Evidence that they ate mammoth meat from 44,000 years ago? None, but the story is good. Same as that of New York Explorers Club. It turns out that, according to legends, the explorers of 1901 were not the only recent humans to have tasted mammoth meat. Founded in 1904, the Explorers Club of New York is a society dedicated to the exploration of land, sea, air and space (more recently, of course). It was created to support exploration exploits and has notable and honored members such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jane Goodall, Richard Garriott either James Cameronamong many others. Part of a room at the ‘Explorers CLub’. Humble. Myth. Anyone who makes a documented and outstanding contribution to scientific knowledge through field expeditions can be a member. Aside from that adventurous spirit, what its members share are annual banquets in which the menu is… exotic. has been eaten polar bear or seal babies (to comment on this), but also crocodile tail, caramelized yak and a large number of insects fried, in quesadillas, baked, or in dessert form. What if they didn’t eat dodo? It’s because there wasn’t, wow. Dinner at the club What they are said to have eaten was mammoth: woolly mammoth discovered in Alaska. Supposedly, it was Roosevelt and Armstrong who, at the 1951 dinner, tasted this ancient meat. They were going to eat meat megatheriumwhich was a kind of enormous sloth, but it seems that a misinterpretation by a magazine that covered the dinner led them to think that “megaterium” was another term for “mammoth”, so it went down in history as, that day, they ate mammoth at the prestigious event. The turn. It turns out, and here comes the twist, that a member of the club was not going to be able to attend and asked that they give him his portion in a jar so he could keep it. He put “megatherium meat” and took it to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. He left it there, but fate wanted it to end up at the Peabody Museum of Natural History and, in 2014, some researchers performed DNA tests to see what the hell it was. It didn’t matter if it was a mammoth: the fact that in 1951 they had had megatherium for dinner would still be just as impressive. Well, neither a mammoth… nor a giant sloth: the analysis showed that it was turtle meat. And not a Pleistocene turtle, but a green sea turtle that, yes, is protected and in danger of extinction, but not extinct. The mammoth meatball. Legend pointed to this similarity between the modern sirloin and mammoth meat, but in the absence of documents, it seems that any consumption of mammoth in the last 4,000 years is difficult to believe. What is known is that, in 1979, a paleontologist who discovered a bison from 50,000 years ago He couldn’t resist the temptation of making a good stew with its meat. It wouldn’t smell … Read more

London prohibited renting homes on Airbnb more than 90 days a year. You will not believe what happened: prices lowered

