heart

a macro study reveals the exact heart rate to minimize the risk of stroke

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Nowadays we monitor our vital signs, such as heart rateon the wrist itself thanks to smartwatches and activity bracelets that constantly tell us how many beats per minute our heart beats at rest. This information is vital, since traditionally it is believed that having an excessively high number is an indication that something bad is happening in the heart. The middle point is the best. In medicine, both due to excess and scarcity, we can find a scenario that is pathological, and that is why, although we relate high heart rate as something very negative, we must keep in mind that having them excessively low It is not always positive. This is the main conclusion of a pioneering research presented at the European Stroke Organization Conference, and although it has yet to undergo review, its foundations are extraordinarily solid, based on the analysis of 460,000 participants over 14 years. Crossing data. Of all these people analyzed, the researchers were especially interested in their medical histories and the diseases they presented, highlighting the registration of a total of 12,290 cases of stroke during the decade and a half of follow-up. But what is truly important here is when these records were crossed with the resting heart rate data of the participants, discovering a very clear pattern by showing a risk graph in the shape of a ‘U’ and not a straight line. Its meaning. The fact that a graph with this shape has been generated tells us that the optimal heart rate level is between 60 and 69 beats per minute, since these people were the ones with the lowest risk of suffering from a stroke. The problem is that, when the heart rate at rest exceeds 90 bpm, the risk of suffering a stroke increases by up to 45%, both ischemic and hemorrhagic. But in the case of having excessively low heart rate, the risk also increases, so we cannot be completely calm if we have 50 bpm at rest. Atrial fibrillation. Until now, medicine was very clear that severe arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation They were determining risk factors for suffering a stroke. But now this study adjusted the data specifically to separate people with and without atrial fibrillation, showing that resting heart rate is, on its own, an independent prognostic marker. Because? Although this study gives us a lot of information, the reality is that previous medical literature already offered a fairly rigorous explanation as to why a low or high heart rate had implications for strokes. In this case, an excessively low frequency can alter cerebral hemodynamics, causing blood to pass too slowly through the brain, and facilitating the formation of thrombi in certain contexts, especially when there are more risk factors. On the other side of the scale, when the frequency is chronically high, we have the layer of our blood vessels exposed to blood flow, exposed to constant mechanical stress that favors inflammation, hypertension and vascular damage, as has been shown in previous studies. Preventive medicine. These findings are good news for patients, especially older patients, since it is a new parameter that can predict the possibility of something as serious as a stroke occurring. This allows, especially in primary care, to better control the heart rate and not miss when it goes too fast or too slow, since the consequences can be fatal. Images | freepik In Xataka | We cannot predict a stroke, but we can avoid its main risk factors: reducing the danger is in our power

SpaceX faces a neighborhood rebellion in the heart of Texas

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SpaceX bases its success on repeating, repeating and repeating. Only in the month of May there are six launches scheduled. But that’s not all, testing of engines and other components carried out at the company’s industrial complex in McGregor, Texas, is the order of the day. Therefore, it is not unusual that more than 150 citizens from South and Central Texas have sued Elon Musk’s company for damage to their homes. Cracks in the walls and shattered glass. In total there have been two group demands. One of 80 South Texas residents and another that includes 77 people residing in the center of that same state. In all cases they complain about the damage caused by the shock waves from the SpaceX tests. Neighbors warn of cracked walls, broken window glass and continuous vibrations. One of the owners even claims that his house has suffered serious damage to the foundation.. A question of engines. The McGregor Test Center is the most active rocket engine testing facility in the world. That is where SpaceX tunes up the Raptor and Merlin engines that propel its ships into space. The problem is that they are very powerful motors, which are firmly connected to the ground. For this reason, as they point out in one of the lawsuits, “kinetic and acoustic energy cannot be spent raising a vehicle into the atmosphere.” Rather, “it is propelled violently outward through two destructive paths: an acoustic wave that hits aboveground structures or a sustained seismic tremor from the ground that physically shakes the underground foundations of homes.” Up to two million dollars. In total, each of the two lawsuits, filed in the 414th State District Court in Waco, asks for up to $1 million in compensation from SpaceX for damages to Texan neighbors. At the moment, Elon Musk’s company has not made any statements to the media. From a city of its own to friction with neighbors. Initially, SpaceX advertised its facilities as a job and even identity opportunity for Texas residents. Your Starbase reached the category of cityfor all the people, many of them workers, who lived in the surrounding area. But what happened recently shows that, in reality, SpaceX has more and more detractors among people who live near its facilities. It is not for less. Seeing how the home that costs so much to obtain is in danger is not a dish of good taste for anyone. From employees to neighbors. In recent times, SpaceX has also received many lawsuits from employees. To avoid them, the company has managed to be classified as an air transport company, since this allows it to be regulated under the Railway Labor Law and, in the process, make it much more difficult to file a complaint or carry out a strike. In short, Elon Musk’s space agency has given employees the slip, but can it do the same with its private Fuenteovejuna? Image | MagnificentGage Skidmore In Xataka | SpaceX is preparing the largest IPO in history: the fact that it is doing so right now is no coincidence

