Hit

In 2025, AI seemed to have hit a wall of progress. A volatilized wall in February 2026

by

I fondly remember that time in which Intel and AMD fought to create the first CPU capable of reaching 1 GHz clock frequency. That race AMD won it (surprise!)but until that milestone occurred the pace was dizzying. Or so it seemed to us, because with AI the pace of launches is absolutely crazy. What a few weeks we’ve had, dear readers. Let’s see: January 27: Kimi.ai lance Kimi J2.5 February 5: Anthropic lance Claude Opus 4.6 February 5: Same day OpenAI lance GPT-5.3-Codex February 5: Kuaishou lance Kling 3.0 February 12: Z.ai lance GLM-5 February 12: ByteDance lance Seedance 2.0 February 12: MiniMax lance MiniMax 2.5 February 16: Alibaba lance Qwen3.5-397B-A17B Coming soon: DeepSeek v4, Does it call?, Gemini 3.1, … The pace is absolutely frenetic, and the LLMs that a few years ago months weeks seemed to be fantastic now they are not so much. The new versions of these language models do not stop evolving, and AI companies continue to constantly offer new developments. Almost dizzying. That, of course, has its good side and its bad side. We end 2025 with a certain boredom in the face of an AI that promised a lot but ended up changing hardly anything. Only at the end of the year was a palpable revolution seen with that spectacular combination formed by Claude Code and Opus 4.5. The Anthropic binomial amazed the developers, who for the first time seemed to agree when it came to declaring that with this type of platform they could ask the AI ​​for whatever they wanted, and that it would program it for you at once and almost always without problems. Of course there was some exaggeration in that speech, but certainly the capacity of Opus 4.5 and the degree of autonomy and Claude Code’s versatility They seemed to mark a turning point. Then OpenClaw arrived and that expectations for AI agents have once again skyrocketedbut in parallel we are seeing a real fever of launches of new generative AI models, both in video (Kling 3.0 and especially Seedance 2.0 They have been viral phenomena in themselves) as in text/code. And with each new model, the promise of performance surpassing the previous generation. At least, of course, in the benchmarks. On the left, Alibaba’s internal benchmarks for Qwen3.5. On the right, those from Anthropic for Opus 4.6. Each one compares himself with whoever he considers appropriate. Those bar graphs in the image above have become a constant, especially when the model is launched by a Chinese company. If the launcher is OpenAI, Google or Anthropic, tables are preferred. Be that as it may, the result always leads us to the same thing: each model is better than its predecessor and, normally, than many of the competition. AI Subscription Fatigue The problem with this is that this race never seems to end, and a model that seems fantastic today is not so great tomorrowwhen its competitor can barely outperform it, but it can also be considerably cheaper – Chinese models usually are – or offers other advantages such as larger context windows so that we can enter longer and longer texts – for example, large code repositories – as part of the prompt. And of course, that poses a problem for users. If Opus 4.5 was so good, one could sign up for the Pro or Max plan and pay a year in advance, but that is a priori risky, because although you will have access to new models when you release them, you will have dedicated your investment in AI subscriptions to the Anthropic model without having as much room to try those of rivals. Here short subscriptions are required: Subscribe to one model for one month so that I have some leeway in case I want to try another model the next month (or try two or three models in the same month, which is also a common case). The prices of subscriptions to AI services are also not facilitators of these multiple tests. The normal thing is to pay 20 euros for a one-month subscription, and although Chinese models are usually much cheaper, they are also usually one step behind in capacity if one needs maximum performance. But here the problem is repeated again and again: if I subscribe now to GPT-5.3-Codex, which everyone says is fantastic, how long do I pay for it, one month? Or do I also subscribe to GLM-5 to try, and next month I will try Opus 4.6 and MiniMax 2.5? All of these decisions are difficult because the perception of each model depends on each user. Each of them has their needs, their budget and their own experiences with each model, so as much as the benchmarks say one thing, With AI models it is happening to us like with wines: No matter how much they tell us that one is better than the other, we perceive them in a very personal way. And this frenetic advance also means that the expectation for models that really make a difference has been recovered. Vibe coding is not perfect, but it solves our needs better and better, and the same goes for AI agents like OpenClaw, which with their lights and shadows demonstrate that the future in which we have an AI employee—although at first they may be somewhat clumsy—working 24/7 does not seem to be that far away. These are dizzying and fascinating times for AI. Again. Image | Mohammad Rahmani In Xataka | China brought humanoid robots to the country’s biggest television show: it made them practice kung-fu with millimeter precision