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In 2017 it was Airbnb itself that introduced an innovative limit in the city of London: 90 annual days as a stop for complete housing rentals. The measure, adopted after authorities pressure Local and London’s town hall, sought to prevent the platform from being used fraudulently. Today we know that the consequence, although weak, was expected: up to 4%. Airbnb and London. Airbnb’s growth in London during the 2010 made the city one of the main focus of the collaborative economy, with More than 40,000 properties offered and an annual expansion. However, what was born as a specific form of income for individuals quickly became a business for professional operators. Almost A quarter From the advertisements of complete housing they exceeded the threshold of the 90 annual rental nights without having the required permission, which took thousands of floors from the residential market. The phenomenon generated neighborhood complaints about the constant rotation of temporary tenants and additional pressure on a market already tensioning for the lack of affordable housing. The political reaction. The lack of capacity of the municipalities to monitor these excesses led to local leaders Como Sarah Haywardin Camden, to denounce that whole neighborhoods were being emptied of long -term rent. Given this situation, Airbnb recognized that the regulation was inescapable and that it should prevent its platform from being used as a way to operate undercover hotels. The measure had the support of opposition politicians, Like Tom Copleythat demanded a firm response to stop the negative effects on local communities. The 90 -day rule. Thus, given the growing pressure, Airbnb decided to introduce in 2017 An automatic limitation: No host could rent a complete home more than 90 nights per year unless it was proven to have authorization from the Consistory. It was a way of transferring the legal restriction directly to the code of the application itself, preventing the ads from remaining active once the limit is exceeded. With this measure, the company tried to stop Operators’ abuse professionals and project a commitment to urban sustainability. The change was well received by local managers, who considered that only a platform level control could guarantee the effective compliance of the norm. The impact on prices. Now, with the data of recent studiesan open secret has been confirmed: that the Airbnb expansion reduced the residential rental offer and uploaded prices in several districts in London. But not just that. The introduction of the 90 -day rule allowed for a time to mitigate part of these effects, with a registered fall around 4.1% in housing price rates after the entry into force of the regulation. In other words: the episode became a reference to analyze how digital platforms can transform urban markets and to what extent regulation itself can correct its externalities. The (great) dilemma. The London case reflects a gallimatisms present in many other large cities: How to balance the economic attraction of digital platforms with the need to protect housing as a social good. While Airbnb defenders highlight the flexibility, diversification of tourism and additional income for families, their critics underline the Gentrificationthe Tourist saturation and the loss of tissue Community London, in this way, became In a laboratory Of this tension, showing that without a robust regulatory framework (and, very important, sustained), the impact on housing can be devastating. A precedent. The introduction of The London rule He had an international impact, by inspiring other local governments to establish similar limits. European and American cities closely observed The experimentverifying that the combination of technological automation and political control could reduce adverse effects. The debate, of course, remains more than open: to what extent the platforms must self -regulate, and how far the states will impose restrictions to safeguard the right to housing. The citywith its mixture of neighborhood pressure, empirical data And political decisions, it was erected at a turning point in the relationship between digital economy and urban policies. Comparative with other “great.” As we said, the London frame was not isolated. In Berlinthe proliferation of tourist rentals led to the introduction of fines of up to 100,000 euros For those who rent more than half of their home without permission, a rule that sought to avoid the massive conversion of residential buildings into tourist accommodations. In Barcelonathe City Council has undertaken A crusade Against illegal tourist floors, closing hundreds of ads and fine Airbnb for not removing accommodations without a license, in an attempt to contain the expulsion of neighbors in central neighborhoods (while hotels prices rose). In New Yorkthe restrictions focused in limiting rentals of complete apartments when the owner did not live in the same property, accompanied by daily sanctions of up to $ 1,000to prevent whole blocks from being converted into clandestine hotels. San Francisco set sanctions from up to $ 1,000 newspapers not to register the properties. All examples that show how cities, each with their legal and social peculiarities, agreed on an essential point: the Airbnb phenomenon had overcome the border of technological innovation to become a real political and urban challenge of the first order. Image | Pexels, Pexels In Xataka | It is not that mass tourism has been installed in Madrid, Barcelona or Rome, is that it has reached the Galapagos Islands In Xataka | In 2023 New York closed the tap to Airbnb to protect his home. Two years later, only hotels are happy

The sudden turn of this F -18 of the Air Force left Gijón without words. Now we know exactly why it happened

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Air festivals are for that: to amaze aviation enthusiasts with scenes impossible to see in a conventional airport. Uncommon aircraft, extreme maneuvers, moments that are recorded over fire. But what happened this weekend in Gijón was something else. An F -18 starred in such an unexpected maneuver that manyfrom the shore of the beach of San Lorenzo to social networks, they stayed with their hearts in a fist. In just a few seconds, the hunting descended in parallel to the Paseo Marítimo, made a sharp turn at a very low height over the sea and gained altitude again. The flight, which was part of the official show of the Gijón Air Festival, seemed to have left the script. Decisive response. The Air and Space Army He explained on Instagram What happened: “One of our f -18 fighters made an evasive maneuver by detecting a flock of birds in its trajectory. This action is part of the usual protocol to preserve both the integrity of the pilot and the security of the public.” In the same publication, they stressed that “the pilot acted quickly and professionalism, avoiding a possible impact without compromising the exhibition.” PUSLA to see the original publication on Instagram A maneuver that, far from being improvised, demonstrates the level of preparation that these aviators face. When you have to react without margin, there is no place for doubt. Gijón and his festival. With 19 consecutive editions – Salvo 2020, which was digital for the pandemic – the Gijón Air Festival It is already the reference event in Spain. For three days, the city becomes a meeting point for civil, institutional and military aircraft, with an outstanding closure on Sunday at noon on the beach of San Lorenzo. This year, the F -18 and the Eurofighter They were two of the poster stars. And, although it was not planned, the American hunting ended up signing the most commented maneuver of the day. The F -18, a combat classic with history in Spain. The McDonnell Douglas F -18 Hornet, called C.15 in the Spanish Armed Forcesit is a bimotor combat plane that entered service in the country in 1986. It can reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.8, operate more than 15,000 meters of altitude and load more than 7,000 kilos in weapons and missiles. Spain acquired 72 units after a long selection process and, since then, is part of the wings 12, 15 and 46, deployed in key bases such as Zaragoza, Torrejón or Gando. His versatility has allowed him to participate in Missions Air -Aire, Air -Superficie and International Operations in the Balkans, under the NATO umbrella, in the 1990s. When the sky surprises. Gijón’s scene, although brief, perfectly synthesizes what happens when heaven and technique cross at the right time. That flush maneuver on the sea, that forced turn in full flight, was as spectacular as justified. There were birds in the trajectory. And the pilot did what he had to do. From the army they insist that security is always priority. But even with all the protocols underway, exhibitions such as this demonstrates that flying so close to the public remains, by definition, an exercise where the unexpected never disappears completely. Not just fighter: sometimes other airplanes steal the show. And it is not the first time that an institutional flight surprises. In another air festival, the protagonists They were two planes of the Slovakia government: An Airbus A319 and a Fokker 100 that, despite not being fighters, signed an high level exhibition, with maneuvers that left all speechless. His deployment became one of the most viral moments of that event, and in Xataka we tell it here: Images | spotting_daanii.pl (Via Army Air) In Xataka | If something matches all mortals, it is the limit of 100 ml in the plane’s hand luggage. That is about to end