With the Find X9 Ultra, OPPO has an ambitious plan to conquer the heart of Spain. And its CEO has told us what it is

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From the offices of OPPO In Madrid, at the top of a building very close to Plaza de Castilla, you can see an old water tank from the Canal de Isabel II. It is a huge concrete structure inaugurated in the middle of the last century that today, no longer in use, functions as one of the visual “landmarks” of the square. It is very big, about 40 meters high, but it is very far away. I take one of the OPPO Find X9 Ultra that’s on the table, I open the camera, zoom in 10x and take a photo. The result is impressive. The camera returns an image full of details: the contours of the concrete, already worn, the advertising signage that floods its dome, the brutalist curves that the tower draws. All this from inside an office and interrupted by a large window. I look towards the back of the room, where there are some boxes of snacks and pastries ready for breakfast. There are tiny inscriptions on the side, so I repeat the process: I open the camera, zoom in 10x and take another photo. The sharpness is extraordinary. There is no pixelation or noticeable distortion or digital zoom artifacts in the drawing of the letters, nor a great chromatic distortion with respect to what my eyes see. “What we want to do with the Ultra is not just another incremental improvement, we want it to be an alternative to your professional camera,” he explains to me. Kevin ChoCEO of OPPO in Spain since last summer. “It would be like buying a camera with a built-in phone and not the other way around, right?” I ask him. “That is, camera firstmore than a phone with an interesting camera.” Looking at the wide range of tools on the table, it’s hard not to agree. The launch of the Find X9 Ultra in Spain marks a milestone for OPPO: for the first time, the company launches its top-of-the-range phone in Europe, something reserved until now for Chinese consumers. OPPO has not spared any details: the Ultra incorporates an ambitious 300 mm teleconverter equivalent in 35 mm and 13x format that is attached to the phone’s gigantic lenses to multiply the camera’s possibilities. Why has OPPO made such a determined bet for photographyWithout a doubt the most notable aspect of a Find X9 Ultra full of attractive features and specifications? “There is a very marked polarization in the market,” explains Cho. “Around 30% or 40% of buyers continue to opt for devices under 200 euros, or even second-hand, but what we are also seeing is an expansion of the premium segments. It is the same trend month after month: premium sales are growing.” (Xataka) Cho introduces a key word: “premiumization.” The market polarization of the mobile phone is neither new nor surprising for anyone who has paid attention to the dynamics of recent years. Many consumers tend to hold on to their devices for longer, as a result of the large investments they must make, which is why they demand more performance and quality from their products. This gap, also present in markets such as the car, has forced almost all brands to recalibrate their strategies. OPPO’s ambitious plan “We don’t want transactional volumes,” Cho continues, “you know, competing on price. We want to make sure we bring products that can create value for the consumer.” According to Cho, OPPO is facing its second wave of expansion in the European market: after a consolidation of the brand and sales in recent years, it is time to grow not so much through raw numbers as through loyalty in the segments. more exclusive of the market. And for that you need a product up to the task, hence the arrival of the Find X9 Ultra. A landing that, however, has required adaptations. Since his arrival in Spain, Cho has promoted a change in OPPO’s methodology, especially regarding the consumer: “We are doing studies to understand consumer preferences and to define our strategies.” Refers to focus group and surveys with more than 4,000 respondents, a very large sample that exceeds those that the brand was doing until then. Cho is clear that the only way to compete in the premium segment is by going to the user, or, in his words, “winning the heart and brain of the consumer.” (Xataka) The approach is ambitious, as are its objectives. When I ask him where he would like to see OPPO in five years in Spain, he answers without much hesitation: “As the number one brand.” The Find X9 Ultra is the first stone of a long road ahead, a way to “test the roof” of OPPO in Europe. His first steps have consisted of relearning and readapting the lessons of the chinese marketwhere OPPO is a brand with a lot of penetration and experience in the premium segments, for Spain and Europe. Before the launch on the old continent, OPPO has had to make some adjustments in terms of operating system and memory to adapt them to local needs and preferences. Given the constraints of such a competitive segment Like the premium one, OPPO has two other arguments to win over the consumer: its operating system, ColorOS, and the battery. Cho boasts leadership in the second area and widespread user satisfaction in the first: “In China, our operating system has consistently been our main selling point for the past three years.” In Spain, the Ultra works on Android, like the rest of the market, but Cho highlights the interoperability and customization of OPPO: “We have been working on inter-device and inter-ecosystem interoperability for some time, so that you can use the phone with a Windows computer or a Mac.” (Xataka) Camera, battery, operating system… The elephant in the room that needs to be addressed is AI. Is there the definitive angle for a mobile phone brand to be more attractive than its competition? Cho’s answer is not direct but clear: OPPO’s strength is … Read more