In its goal of reaching the Moon in 2030, China has hit the table: it has demonstrated the potential of its technology

by

The race for the human return to the Moon has officially entered a new operational phase with China successfully executing the first “lit” flight of its heavy rocket new generation: Long March-10 (LM-10). A test that has not only validated its propulsion capacity, but also certifies the safety of its future crew in the most hostile launch environment. Where. This milestone, achieved since Wenchang launch pad (Hainan), places the Chinese lunar program on a firm and technically verified trajectory to meet its strategic objective: putting humans on the lunar surface before 2030. The litmus test. The essay recently made marks a turning point, since, unlike the tests static or scale models from previous yearsthis has been a real flight with ignition. The LM-10 took off in a prototype configuration with the goal of achieving the maximum dynamic pressure (Max-Q). In aerospace engineering, Max-Q is the critical moment during the climb where the aerodynamic forces on the vehicle structure are most violent. It is the “worst scenario” possible for an emergency that could threaten the safety of the crew, and it is precisely at that moment that the abort command was sent to the Mengzhou manned ship (the successor of the Shenzhou). In Xataka In silence, China is making giant strides in a race that until now it was not leading: space. There are differences. What distinguishes this essay from those carried out by other historical powers is the sophistication of the subsequent sequence. At first, the Mengzhou capsuleseparated from the rocket and activated its escape enginesmoving away from the “danger zone” at high speed, validating its ability to save the crew in extreme aerodynamic conditions. On the other hand, as the capsule descended toward a controlled splashdown, the first stage of the LM-10 rocket was not jettisoned. For the first time in a test of these characteristics in China, the stage continued its ascent briefly and then executed a controlled descent and landed in the sea. A success. This success simultaneously validates the structural integrity under maximum stress, the compatibility of the interfaces between rocket and ship, and the partial reusability of the system, a technological advance that brings China closer to the operational efficiency of companies such as SpaceX with Artemis. All this within a context where China and the United States ‘fight’ to see who is the first to return to the Moon. A change of concept. Wenchang’s success is just the tip of the spear of a much more complex system known as the CMSA’s “Earth-Space Transportation System for Manned Lunar Flights.” This architecture moves away from the “one giant shot” concept and opts for a two-launch and orbital rendezvous scheme. The three pillars. The first of them is the Long March-10a colossus approximately 92 meters high capable of placing about 70 tons in low Earth orbit and about 27 tons in lunar transfer orbit. The most interesting thing is that its modular design and the recovery capacity of the first stage are fundamental for the economic sustainability of the program, since the entire structure is recovered for subsequent tests and missions. The second pillar is Mengzhouwhich is designed for deep space missions and is larger and more capable than the current Shenzhou. Its development, which began conceptually around 2017-2018, has culminated in a modular vehicle capable of supporting atmospheric reentry at lunar return speeds. The third is a dedicated lunar landing module known as Lanyue waiting in lunar orbit. {“videoId”:”x96edv6″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”China’s space suit to go to the Moon”, “tag”:”China”, “duration”:”64″} Roadmap. This includes two separate launches of the LM-10: one to transport the Lanyue module and another for the crew on Mengzhou. The final objective is that both vehicles will perform a meeting maneuver and docking in lunar orbit before the taikonauts descend to the surface. Chronology of ambition. The path towards this 2026 flight has been methodical, characterized by a strategy of “short but quick steps” that began in 2013 with the first discussions and the development of prototypes. It was in 2020 when an 8-day orbital test flight was made using a Long March-5B and that validated the capsule’s heat shield and recovery systems. Finally, it was this month of February when the flight occurred with an abortion in Max-Q and recovery of the stage. If we look to the future, before the end of 2026, “zero altitude” abandonment tests and complete tests of the Lanyue lunar landing module are expected, all aimed at meeting the 2030 launch window. A duel of titans. The comparison between the United States and China is practically mandatory in these cases. While the United States relies on the raw power of the SLS Block 1a 98-meter and disposable colossus, China is committed to operational efficiency with the Long March-10. And although the Chinese rocket is a little less powerful, its design incorporates a reusable first stage, which reduces costs and is closer to the sustainability model that SpaceX has popularized in the West, contrasting with the immense expense per launch of the American system. On the other hand, NASA has opted for a hybrid and complex scheme: it launches the crew in the Orion capsule with the government SLS rocket, and then docks in lunar orbit with the Starship HLSa commercial lander from SpaceX. In contrast, China has chosen a more pragmatic “distributed architecture”: it will carry out two separate launches of the LM-10, one for the Lanyue lunar landing module and another for the crew on the Mengzhou spacecraft, which will meet directly in lunar orbit. In Xataka Starlink’s dominance in space begins to move: another company already has permission for a constellation of 4,000 satellites On their calendars. The US program, depending on multiple commercial suppliers and disruptive technologies (such as Starship’s in-orbit refueling), faces highly complex logistics that have accumulated delays for the Artemis III mission. In contrast, China’s centralized and vertical model maintains a firm and predictable roadmap to the year 2030. In this way, we are seeing two titanic powers with two different … Read more