No one knew what happened for 12 years in a Volkswagen ranch in the Brazilian jungle. Until a priest made a call

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During the darkest years of the Brazilian military dictatorshipwhen the regime promoted at all costs the colonization of the Amazon under the flag of development, one of the largest multinationals on the planet expanded its automobile empire in Latin America. At the same time, he directed an ambitious livestock project deep in the jungle. That multinational was Volkswagen, and in 2019 a priest He revealed a tragedy. Awakening from a forgotten memory. The story was told this week The Washington Post In an extensive report. When in 2019 the priest and academic Ricardo Rezende Figueira read that Volkswagen Brazil was willing to Recognize and repair His complicity with the Brazilian military dictatorship for the political persecution of workers in factories, felt something missing. There was no mention of Vale do rio crystallinethe huge livestock farm of the company in the Amazonian jungle. That land of more than 140,000 hectares, where hundreds of workers were recruited under deceptionisolated, indebted, mistreated, tortured and forced to work in degrading conditions for more than a decade, it seemed to have been History erased. There are evidence. But Rezende, who in the 80s documented those abuses as part of his work with the Pastoral Commission of the Earthstill It kept the evidence: More than a thousand pages of testimonies, notarial statements, police reports and press clippings accumulated in your personal archive. After reading the news, the priest telephone to prosecutor Rafael Garciaspecialist in slave work at the Ministry of Labor. That call would resurrect one of the darker chapters of corporate advance in the Amazon. A jungle turned into hell. The documents that he rebounded delivered to the authorities offered a devastating radiography. Between 1974 and 1986, in full military dictatorship, Volkswagen Brazil (then the largest automotive in Latin America) promoted a Titanic livestock project With regime support: disassemble the jungle in Pará To raise 100,000 cattle, as part of a corporate ideal that the world not only needed cars, but also meat. To do this hired a subsidiaryVale do rio crystalline SA, whose leaders included the president of Volkswagen Brazil himself, Wolfgang Sauer. The company turned to the sadly famous cats (Informal recruiters) who promised good salaries to poor peasants, advanced money and transferred them in trucks to the jungle’s heart. Images of the Brazilian parliamentary delegation during his visit to the farm in 1983 A prison. Once there, the workers were locked in camps remote, forced to work under threat of armswithout medical attention, drinking contaminated water, exposed to malaria, living under plastics and indebted by food and medicines. Not just that. His movements were constantly monitored by armed inspectors. Thus, trying to escape was to face punishment, the disappearance or death. The file that challenged oblivion. For years, Rezende collected Men’s testimonies They escaped from that hell. The records talked about beatings, broken teeth, bare men in the jungle, bodies thrown in cavernseven workers Burned alive. A young man, Valdeci Alves Fumeiro, story Having spent seven years caught in the hacienda, sewn without anesthesia after a fall and forced to continue working. Volkswagen’s announcement in 1977 in Brazil urged other companies to become “neighbors” of their farm in the Amazon Silence. But despite multiple complaints, intelligence reports and official statements that recognized the existence of slave work on the property, never presented A single position penal. I remembered the post that the structure of complicity between companies, state and repressive force guaranteed impunity for decades. Rezee, however, persisted in his conviction: the file had to survive time, because one day he would return to light. And so it was. The prosecutor Garcia, when reviewing the documents, recognized in them the basis for an unprecedented judicial action. A rebuilt truth. The Prosecutor’s Office initiated a national search to locate the workers mentioned by Rezende. The effort fell to the young researcher Matheus Faustinowho toured remote communities for months until he found 14 of the 69 identified. Some, such as Francisco Rezende de Souza, had been devastated by experience: alcoholism, isolation, inability to reintegrate into life. Others, such as the Batista de Souza brothers, were separated and sold by cats even after Volkswagen will leave the project. One of them, Juldemar, was silent for life. Testimonies When in 2023 The trial began in a Federal Labor Court in Redenção, several of these men testified for the first time. “They sold us”, One said. “We slept under plastics,” I commented another. “Everyone was armed, we had to work.” Rezende also went up to the podium. He recalled the complaints since 1977, Volkswagen’s complicity for omission, and the systematic inaction of the State. What does the company say. For its part, Volkswagen Brazil He has flatly denied The accusations. He alleges that his role was merely the shareholder of a company that subcontracted others, and that at the time It did not detect irregularities. In his judicial writings, he argues that it is the government who must hold recruiters and not hold the company. But prosecutors argue that Volkswagen’s subsidiary It was an integral part of the parent company, and that the abuses were systematic and known. Internal documents They show that Volkswagen even organized visits to deny the complaints, while avoiding allowing inspections in the camps. According to the postthe most cynical statement came from the Swiss director of the ranch, Friedrich Brüggerwho in one Interview in 2017 He blamed the workers of his debt and justified the violence of cats as necessary to maintain order: “The Brazilian is a bad person,” declared. The company in Germany has kept silence. Fight for memory. Today, The judicial casewhich requires compensation for 30 million dollarsmarks the first time that the Brazilian State tries to legally hold A multinational by slavery Modern in the Amazon. But for Rezende, which exceeds 70 years and coordinates a Chair of Human Rights in Rio de Janeiro, it is not just a remuneration justice. It is a battle against oblivion. He underlined In the newspaper That each folder in his office … Read more