In Spain we love to have dinner at ten at night. To our biological clock and our heart, not so much

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Eating dinner at 9 or 10 at night is something that is quite normal for Spaniards, but seen by foreigners, it is something that shocks them quite a bit as it is so different from the customs of other countries. And although our normality is to eat at three in the afternoon and dinner at ten at nightthe reality is that our biological clock is not designed to digest large amounts of food when the sun has already set. Time matters. Although in recent years we have been obsessed with looking at the ingredients of what we eat or the amount of calories it contains, the reality is that science gives more and more importance to consumption. This is where chrononutrition comes from, an emerging discipline that studies the relationship between circadian cycles and our diet, and that little by little is seeing that eating late dinners has a direct impact on our metabolic health. our quality of sleep and our risk cardiovascular. The biological clock. Our body works like an orchestra perfectly synchronized by circadian rhythmsand leaving them has serious consequences. We see it, for example, with the famous jet lagthe time change or even when we go to bed at a time that is not ours. The result is that the body has to recover again and has important effects, such as great fatigue. In the case of eating at odd hours, especially at dinner, we are desynchronizing the peripheral clocks that the cells of organs as important as the pancreas or liver have. And this results in a drastic worsening of glucose tolerance and also insulin secretion. Its effect. And it has consequences, since when we eat dinner close to our biological bedtime, that is, when the sun is setting, the body reduces the consumption of nocturnal fats and there is also a large release of cortisol, which is the stress hormone, and the release of melatonin, which is essential for falling asleep, is delayed. This is something that became clear in a 2025 meta-analysis, where it is detailed that eating after nine at night worsens the rhythms of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which not only has a metabolic impact, but also an emotional one, increasing the risk of depression. The Spanish case. If we focus precisely on our country, we have as a reference the study led by the ISGlobal institute that analyzed to 100,000 participants of the NutriNet-Santé cohort. Here it was concluded that dining after 9 pm is associated with a greater cardiovascular risk, especially impacting the risk of cerebrovascular disease in women. In the case of weight. If you want to lose weight, dinner time also has a lot of influence, as noted in a study by researcher Marta Garaulet that showed that people who eat later at midday lose less weight than those who eat early, even when they consume the same calories and expend the same amount of energy and sleep the same amount. Added to this are studies in Catalan adults that associate the delay of the first meal of the day with a higher BMIwhile extending overnight fasting is related to a lower BMI. Beyond the scale. Although we may keep in mind the impact on digestion, the reality is that studies suggest that having late meal times is related to poorer quality of sleep. This was seen in the United States, where science pointed out that in middle-aged women it has been proven that bringing dinner time closer to bedtime prolongs the time it takes to fall asleep, therefore shortening the effective duration of rest. And as we already know, having poor quality sleep generates many other problems, such as a worse cardiometabolic profile, which generates a true vicious circle. Its nuances. Logically, having a late dinner alone does not explain the state of health of the Spanish population, since the context has a lot of influence. This is where the traditional Spanish Mediterranean diet comes in, which makes dinners later meals, but also much lighter, leaving the main energy weight for the midday meal. That is why you should keep in mind that a late, copious and ultra-processed dinner followed by a trip straight to bed is not the same as a light dinner accompanied by some physical activity before going to sleep. Even so, science suggests that, if the objective is to reduce metabolic risk, improve carbohydrate metabolism and lose weight, the winning strategy involves advance dinner time and maintain a longer overnight fasting window. Images | Eiliev Aceron Shane In Xataka | Healthy obesity does not exist: why “being fat but fit” is nothing more than a myth