We know that the Earth has been hit by 80,000 meteorites. For some reason, most end up in Antarctica

by

If we look at the global statistics of finds of meteorites on our planet We may think that they are distributed homogeneously throughout the territory, but the reality is very different. Official data indicates that of the approximately 80,000 meteorites cataloged all over the world, more than 50,000 have been found in Antarctica… And this raises a big question: does Antarctica have something special about having so many meteorites? A contradiction. Although we talk about 60% of the meteorites that have been found on Earth come from Antarcticacollision theory tells us another. Specifically, physics, which tells us that meteorites fall randomly and uniformly throughout the planet, so Antarctica does not receive more impacts than the Sahara Desert or the Pacific Ocean. So… Why do we find so many meteorites on the frozen continent? The answer lies in a perfect combination of glaciologyvisual contrast and a natural “trap” that is now, ironically, being sabotaged by climate change. The conveyor belt theory. To understand why Antarctica is the great archive of the solar system, you have to understand how ice moves. And the secret is not in how the rocks fall, but in how the ice delivers them to humanity. To do this, we must go to glaciological models and studies from programs such as ANSMET, where they point out that Antarctica It is a real meteorite conveyor belt. The process. In this way, a meteorite when it falls inside the frozen continent buried deep in the ice sheet. Once here, the natural flow of the glaciers will push the ice that stores the rock inside from the center towards the coast. At certain points, the ice encounters barriers beneath the glaciers, such as hidden mountains that slow its flow and forces the ice to return to the surface. And this is where the famous katabatic winds come into play, which are truly fierce and dry with a force capable of eroding the upper layers of the ice from solid to gas. The result. It is what scientists call the ‘Meteorite Stranding Zone’ (MSZ) or blue ice areas. It is nothing more than the part of ice that has been worn away, but has not affected the rock it stored in any way. That is why over time, meteorites that fell thousands of years ago and traveled trapped in the depths of the ice now appear on the surface as if someone had put them there. A contrast trick. Logically, finding a meteorite among a pile of red ones can be somewhat complicated in our environment. But when we talk about a black rock on a white sheet like ice, the truth is that visually it is easy to find it. That is why this contrast is the best ally that meteorite searchers have. The preservation. But beyond the fact that finding a rock the size of a walnut in the middle of the jungle is a really complicated task, it must be taken into account that humid climates degrade the meteorite quickly. Something that does not happen in Antarctica, which is technically a polar desert. The dry environment it has acts like a real freezer which preserves the samples almost intact for millions of years. This allows scientists to recover not only the rock, but pristine information about the origins of the solar system. And that is why all these factors together make it more common to find more meteorites in this location than in others, and not because there is a predilection for falling here. An invisible threat. As pointed out a study published in Nature, we have a serious problem on the table: We are losing about 5,000 meteorites a year. Intuition would tell us that if the ice melts due to climate change, more rocks would emerge. But the opposite is true due to the thermal properties of the meteorites themselves. Being dark rocks (and many of them metallic with high thermal conductivity), they absorb solar radiation much more efficiently than the surrounding ice. Even at subzero temperatures, the rock heats up enough to melt the ice just below it. This causes the meteorite to sink and create a small pool of water that refreezes them, burying the rock out of sight of researchers or satellites. Thermal models suggest that this disproportionately affects iron meteorites, which are especially valuable for understanding planetary cores, causing us to have many more chondrite or rocky meteorites. Race against time. Humanity has so far managed to recover 23,000 meteorites, giving us a large cosmic library that allows us to better understand everything around us. The problem is that the clock is ticking, and the most important part of the archive is beginning to sink, so now the most important thing is to hurry up to get the most valuable meteorites for us. Images | Kamran Abdullayev henrique setim In Xataka | In 2011, a collector bought a meteorite in Morocco. It has turned out to be direct evidence of thermal water on Mars