What happened to lunar volcanoes

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An asteroid impact on the Moon started a fragment of the satellite surface and threw it into space. After a trip of thousands of years, the meteorite fell in northwest Africa, where it was discovered in February 2023. After two years of studies, it has helped cover a hole of one billion years in the lunar geological history. Context. Apollo missions brought 382 kg of lunar rocks to Earth. The analysis of these rocks told us that the moon had had a violent volcanic past, but that its inner fire had turned off about 3,000 million years ago. A much more recent mission, Chang’e 5, brought younger basalts, “barely” 2,000 million years. This still leaves us a huge hole of almost one billion years of lunar history in which we do not know what happened. Did volcanism go out and reactivated? The answer came to us. And it has arrived, as so many times in science, by chance. A lunar rock found in the Norafricano desert in 2023 has turned out to be the piece that was missing in the puzzle. He NWA 16286 Meteorite Analysispresented at the Goldschmidt conference in Prague, suggests that lunar volcanism was a much more continuous process than we thought. The lunar meteorite number 31. The protagonist of this story is a piece of soil of the moon of 311 grams, one of the only 31 lunar basalt meteorites officially identified on our planet. It was not brought by any astronaut or any probe, but reached the earth by its own foot. An asteroid impact on the moon started it from the satellite surface and threw it into space. After a trip of thousands of years, he fell in northwest Africa, where he was discovered in February 2023. Studying the rocks that the moon sends us for free is an incredibly valuable way to explore its geology, because the rocks of the sampling return missions are limited to the immediate areas of the places chosen for the moon landing. Lunar meteorites can be expelled from anywhere from the moon surface. There is a lot of serendipia in this sample. The missing piece. But the true importance of NWA 16286 resides in his age. He Lead isotope analysis He has dated the rock in about 2,350 million years. This makes it the youngest lunar basaltic meteorite ever discovered, and places it within that mysterious hole of one billion years in lunar volcanic history. The samples of NASA and Luna’s Apollo missions of the Soviet Union are between 3,100 and 4,000 million years. Those of the Chinese Chang’e-6 mission (from the hidden face of the moon) They are about 2,830 million years. Chinese mission shows Chang’e-5 (from the visible face of the moon) are about 2,030 million years. NWA 16286 is in the middle. Volcanic activity did not stop. The characteristics of the meteorite suggest that Lunar volcanic activity continued Throughout that time: the moon was not geologically dead. It is a basalt rich in olivine with unusually high levels of potassium. In addition, its “fingerprint” lead isotopic pointed out that it was formed from a source in the lunar mantle with a very high proportion of uranium-plaomo. Potassium and uranium are radioactive elements, as is the thorium. Its disintegration along eons generates a constant amount of heat. The theory, now reinforced by this rock, is that lunar mantle bags enriched in these elements acted as a residual heat engine that maintained parts of the interior of the moon hot enough to produce magma and feed volcanoes much after what was thought. What part of the moon came from? NWA 16286 has a different lithology from any known meteorite. It is believed that it came from a lunar sea so far not sampled. Its texture suggests a two -stage cooling story: a slow, perhaps in a magma camera, followed by an eruption in a lava flow of several tens of meters thick. This rock not only resolves an old mystery, but also serves as a guide. Analyzing their trajectory and composition will help scientists identify the crater of origin on the moon, marking a priority point of interest for future sampling return missions. And so is how a rock found in the desert is telling us where we have to go the next time we visit the moon. Image | SM BELARDO et al. In Xataka | There is a silent career to get the moon waves: dozens of companies have claimed part of their spectrum