a “free city” in the heart of Copenhagen

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In September it will be 55 years since the birth of Christianiaa place as peculiar as it is unknown to so many people. I myself admit that I had never heard of this “social experiment”, as they called themselves at least initially, until I visited Copenhagen. And what is Christiania? Well, a neighborhood located right in the heart of the Danish capital, and at the same time separated from the world. A self-governed and independent neighborhood, where more than a thousand people live together in peace and oblivious to social norms. Getting there is shocking. You walk through a normal and ordinary city, and suddenly you stand in front of a door, or rather a sign, that delimits the entrance. And when you cross it, you immerse yourself in a completely different place than where you came from. Going through that door is like entering a time machine. Suddenly you don’t hear the traffic or the noise of the crowd. Only calm, the passing of bicycles, calm voices, guitars, songs and even the chirping of birds. Formerly the Christiania lands belonged to the army, but they abandoned it back in 1971. It was then when a group of young people met and “took” those lands and their corresponding barracks to found a free community that still endures today, despite the multitude of battles they have had to fight with politicians and law enforcement. Many of these battles come caused by drug sales inside Christiania. At first they were allowed, but that ended up getting out of hand and “legality” was limited to soft drugs. On Pusher Street you can find marijuana plants everywhere, and even stands selling hashish. (Unsplash) Surely this is the main reason why taking photos there is frowned upon, and not what they argue that a photo does not reflect the spirit of the neighborhood. But when it comes to hard drugs, you won’t find anything. In fact, to avoid problems with the police, it is the residents of Christiania themselves who are first interested in ensuring that they do not appear on their streets. The idyllic corner of Copenhagen Christiania has a beautiful lake surrounded by paths where the homes of its inhabitants are located. The houses are each more unique and striking, with the most peculiar shapes and colors. In them, you can find people of all kinds. Without going any further, I met an old man who was building a boat. And they don’t bother to close their houses. They don’t believe in private property. In Christiania sharing is a way of life. Recycling is a norm, and they take advantage of all kinds of seemingly useless things. So you can find benches, chairs, or sculptures built with scrap metal and the like. But although it may sound poor, the workmanship of these artists turns them into the most homely and valuable objects. Christiania is famous for its “Cristianiabikes”, bicycles that they themselves invented with a kind of box in the front, which has spread throughout Copenhagen with the aim of transporting the little ones in the house on it. (Unsplash) They also have their own mail systemits restaurants (vegetarian), exhibition halls, daycare, shops and even concerts. Without going any further, characters and groups of the stature of Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissete, Blur, Portishead, Green Day, Rage Against The Machine and Eric Clapton have performed in Christiania. If you go to Copenhagen, don’t miss the opportunity to visit a magical place. A small neighborhood that flees from social norms and impositions, to live in its own style. You will feel welcomed and at peace. You can get lost in its paths surrounding the lake, fall in love with its houses, listen to the silence in the heart of Copenhagen. And when the time comes to leave and you cross that kind of door, or frame, again, you will be able to read its characteristic message: “You are now entering the EU” (You are entering the European Union.) They consider themselves a world apart. They are. In Xataka | Schrödinger’s tourists: Japan both wants and does not want more visitors to come to the country In Xataka | Americans are the only way for Spain to reach 100 million tourists. And something is going wrong

Singapore is the hidden “heart” of the Internet and global telecommunications. It all started with a tree from there.