five accessories with which to hit the nail on the head during the Three Wise Men

by

The nintendo switch 2 It arrived in stores with a wide catalog of accessories available from the first minute. Some are official and many others from other brands. Therefore, in this article we are going to review what they are five of the best and most useful accessories that we can find for the console, and that are used as a gift or as a self-gift for Three Kings Day. Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controllera controller that has a function that others do not have. Tomtoc Shoulder Bagan ideal accessory to carry the console, and controllers, games or chargers, anywhere. Joy-Con 2 Supportan accessory to take advantage of the Joy-Con and be able to charge them while we play. MicroSD Expressideal for not constantly deleting games. Chargera charger like the one that comes with the console, but which can be ideal if we want to keep it in our suitcase or backpack to take it on a trip. Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller The official console controller has a very useful function: the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Allows you to turn on the console when it is in rest mode in the dock. It seems silly, but it’s quite practical. Furthermore, it is a fairly complete command, with back buttons and impeccable construction. Yes, it is expensive, but also one of the best purchase options for the console. Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Tomtoc Shoulder Bag If you want to take advantage of the portability of the Nintendo Switch 2, one of the most important accessories is a carrying case or backpack. The Tomtoc shoulder bag It is ideal because it comes with plenty of pockets, allows you to store video game cartridges, and is quite compact. Besides, a lot of things fit: mobile phones, eReaders, chargers, controllers, the console, video games and more. Tomtoc Shoulder Bag – Nintendo Switch 2 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Joy-Con 2 Support If you don’t want to buy a controller for the Nintendo Switch 2 and are looking to make the most of the Joy-Con 2, the official Nintendo adapter It is very useful. It is not the one that comes with the console, it includes some additional features, such as back buttons (like the Switch 2 Pro Controller) or the possibility of being able charge the Joy-Con 2 battery. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links MicroSD Express Although the storage of the Nintendo Switch 2 has grown compared to the previous generation, as soon as we want to install a few games we can stay a little short of space. For this, nothing like the SanDisk microSD Express 256GBwhich allows you to add another batch of digital video games, update files or save data. Sandisk MicroSD Express (256GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Charger It is not that having a second charger is something very important, but if we usually travel it can be practical for prevent us from having to constantly disconnect the charger from the electrical outlet or power strip where we have the console, thus allowing the second charger to always be stored in the suitcase or backpack. Luckily, the official charger It is found in several stores and is usually not very expensive. Nintendo Switch 2 AC Adapter The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Image | Alejandro AlcoleaNintendo, Tomtoc, SanDisk In Xataka | The second pack of the Nintendo Switch 2 arrives with the new Pokémon: you can now reserve it in these stores In Xataka | The best accessories for your Switch: cases, carrying bags, batteries, and more