Stellantis wanted to conquer China with his combustion cars. What has happened to almost any other western company has happened

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The Changsha court has finally declared bankruptcy The Gac-Fiat Chrysler Automobiles joint company, thus closing the final chapter of Stellantis in the Asian giant. The news was already expected since 2022 when the group came into liquidation. After debts equivalent to more than 1.1 billion dollars and five failed public auctions, the dream of conquering the largest world car market ends in failure. The end of a 15 -year adventure. The Joint Venture GAC-FCA was born in 2011 With huge ambitions: 17,000 million investment yuan, two production and capacity plants for 300,000 vehicles per year. Under the baton of Sergio Marchionne, the project intended to bring brands such as Jeep and Fiat to the Chinese market with models adapted to local needs and trends, including the Jeep Renegade, Compass and Cherokee, in addition to the Fiat Viaggio and Ottimo. Free fall after initial success. After reaching its peak in 2017 With more than 200,000 units soldGac-FCA experienced an unstoppable descent. Sales collapsed to 124,780 units in 2018, continued to fall in 2019 and reduced just 20,396 units in 2021. Insufficient numbers for a market of more than 25 million vehicles per year and a muscle like Gac-FCA. The problem of combustion engines in China. While the Chinese market turned to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, Gac-FCA remained faithful to combustion engines. This strategy is over resulting fatal In a country where new technologies and electrification have become the norm. And it is that Chinese consumers have been opting for the electricity in an environment of high competitiveness between automobile manufacturers. The failed attempt to save yourself. In 2022, Carlos Tavares tried to recover control increasing Stellantis’s participation From 50% to 75%, but GAC publicly rejected the maneuver. The joint company entered into a restructuring process and, subsequently, in liquidation. Five public auctions to sell land, equipment and the two factories were deserted, something common in China where it is more profitable to build from zero electric vehicles. Historical symbolism. Stellantis withdrawal marks the end of a historic era. Jeep was the first foreign brand to make cars in China when AMC invested 16 million dollars in 1983 To produce the Cherokee XJ. Peugeot contributed in the mid -80s to the creation of GAC as a car manufacturer, transforming what was a bus repair workshop into a company produced by Peugeot 505. Citroën arrived in 1992 and came to manufacture 719,000 cars in 2015. Another western company in China Fallida. Stellantis’s case is not isolated. Is Another great western company that perishes in China Given the high competition, aggressive and regulatory costs of the country. It is the example that you don’t care who you are. Even Stellantis, the world’s largest car group (in terms of volume of brands and models), which began as a Peugeot partner and now has a full range of electric vehicles of its own creation, has not even been able to adapt to the Chinese market. The new strategy: ally with China. Paradoxically, after leaving China as a manufacturer, Stellantis returned as a investor. Carlos Tavares bought in 2023 21% of Leapmotora Chinese company of electric vehicles, with the intention of sell these cars in Europe “With a great margin of benefits.” A strategy that reflects the new reality: if you cannot compete with China, join it. Cover image | Dinkun Chen In Xataka | The most ambitious shopping center in China is not formed to sell: the Wushang Dream was a mini -city with a roof