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We live in a connected and globalized world where (almost) everything is in the cloud and available through the internet. Although these connections seem invisible to the eye, they are not: submarine cables are responsible for of 97% of intercontinental traffic. If you take a look at the world submarine cables mapyou will see that there are areas that are true deserts and others that are tangles. One of the most congested points is precisely in Singapore. That the enclave is on the maritime route between Europe, the Middle East and East Asia partly explains why: geography is a historically compelling reason. However, the real trigger was a very curious Scottish doctor and a tree native to the Malay Peninsula. The impressive Singapore node. That Singapore is Asia’s great connectivity hub is a reality: it unites East Asia, South Asia, the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean and Europe. But it is not only a busy area, it is among the large exchangers that keep the world connected through their interconnection density and operational resilience. Approximately 30 active cables and many others in imminent deployment converge in just 720 square kilometers of territory, according to TeleGeography. To prevent your seabed from becoming a tangle of cables, the deployment is restricted to three specific areas awarded in strict order of arrival eight landing stations. On the Equinix campus is the Singapore Internet Exchange (SGIX), a point where traffic is literally exchanged between hundreds of operators throughout Asia at a very short physical distance, which translates into ultra-low latency. In addition, its redundant capacity is such that when other critical routes fail, it is capable of absorbing traffic diversions, as happened during the Red Sea crisis in 2022. That tangle of cables is Singapore. Submarinecablemap Context: geography as state policy. Singapore’s reality as a first-rate hub is largely to blame for its strategic location: it is at the southern end of the Malaysian peninsula, where the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea meet. In the Strait of Malacca, right where it becomes the Strait of Singapore, its narrowest point is only 2.8 kilometers wide and there are areas where the depth around 25 meters. over there 80,000 ships pass through each year. Its position is key, but there is a milestone that marked everything: in 1819 the British East India Company obtained the right to establish a trading post over there. Since then, the Strait of Malacca has been a usual suspect in international trade: it is where much of the world’s oil (even more so than Hormuz, which is currently raging with the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran). Is one of China’s doors to the world. And also the area through which any cable that connects the West with East Asia passes. Many ships, many cables and little space constitute a potential recipe for disaster, which your government conscientiously manages and continues to promote vigorously. favorable regulatory conditions to attract more wiring. The material that started submarine cables. We have made a small flashback to the 19th century with the British East India Company that we now return to. When in 1822 the Scottish surgeon William Montgomerie was in Singapore precisely at the service of the East India Company, something caught his attention: the handles of parang (a type of machete) were made of a material that looked like plastic wood. Of course, unlike wood, this material did not splinter, was resistant to impacts, molded to the workers’ hands and was immune to water. A marvel, come on. A material with properties that he had never seen in his life, so he sent a sample to London for exhibition at the Society of Arts. There were no wires in Montgomerie’s head, what he had in mind were surgical instruments. In 1845 the Society awarded him an award and engineers began to work with this prodigious substance. Illustration of the Palaquium gutta. Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen – (1883) Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erläuterndem. Plastic before the plastic boom. Gutta-percha is the dried sap of trees native to the Malay Archipelago such as the Palaquium gutta, a natural latex that becomes rigid when cooled and has waterproof, saltwater-resistant and electrically insulating properties. Taking into account that Bakelite did not arrive until 1907in the 19th century it was the only material with that magnificent combination of properties, ideal for insulating an electric cable at the bottom of the sea. At that time there was no fiber optics, but there was telegraph. The rapid industrialization of gutta-percha. British engineering stepped on the accelerator and by 1851 we already had the first submarine cable with gutta-percha crossing the English Channel, led by the brothers Jacob and John Watkins Brett. The “nervous system” of the British Empire It grew at dizzying speed: by 1866 it had 15,000 nautical miles and by 1900 it reached 200,000 nautical miles. Singapore was already on the wiring map thanks to London’s connection to Hong Kong through India and the Strait of Malacca, laid by the British-Indian Submarine Telegraph Company. That stretch of coast where the cable reached in 1871 is where the Meta or Google cables pass today for identical geographical reasons as they do now, a century and a half later. The environmental drama. We have already seen that in the West there was a real furor over gutta-percha, the obtaining of which had small print: unlike rubber, it was not enough to bleed the tree, it had to be cut, removed the bark and boiled. An adult tree produced between one and seven kilos. For the first attempt at a transatlantic cable, which dates back to 1858, it required an enormous amount: for 2,500 nautical miles in length (4,630 km) 300 tons were needed. Only two years after Montgomery introduced gutta-percha to the old continent, Tomas Oxley estimated that the 412 tons exported to Europe had caused the felling of 69,000 trees. He Palaquium gutta disappeared from Singapore by 1857 and much … Read more

We thought that the heart of the Milky Way was an immense black hole. Mathematics has changed this idea for us