Google hit the red button when ChatGPT came upon it. Now it is OpenAI who has pressed it, according to WSJ

by

Sam Altman has activated high alert on OpenAI. Just like share From Wall Street Journal, the company’s CEO announced this Monday in an internal memo that the company enters “code red” to improve ChatGPTthe tool that has catapulted the company to stardom but that now sees its rivals closing the gap at breakneck speed. what’s happening. OpenAI is postponing several important projects to focus all its resources on improving the daily ChatGPT experience, according to the internal memo to which WSJ has had access. According to Altman, the chatbot urgently needs advances in personalization, speed, reliability and the ability to answer a broader range of questions. Among the postponed projects are initiatives to include advertising in the free version of ChatGPT, AI agents for health and purchases (the latter was announced very recently), and Pressa personal assistant in development. why now. The pressure comes mainly from Google. Your model Gemini 3released last month, has outperformed OpenAI in industry benchmarks and sent the Mountain View giant’s stock soaring. Just like assures In the middle, Gemini’s monthly active users went from 450 million in July to 650 million in October, a meteoric growth that sets off all the alarms at OpenAI. Although ChatGPT maintains the lead with approximately more than 800 million weekly users, the speed at which Google is gaining ground is worrying. The underlying problem. OpenAI is in a delicate position. The company it is not profitable and it needs constant rounds of financing to survive, which puts it at a disadvantage compared to Google and other technology companies that can finance their investments with their own income. It’s also spending more aggressively than its main startup rival, Anthropic. According to their own financial projectionsOpenAI will need to reach revenues of approximately $200 billion to be profitable in 2030. All while being committed to investments of hundreds of billions in data centers. The last setbacks. The company has had a difficult time lately balancing the security of its chatbot with making it more attractive to users. The GPT-5 model Launched in August, it disappointed some users, who complained about its colder tone and problems answering simple math and geography questions. OpenAI had to update the model last month to make it warmer and better able to follow user instructions. OpenAI’s response. According to point In the middle, Altman has established daily calls for those responsible for improving ChatGPT and has encouraged temporary team transfers. WSJ assures that the company uses three color codes: yellow, orange and red, to describe the different levels of urgency necessary to address problems. According to the outlet, prior to this “code red”, OpenAI had declared a “code orange” in its effort to improve the chatbot. Nick Turley, Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI, stated in X that ChatGPT represents 70% of global AI-assisted activities and 10% of search activities. An unexpected script twist. This represents a radical change compared to three years ago, when it was Google who declared its own code red in response to the threat posed by ChatGPT. And after a groundbreaking Google I/O Last May, those from Mountain View have witnessed brutal growth in all the directions in which the AI ​​race is currently pointing, with improvements in their chatbot, the deployment of countless AI agents, improvements in their applications and more. Now it seems that it is OpenAI who must defend its position. And now what. Altman advertisement that next week OpenAI will launch a new reasoning model that, according to internal evaluations, surpasses Google’s Gemini 3. However, he acknowledges that there is still a lot of work to be done in the everyday chatbot experience. Cover image | OpenAI and Xataka Android In Xataka | China already has an army of 5.8 million engineers. His new plan involves accelerating doctorates

Europe had been asking for a big hit on the table for some time. Revolut just gave it a huge valuation