What are solar storms and why society has become so vulnerable to something that has happened millions of years

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“Understanding the space climate is not an option.” With this lapidary phrase summarizes its efforts to predict solar storms the European Space Agency. They occur since the sun exists, and some of the most powerful They are recorded in the trees rings. But they are not our ancestors, but we, the most dependent civilization of the technology that the earth has ever stepped on, the most vulnerable to them. But what exactly are solar storms? How are these energy outbreaks? And the million dollar question: can we predict when the next one will impact on earth? The answer is in a complex network of satellites, artificial intelligence models and constant surveillance of our star by space agencies. What is a solar storm 150 million kilometers away, the sun flushes with a magnetic activity so powerful that, from time to time, it goes out of hand. A solar storm is a sudden explosion of energy, plasma particles and magnetic fields that the sun releases towards the solar system. If the ejection occurs in the direction of the Earth, the solar storms can produce more intense auroraslike those that were seen in much of the world in May 2024. But they are not only a show: in our technological civilization, they are also a threat. To understand them, we have to differentiate their two main components. The guts or solar flares. They are a intense radiation outbreak: A whip of energy released when the magnetic fields of the sun tense and break. This radiation travels at the speed of light, reaching the earth in just eight minutes. They are classified according to their intensity by X -ray flow, measured in watts per square meter. The class A, B and C are the weakest, and those of class M and X, the most powerful, which usually cause interference in short wave radio communications. Coronal mass ejections. It is the ballistic part of the solar storms. While fulguration is the flash, the coronal mass ejections They are the “cannon bullet”: a gigantic bubble of loaded particles (plasma) and magnetic fields that are thrown into the space at speeds of millions of kilometers per hour. This massive cloud of solar material It takes between 18 hours and a couple of days in crossing the space to cross with our planet. Not all guts are accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, but when they occur together and in the direction of the earth, they are a powerful cocktail that can put astronauts at risk, knock down satellites (as happened during a Starlink deploymentor fry electrical installations on land (As in the Carrington event). How they form A Class M. Image: That The origin of the solar storms is the magnetic field of the Sun. A star is not a solid ball, but a sphere of rotation plasma. But it does not rotate uniformly: his Ecuador turns faster than his poles. This differential causes the magnetic field lines to twist, tangle and accumulate an enormous amount of energy, as if they were elastic gums twisted to the limit. These areas of intense and complex magnetic activity They usually manifest as sun spots on the visible surface of the sun. When the accumulated tension becomes unsustainable, there is a magnetic reconnection event: the lines are broken and violently reorganized, suddenly releasing all the stored energy. This release drives the guts and can launch into the mass of the solar crown. The intensity of its effects on Earth depends on its speed, its size and, above all, the orientation of its magnetic field. If the magnetic field of coronal mass ejection is oriented towards the south, it is aligned in opposition to that of the Earth, our protective shield, which allows a much more efficient and destructive energy transfer. How they affect the earth If we are here it is because the magnetic field and the atmosphere of the earth protect us from radiation. Solar storms are not a direct risk to the health of living beings on the earth’s surface. For astronauts it is another song. In 1972, shortly before the Apollo 17 mission, there was an intense solar storm that would have inoculated a mortal amount of radiation in astronauts if they had been on the surface of the moon. Today, astronauts who work in the low land orbit, even protected by the magnetic field, plan space walks according to the space climate. The really vulnerable to intense solar storms is our technological infrastructure. When a coronal mass ejection impacts the earth’s magnetosphere There is a geomagnetic storm. Extreme cases can induce electric currents in high voltage lines, overloading transformers and raising the risk of blackouts, especially now in summer, when the electricity grid is already very tension. The satellites, despite having mechanisms to avoid induced currents, usually carry the worst part. Solar storms expand the upper atmosphere of the Earth, increasing friction and accelerating the fall of satellites that orbit the earth at low height. This effect already is accelerating the fall of Starlink satellitesthe most large constellation of the low orbit. Even during moderate geomagnetic storms we can notice some effects, such as precision errors in GPS systems or that airlines deflect flights from polar routes to avoid failures in plane systems and protect passengers. The kind face of solar storms are the auroras: solar particles that when hitting our atmosphere They create a light show at the poles. During severe geomagnetic storms, dawn can also be seen in less common latitudes. When the next solar storm will occur Image: that The most severe geomagnetic storms occur Around solarthe period of more activity of the Sun in its 11 -year cycle. Now we are going through solar cycle 25, and we approach the maximum activity, planned by the NOAA and ESA by the end of 2025 or early 2026. This means that we are in a high probability phase of intense storms. Luckily, spatial meteorology is advancing by giant steps. To predict solar storms, … Read more