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Science advances, and this also means rewriting what we believed to be ‘absolute truth’ within different fields of knowledge. For example, for decades the scientific consensus has been unwavering in pointing out that in the heart of the Milky Way, about 27,000 light years from Earth, there is a huge supermassive black hole. But now this is not so clear thanks to a new study who has “seen” something even more interesting in this location. Breaking rules. It has been a study published this year the one who has proposed that the “monster” that governs our galaxy is not a black hole, but an ultradense core of dark matter. A compact object of almost four million solar masses that a priori would be composed entirely of fermionic dark matter. How do they know it? To support this bold claim, researchers have used the RAR model. This is very important, since, unlike the classical theory, which separates the central black hole from the halo of dark matter that surrounds the galaxy, this new approach unifies both concepts into one. In this way, it is proposed that dark matter particles are highly concentrated in the galactic center, forming a compact and massive nucleus, while on the outskirts they are diluted, forming the well-known and extensive dark halo. The big question. If it’s not a black hole, why does it “look” like one? And it is something normal that passes through our minds, especially after the year 2022 when the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) gave us the first “photograph” of Sgr A* where a bright ring could be seen surrounding a deep central darkness. And although this could be definitive proof that there is a black hole at the center of our galaxy, this is not the case. This is where previous key work published in 2024 comes into play, which pointed out that a dense core of fermions illuminated by an accretion disk generates a “shadow” visually indistinguishable from that cast by a classical black hole. That is, this dark matter is disguised to be able to deceive our telescopes when taking different measurements. Mathematical tests. In addition to this interesting theory, the scientific team has subjected it to a rigorous statistical examination using complex simulations and Bayesian analyzes to verify its robustness. Here they have shown that this dark matter core perfectly explains, for example, the orbits of the S stars that orbit the galactic center. But this unified model also fits precisely with the most recent data on the galaxy’s outer rotation curve provided by the Gaia DR3 mission. You have to look better. Although the mathematics add up and the model passes the statistical tests with flying colors, dethroning a supermassive black hole from the scientific imagination is not an easy task. And it is somewhat relevant, since the dark matter core lacks an event horizon, which is the absolute gravitational boundary of no return from which any element would be absorbed by the black hole. To know once and for all whether we are dealing with a black hole or a giant ball of dark matter, astronomers are aiming for the next generation of observations. We need to track what happens a little closer to the absolute center and future data of the GRAVITY interferometer (installed on the Very Large Telescope) will be key to detecting the subtle orbital deviations in the closest stars that would end the debate. Images | Dns Dgn BoliviaIntelligent In Xataka | We have a serious problem in our plans to colonize Mars: the astronauts’ blood is mutating