by

Revolut was born in London as a fintech focused on digital payments and today it has become one of the most watched companies on the European financial landscape. It has already exceeded 65 million customers worldwide and its ambition is to reach 100 million, with its sights set on becoming the first global bank born from technology. Not only does it add users, it also builds physical structures: Spain was the country chosen to install its first ATMs with own brand. Now, he has added one more element to his story: a valuation of $75 billion. The operation validated by some of the largest funds in the world. The sale of Revolut shares was not carried out by traditional banks, but by some of the most influential investment funds in the technology sector, such as Coatue, Greenoaks, Dragoneer and Fidelity Management & Research Company. They were joined by names linked to large companies such as NVentures, NVIDIA’s investment fund, as well as Andreessen Horowitz, Franklin Templeton and T. Rowe Price. According to Bloombergthis operation has placed Revolut as the most valuable startup in Europe. It also allowed employees to sell shares, something Revolut has already offered on five occasions. A valuation that does not leave the stock market. Revolut remains a private company, so its shares are not available on public markets and its valuation is not set on the stock market. It is estimated from the price that investors accept when they buy a package of shares in operations like this: that price is taken as a reference to calculate how much 100% of the company would be worth. On this occasion, Revolut has made it easier for employees and existing shareholders to sell part of their stakes, while incorporating new investors into the capital. The result is a valuation that, as we say, sets the bar at 75 billion dollars. Revolut remains a private company, so its shares are not available on public markets and its valuation is not set on the stock market. Although it is still private, Revolut does publish figures that explain part of the investment enthusiasm. In 2024 it recorded $4 billion in revenue, with a growth of 72%, and $1.4 billion in profit before taxes, an increase of 149%. In 2025, the pace continues thanks to the performance of its business division, which already moves 1 billion annually. In addition, the company has made relevant regulatory progress: it has the final banking authorization for its next launch in Mexico, it has a banking incorporation license in Colombia and is preparing its arrival in India. Spain as a pilot bank. The Spanish market has become one of Revolut’s strategic laboratories. Here it inaugurated its first ATM network in Europe, with 50 machines installed and plans to expand to 200 next year. At the same time, it is exploring its entry into private banking by hiring specialized profiles. According to Expansionthe project is in the initial phase, but marks a symbolic step: it no longer competes only in mobile, but also in segments reserved for traditional banking. Europe gains visibility, but the United States sets the pace. That Revolut is the most valuable startup in Europe, as Bloomberg points out, demonstrates the moment that the technology sector is experiencing on the continent. Even so, the comparison with the United States remains significant: Reuters puts OpenAI at $500 billionabout 6.67 times above Revolut. There, the most notable startups come not only from fintech, but also from aerospace, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, design or productivity. Europe, on the other hand, has concentrated its progress mainly on fintech, quantum computing and corporate software. The $75 billion valuation does not automatically make Revolut a global bank, but it does send a clear message: large international funds are willing to back a model that mixes technology, financial services and international ambition. The next step will be to sustain that growth while obtaining key licenses, such as the one it is seeking in the United Kingdom. What is happening with Revolut shows that Europe can generate relevant players, although it remains to be seen how far they can go in a field historically dominated by American banking and technology. Images | Revolut In Xataka | A few weeks ago Amancio Ortega collected 1,552 million from Inditex: he just invested them in the second largest purchase in its history

All the autumn we haven’t had until now will hit us squarely. And it is summed up in one word: ‘bombogenesis’

by

When the day ends, the first big storm of the season will have made its debut in Spain. As I write, the extreme waves and strong gusts are already noticeable in the Cantabrian Sea. But that’s just the beginning: just after Benjamina river of humidity will reactivate precipitation on Saturday and will shift the activity towards the Mediterranean on Sunday. And all this, while the continent’s meteorological agencies have their eyes on the Bay of Biscay where a bombogenesis threatens to turn half of Europe upside down. But let’s go step by step. The countdown. A small chronology of what is going to fall upon us: Thursday, October 23. Today we will experience the peak of the maritime storm and the gusts of wind will be very strong in the Cantabrian Sea. AEMET has activated the red warning. In the late afternoon, rains will be more frequent in Galicia and the northern facade. Friday, October 24. The storm will move towards Scandinavia, but its exit coincides with the arrival of a jet of humidity that will connect the Peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico. Saturday, October 25. This is precisely what will reactivate the fronts near Spain and, ultimately, will initiate a whole series of locally strong and persistent rainfall in the center, west and north of the country. Sunday, October 26. These fronts will cross towards the Mediterranean and, on their way, will cause a drop in temperature, numerous showers and the first snowfalls. And then… bombogenesis. Is another way to call ‘explosive cyclogenesis’; that is, “a meteorological phenomenon that describes the rapid and intense formation of a cyclone or storm in a very short period of time.” In technical terms, we are talking about an explosive intensification of an extratropical storm (pressure drop below 24 hPa in 24 hours at mid-latitudes). Is that what we are going to see? Right now, the likely scenario is that bombogenesis is located to the north (between the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel and the North Sea) with the deepest core far from the national territory. Here their fronts and the sea in the background will reach us. On paper, the phenomenon is most likely to spread into Europe, but it is autumn. Spring and autumn are always difficult seasons to model and that means that we can be surprised at any time. What happens is that then the party begins. Needless to say, looking at what the models say beyond these days is meteorology-fiction. However, there is a possibility that this opens a small door through which different Atlantic storms can sneak in. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | The Mayan idea with which this researcher wants to revolutionize the way we treat drinking water: artificial gardens