That year a concord took off from the Canary Islands and what happened has not happened again

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After more than 50 years of silence imposed by the sonic stamps, the United States has decided open again the heavens on the supersonic flight on the mainland. The Executive order Signed by Trump revokes the 1973 regulations that prohibited these operations on American soil, then motivated by citizen complaints to the deafening roller generated by the planes to overcome the sound barrier, an acoustic impact of up to 110 decibels. That same year, a concord arrived on the island of Gran Canaria for Make history. Concorde in the Canary Islands. On June 30, 1973, Spain was part of one of the scientific experiments more unusual and ambitious never undertaken to study the sun: a supersonic flight of the concord that pursued the Shadow of a solar eclipse total about Africa. The geographical location of the Canary Islands, perfectly aligned with The eclipse trajectoryallowed the country to be integrated into an international operation led by scientists from the United States, France and the United Kingdom, with the logistics collaboration of the Spanish Air Force. That day, the prototype of the Concorde, even without entering into commercial service, took off from Gran Canaria after landing on June 27 with the island covered by Calima. Its objective was not to transport passengers, but to become a flying observatory capable of staying inside the lunar umbra for a record time. Supersonic laboratory. The mission, developed and coordinated from Toulouse, transformed the Concorde 001 in A scientific platform unprecedented. To do this, the aircraft fuselage was modified drilling its roof and installing quartz crystals that allow the cameras to capture without distortions the infrared emissions of the sun from an altitude of More than 17,000 meters. Although the British initially opposed the aircraft, Air France accepted their temporary conversion enthusiastically In Air Laboratory. Inside the plane there were hardly any seats: scientists had to be held as they could during the maneuvers, in a small space and adapted to the minimum indispensable for the observations. The rudimentary preparation (including cleaning the windows manually before the flight) contrasted with The magnitude of the challenge scientist they faced: record from the air phenomena impossible to see from the earth’s surface due to atmospheric distortion. From Gran Canaria to eclipse. Thus, that June 30, 1973, the team of scientists aboard the prototype of the Concorde made one of the most spectacular exploits in the history of observational astronomy: they followed the shadow of a total solar eclipse on Africa during 74 uninterrupted minutesthanks to the ability of the plane to fly more than double the speed of sound. Don LiebenbergAmerican physicist and organizer of the experiment, was one of the seven investigators on board that since that altitude of 17,000 meters they observed the curvature of the Earth and captured Images of the solar crownthe critical region of the Sun whose emissions can affect from satellites to electrical networks on Earth. The path of the entire eclipse The problem. Equipped with infrared cameras installed on carries carved on the roof of the plane, the concorde 001 took off from the island and crossed the sahara behind the lunar umbra, achieving prolonged observations Never before. The problem? That although scientific results, such as First oscillation indication Five minutes at the intensity of the crown, they were technically impressive, its impact was limited: much of the material remains without digitizing and no significant conclusion was published. Concord 001 on display A feat that exceeded the results. As we said, despite the spectacular images and the technical audacity of the mission, the scientific legacy of the Concorde flight It was discreet. Most of the data, stored in hundreds of 35 mm film rolls, It was never digitized Due to lack of resources, and the analyzes were never formally completed. The flight, however, left an indelible mark on the collective memory of astronomers and fans of space exploration. Liebenberg himself, today attached professor at Clemsson, He recalled in National Geographic The moment when the concord penetrated the shadow of the moon A Mach 2.2 and darkness wrapped the sky in broad daylight. Despite the low immediate scientific profitability, the experiment served as a model for future missions and demonstrated the potential of supersonic flights in solar investigations, a field that still It is still active half a century later. Historical milestone Although the concord would return to Visit Spain In 1977 (already in commercial service and under sponsorship of El Corte Inglés), its 1973 scale in the Canary Islands was much more transcendent. Not only represented the first operational use of the plane for an international scientific mission, but consolidated Spain as relevant actor in solar research and in European aerospace logistics. That flight, often forgotten by the general public, symbolizes an era of bold experimentation, where the borders between aviation, astronomy and geopolitics are They blur at the speed of sound. Broking the myth. If you want also, that was a feat of international collaboration, technical innovation and scientific audacity that opened a door that today Cross again With new tools. For Liebenberg, the eclipse of 1973 was not only an experiment, but A sensory experience Unforgettable: absolute darkness to Mach 2, the vision of the curved horizon, the emotion shared by a handful of researchers determined to run after the shadow of the moon. Half a century later, the concord with perforated roof and clean windows remains as a testimony that, during more than a fleeting moment, science reached the eclipse and Spain was there To see it. Image | Spaceaero2 In Xataka | The Bombardier Global 8000 is preparing to enter service: it will be the fastest civil plane in the world from the concorde In Xataka | 20 years ago the concordal took off for the last time: this was the favorite plane of entrepreneurs and celebrities