a walk to the heart of the Michelin plant in Vitoria

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“Here we all know someone who works at Michelin. Most stay but others go to Valladolid for a few years, others to Lasarte… others even come and go to Lasarte, although less so.” Five minutes of chatting with colleagues from the local press is enough to confirm the impact of Michelin in Vitoria, a company that directly employs 3,500 people. The province is the most industrialized in Spain. The city seems chiseled by the idealists of sustainable mobility. The facilities of Michelin and the city center are separated by 15 minutes by bus, “it would have taken eight minutes by tram,” another of the colleagues who attended the presentation points out. It almost sounds like a joke, a city where a good part of the direct and indirect jobs are created by Mercedes and Michelin has experienced a reconversion that is the envy of Spain and an example in Europe. Before, Michelin tires that they manufactured themselves passed through their urban area. Now too, but bicycles ride them and not cars. Those same cars that will soon be able to wear the Michelin Primacy 5 Energy and the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 Energy, the two premium compounds that the French company will soon launch. The first are already beginning to be manufactured in Vitoria. The seconds have not yet been awarded but the Basque plant is one of the best positioned. Tires with a chip and million-dollar figures 60 years have passed since Michelin opened the doors of its factory in Vitoria. So, on the outskirts of the city. Today, the avenue that leads to its facilities is a continuous flow of cyclists who ride calmly between well-designed bike lanes. Vitoria does not have much to envy of Amsterdam. In fact, to live there, nothing to envy if we take into account the tourist explosion of the dutch city. “How are you able to live in a nice city?” I joke with the locals longing for a fraction of the photograph I have in front of my eyes for Madrid. That’s where we are when we cross the doors and Bibendum greets us next to a gigantic tire. It is by no means the largest manufactured there. The latter weighs 5.7 tons. The one in front of us will only weigh a couple of them. But this time we have not come to learn about heavy transport tires. This time we are here to learn about Michelin’s new premium compounds. The Primacy 5 Energy are already manufactured in Vitoria and if everything goes as it should, 200,000 tires will be manufactured before the end of 2026. The Michelin Pilot Sport 5 Energy, at the moment, are being finalized but in a few months they will begin to be manufactured here or in any other plant that the company has throughout Europe. In both cases they are summer tires but with clearly different approaches. The latter are designed for sports cars and more aggressive driving. As an example, the performance of its prototype version during the test that Mercedes carried out with its Mercedes Concept AMG GT XX in Italy: a week at more than 300 km/h without rest. With extraordinary results, it must be said. 25 world records broken in one fell swoop. Those that are manufactured are the Primacy 5 Energya tire that replaces the e-Primacy, which was a range designed to improve consumption without sacrificing performance. According to the company, these tires are now quieter, improving braking by 8% both new and with used rubber. And, they defend, they offer 30% better grip than their main rival. Of course, it was not revealed who they consider to be the main competitor. What is irrefutable is that the tire has earned a triple A on the efficiency label used by the European Union to determine the performance of rubber. That is, it has obtained the best grade in the wet grip, consumption and noise tests. To reach our cars, the manufacturing of these tires begins within the Vitoria plant. There, the company shapes the rubber as if it were kneading industrial bread. The materials are crushed and heated until they are malleable enough to cover the first layers of the tire. A structure that also uses textile fibers to give rigidity to the final product. The process progresses between robots and operators who are mere spectators at best. Its function is to control that the highly mechanized process works correctly and that the type of compound that a central unit requires is manufactured at all times, anticipating a possible stock out. Between robots and conveyor belts, the rubber bands advance and are structured. Step by step they reach the coating with the outer rubber, the layer that treads on the ground. A very high temperature firing process reveals the final design. It is time to let it cool and check with machines that apply thousands of light flashes if the quality is correct. The last workers check with their hands and eyes that everything has gone as it should. It is the most artisanal part of the production. The most digital one occurs in between. The company is already including small chips in its wheels in RFID format. At the moment they only have detailed information on the type of compound and its dimensions. Manufacturers only need one reading device to store the rubber bands correctly in the shortest possible time. This novelty is not a whim of the company. We must remember that Europe’s intention is to get serious about wheel contamination so it could be used to control the traceability of the product. In the absence of defining the latter, what is certain, they explain to us, is that in 2029 all tires sold must have this system. Vitoria aspires to become the first factory in the world to implement these chips in all manufactured tires this year. If this happens, eight million tires will leave their doors with this control system. And this is the … Read more