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

by

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”

Renfe already warns that AVE prices have hit the bottom

by

The prices we have seen so far in high speed have been a mirage. At least that is what Álvaro Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, predicts, who in an interview with Chain Being has come to ensure that Ouigo and Iryo will end up leaving our country. Prices, costs and unprofitable high speed. More expensive. There are many headlines left by the interview that Álvaro Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, left in an interview with Chain Being. To begin with, because he has indicated that high speed prices will rise: “If our competitors raise prices, which is something they have begun to do, we will follow that trend, because we are competing with them in those corridors, and this is the scheme that we have given ourselves as a society” What Fernández Heredia is talking about is the rising prices that high-speed trains are experiencing. The matter has made headlines with the departure of the AVLO of the Madrid-Barcelona corridor that has caused an immediate increase in the price of trains. With a weaker Renfe when it comes to lowering prices, on average the price of the ticket is already above 80 euros and the cheapest one does not go below 50 euros. The service has been getting more expensive for some time but without AVLO, prices are even higher. public service. In his statements, the president of Renfe comes to say that they will do what their rivals do. If they lower prices they will fight with them but if they raise prices they will not resist to seek market share at a low price. What Renfe defends is that they have the obligation to provide service where it is not profitable. This shows them the way to raise prices in the corridors where they do have competition. “We have a pricing policy that does not seek profit or does not seek to have a distribution of dividends. Our distribution of dividends is to stop where the others do not stop or what is not High Speed, which is the Long Distance: Almería, Algeciras or Tolosa. We are a public company and we are here to compete with other companies, but we are also there to support the rest of the railway system. Our High Speed, of the only three operators there are, is the only one that is economically sustainable, but we also have to sustain those stops that other operators do not want to make and that could, but do not do them because they only seek profitability” That message is the same one that Óscar Puente sentMinister of Transport, a year ago when he complained that Renfe had to compete in the same market as Ouigo and Iryo but with the burden of having to go where the company loses money. Some losses that have also focused the debate in recent months. Private, but not much. This is what the president of Renfe maintains. For Fernández Heredia, Ouigo and Iryo “are public companies from other countries. I understand that they will have to give an explanation as to why they come to Spain to lose money, I don’t think they will come to that, because it would be very difficult to understand.” In this message sent to Chain Being the complaint is implicit (and the threat of denunciation) that The Government launched Ouigo at the time. It was then pointed out that this French company I was pushing the prices to gain market share knowing that it has its back covered by the French State. From Ouigo they have rejected this, ensuring that Your pricing strategy is the usual one among those who enter to play in a new market. Losing money. At the moment what we have is a war in which Renfe, Ouigo and Iryo are losing money. Without knowing whether prices will continue to rise, what is certain is that the three companies are spending tens of millions of euros. Specifically, almost 100 million euros in 2024. Of those hundred million euros lost, the majority belong to Ouigo, which according to the CNMC left 40.5 million. The figure is far from the 31.5 million euros that Iryo left, but Renfe also lost money, specifically 27 million. Of course, the CNMC also assures that, since competition was opened in high speed, consumers have saved about 500 million euros. Until when? Although prices rise little by little, what is certain is that competition has lowered the cost for the customerespecially in those corridors where the flow of movement is not as constant or dense as in Madrid-Barcelona. In the latter, in addition to the high demand, the departure of AVLO has confirmed that if the high speed competition low cost one of the three competitors leaves, the immediate result is that prices rise. So, yes, we have most likely hit a bottom in high-speed prices but they are more likely to rise more slowly the more competition there is. Photo | Alan Grant In Xataka | In the 19th century, Spain made the strange decision to build its roads in Iberian gauge. Now they are going to be a gift for Renfe in Galicia