Valencia feared that the housing market sink into the areas devastated by the DANA. The opposite has happened

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The Dana that He hit the province From Valencia in October it was so violent, it caused so many damage and affected so many people, that in the real estate agencies of the area they feared that the market was upside down. “It was thought that it was going to sink into the most devastated areas,” Recognize The sector. Reality has been another. The region has not only maintained The tension Between supply and demand suffered before the Dana, but has added an extra factor: Damage who suffered hundreds of households. The Association of Real Estate of the Valencian Community (ASCival) has published A report It helps to better understand how the market has responded. “We saw that the demand was strong”. Nora García Donet, president of ASCival, acknowledges that the market response after the Dana has even surprised the sector. After the rains they feared a puncture in the market, but reality has been quite different: the demand remained high while the offer (which in many cases was already subject to intense pressure before disaster) It was marked by the loss of households razed by rain and mud. “In the first moments it was thought that the market was going to sink into the areas most devastated by the Dana, but soon we saw that the demand was strong in a context in which many homes had been inoperative, and this trend is the one that has been maintained over time,” Donet points out. That equation has ended up moving to another key element: prices. A percentage: 18%. The report Ascival provides a fundamental fact to understand the drift of the market: the price of housing has increased by 18% in the municipalities hit by the DANA. More specifically 18.8% in the sale market and 18.1% in the lease. Translated to counting and sound money that means that houses for sale in the affected areas cost 171,428 euros while the rentals are around 800. The provinces has deepened Something else and calculates that a floor for sale in the towns razed by the downpours has increased, on average, about 32,000 euros. In the case of homes for rent, the price increase would be at 145 euros per month. All compared to the values ​​of seven months ago. What is the reason? The same that usually causes price increases in normal conditions: the imbalances between supply and demand. In Your study Ascival indicates a growing decoupling between both both in the sale market and in the rental. In the first case, the association calculates that the demand for houses for sale has shot 22% while the offer has fallen by 31.3%. In the second case, that of the Property Market to lease, the demand has shot 27.1% with the offering supply (38%). “Little more than six months after the devastating consequences of the DANA, the real estate situation in the affected municipalities follows the same trend of price and demand and contribution trend and contrition of the housing supply as in the rest of the Valencian territory,” Point out As a conclusion the Asicval report. That reality is verified by the region’s own agencies. More than half (54.3%) ensures that the supply of housing for sale has decreased and almost 90%(87.5%) have noticed price orange blossom. 58% also believe that there is more rental demand, while 96% consider that the supply has been maintained or dropped. The role of the Dana. The report It does not detail to what extent the increase can be related to the effect of the DANA or its influence on supply and demand, although it does slide some interesting data. The main one is that most people interested in buying or renting a house in the affected municipalities are locals. This is perceived at least by the agencies, which also ensure that customers do not seem especially interested in knowing whether or not the properties are in flood areas, but they do prefer apartments in height buildings. The tension in the market is not new, nor has it emerged after the October disaster. In 2024 Idealista published A report in which he already pointed out that the district with the greatest pressure in the demand for housing in Spain was in the Central-Horte de Trenor area, in Torrent. During the last months the house It has become more expensive Also in the whole of the province of Valencia, not only in the areas affected by the DANA. What the torrential rains did was sweep hundreds of homesdamaging them or leaving them temporarily uninhabitable. Image | Manuel Pérez García and Estefania Monerri Mínguez (Wikipedia) In Xataka | An old dream is injured in Barcelona: the idea of ​​”a house for a lifetime” without fear of move

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