build a “military Silicon Valley” in the heart of Madrid

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In recent years, security has become the new silent motor of European industrial policy. Wars and pressures between allies have modified plans. It is no longer just about manufacturing more, but about deciding where, how and under what control strategic capabilities of the future are built. Spain, in fact, is in search and capture of a node that amplifies its defense. The obstacle of the ground and an ambition. Spain wants to accelerate its military modernization and the centerpiece is to concentrate talent, engineering and technological development in a single large complex. Here appears Indra who, apparently, is looking for 77 hectares in the area of ​​Madrid to build a macrohub of up to 300,000 square meters dedicated to radars, electronic defense, communications and industrial digitalization, with a investment of 385 million backed by the European Investment Bank and the promise of thousands of skilled jobs (speaking of more than 3,000 new positions). The project, initially linked to Torrejón de Ardoz, has been slowed down by administrative slowness and is now considering other locations in the Henares Corridor, an area that the company considers strategic to reinforce a technological hub capable of responding to the new modernization programs of the Armed Forces. A military Silicon Valley. The ambition, on paper, goes beyond a simple corporate center. The idea is to create a complete ecosystem where laboratories, simulators, advanced manufacturing and auxiliary companies come together, turning the Madrid axis into a kind of Military Silicon Valley Spanish. The strategic plan Leading the Future aims to consolidate Indra as a driver of the defense and aerospace sector, attracting suppliers, research centers and technological startups that revolve around a strong industrial core. It is not, therefore, just about constructing buildings, but about articulate an innovation network that places Spain in a more autonomous and competitive position on the European board. Corporate engineering to avoid losing control. In parallel, the Government is moving to ensure that this national defense champion does not escape public control. As? Apparently, Moncloa is studying transferring Indra’s defense assets to a new subsidiary that allows the integration of Escribano Mechanical & Engineering and eventually other companies in the sector, all without diluting state participation through SEPI. counted the newspaper El Mundo There is a compelling reason behind this movement. The formula aims to avoid the conflict of interest derived from Ángel Escribano’s dual status as president of Indra and co-owner of EM&M, and to avoid a loss of control over an industry considered strategic. Industrial consolidation under pressure. The merger by absorption initially approved generated tensions due to shareholder balance and the risk of litigation, but undoing the path is not easy either. I remembered the media that Indra and EM&M have signed contracts under the heat of public credits linked to military programs and, in practice, they have operated as if integration were already underway. Added to this is the pressure of new international investors who see consolidation as a clear opportunity to create value. The result is a pulse between industrial ambition, state control and political times, one that will define whether Spain manages to articulate that “sovereignty mode” with a technological-military pole, or if societal complexity slows down the project that aspires to transform the heart of the country at the epicenter of its new defense industry. Image | RawPixel, Felipe Gabaldon In Xataka | Spain has been a weapons exporting power for decades. Now he has made a decision: keep them In Xataka | In the midst of rearmament, Spain has just surprised Europe: 5,000 million for 34 warships and four submarines

Massive study confirms direct link to heart damage and mortality

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For years science has been warning us that ultra-processed they are a danger because of the effects it has on our body. Something that began as a suspicion about nutritional quality has now become a statistical certaintysince ultra-processed foods not only make you fat, but also directly hit the cardiovascular system. With figures. A new study conducted by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and published just a few days ago in The American Journal of Medicine has put an alarming figure on the table: high consumption of these products is linked to a 47% higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases. And it is not a study that is based on speculation, but the authors have analyzed the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey corresponding to the period 2021-2023 cwith a sample of 4,787 American adults. How it was done. The methodology is robust because it does not simply look at what participants eat, but the researchers adjusted the results taking into account confounding variables such as age, sex, race, income level and, crucially, smoking. With all this, and eliminating the effect of tobacco and socioeconomic situation of the equation, the result was that those who consume greater amounts of ultra-processed foods are almost 50% more likely to develop heart pathologies compared to those who consume less. It is not an isolated case. If this study were the only one, we might be skeptical. The problem is that it rains in the wet, since the FAU research It arrives to confirm a trend that we had already seen in previous macro studies, consolidating what in science is called a dose-response relationship: the greater the amount of ultra-processed foods, the greater the damage. For this we have the French precedent with a famous studio of the cohort NutriNet-Santéwith more than 100,000 participants, which has already shown that an increase of just 10% in the ultra-processed diet is associated with a 12% increase in total cardiovascular risk. There is more. A meta-analysis published in 2024which reviewed more than a million participants, found a linear relationship in which for each additional daily serving of ultra-processed foods, the risk of cardiovascular events increases by 2.2%. And if we still want more evidence, in Australia A 25-year follow-up of almost 40,000 people linked high UPF consumption with a 19% higher cardiovascular mortality. The new tobacco. The most striking thing about this new research is not only the numbers, but the comparison they make with tobacco and the public health crisis it generated in the 20th century. And while the anti-smoking campaigns achieved drastically reduce deaths due to lung cancer and heart disease, the food industry has filled shelves with products classified as ultra-processed. Because? The mechanism behind this 47% elevated risk appears to be related to systemic inflammation and altered lipid metabolism. It must be taken into account that industrial processing generates polluting byproducts such as acrylamide and uses additives that increase oxidative stress in our body. Basically, the body loses the ability to “cleanse” itself at the cellular level, decreasing antioxidant enzymes and allowing free radicals to damage the inner layer of the vessels, which accelerates the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. This is combined with a nutritional composition with 5 or more ingredients, rich in added sugarssaturated fats and additives, but poor in fiber and micronutrients. A trio that directly impacts blood pressure and insulin resistance, increasing predisposition to diabetes. Images | Darko Trajkovic In Xataka | Making extra rice is no longer a mistake: cooling and reheating it can reduce its calories according to some nutritionists

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