European cars manufacturers promised them happy with the hydrogen battery. Reality has hit them

by

In search by Eliminate fossil fuels From cars, electrification seemed the best option. Have 100% electric, hybrids and plug -in. However, some companies They seemed not to be convinced at all with the electric ones, so they began to boost the development of cars moved by ‘pilas’ of hydrogen. Some are getting off the shipand the last one is a Stellantis that has been closely to the controversy These last years. BMW has another opinion and defends that the hydrogen battery is a strategic alternative for Europe. Against what? Against China. Short. In a brief releaseStellantis (which, remember, is the megacompañía that arises after the Fusion of Fiat, PSA and Chrysler) He confirmed a few weeks ago that he interrupted his hydrogen fuel cell technology development program. They affirm that “the hydrogen market remains a niche segment, without perspectives of economic sustainability in the medium term.” And this affects all the divisions they were developing: Cars. Small vans. Large vans. Next steps. The company comments that the personnel who were doing R&D work related to hydrogen technology will be redirected to other projects and that now what it is to focus on what it sells: hybridization and conventional electric batteries. “We must make clear and responsible decisions to ensure our competitiveness and meet the expectations of our customers, as well as continue with our offensive of electric vehicles and hybrids of both passengers and light commercials,” explains Jean-Philippe Imparato, Chief Operating Operating Officer for Enlarged Europe. Issues. The main argument that underwent the hydrogen strategy, with cars on the street such as the Hyundai Initium or the Mirai de ToyotaIt was the speed of loading. If the electric took some dozens of minutes to achieve a decent autonomy, one of hydrogen was closer to the times of a gasoline/diesel. The problem is that it is not entirely true. Toyota has been one of those who More has driven the hydrogen batteryeven competing with hydrogen -driven cars, such as GR LH2 Racing Concept or the Gr yaris rally2 h2 concept For rallies, but in everyday use, hydrogen looks like everything except practical, away from that more classic “plugging and reproducing” liquid fuel. The reason? GR LH2 Racing himself needs a cryogenic system at the cargo station that maintains hydrogen at -253 degrees Celsius. This implies advanced isolation and advanced manipulation, which makes it very little practical out of a very specialized competitive environment. Among other thingssince the energy density of hydrogen is almost nine times lower than that of gasoline and storage is complex. Without ‘hydrogeneras’ there is no FCEV. Returning to Stellantis, the group was not working with the hydrogen pile for the distant future, but immediately. This year they were going to launch a new range of vans, the Pro one fed by hydrogenthat evidently will not see the light. And although there are still companies that keep some hope for the hydrogen pile, the truth is that without refueling points, technology seems unsustainable. In the United States, Toyota has faced collective demand by Mirai owners who ensure that the brand lied to ensure that reposting would be as simple as in a gasoline. There are practically no load points, with just a thousand open hydrogeneras worldwide for public use. And last year they began to close in Germany because they were not used. BMW and his “hold me the cubata”. Trucks are another song. The numbers are there, With strong consecutive falls in 2023 and 2024 that seem to have punctured, at least for now, that fever for the hydrogen pile for conventional cars. However, the turn comes from BMW. The German company has publicly defended that hydrogen is an opportunity for Europe not to depend so much on the China’s battery industry. And others like Volvo maintain projects Hydrogen for trucks. It has been the CEO who has insisted that Europe must bet on multiple roads and that, in a scenario in which China controls the production of Rare earth Essential to create batteries, and they are also the most manufactured batteries, Europe must have a BM plan, BMW has no car with a hydrogen battery and is working on a SUV that They will launch at some point in 2028. We will see how the market is then. Image | H2 Mobility In Xataka | Nikola had everything to revolutionize the world of hydrogen trucks. Now is on the verge of bankruptcy

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.