hours

The polar vortex collapsed for just a few hours, but it showed us how unstable this winter is coming

by

Although it sounds complicated, the stratospheric polar vortex is, quite simply, the Earth’s large system of cold air and low pressure. One to the north and one to the south, rotating around the poles, acting as a barrier that keeps the frigid air away from the temperate zones of the planet. . And that’s exactly what happened in November. A sudden warming of the Arctic stratosphere (rises of up to 30 degrees in a few days) caused a huge mass of air to enter the troposphere and, in response, the westerly winds plummeted from strong values ​​to almost 0 meters per second. El vórtice se paró. Something extremely rare at the end of November. And it’s not just a scientific curiosity; but it entails a brutal redistribution of air masses. However, the vortex did not break completely: it was a quick and strong blow that left the system in stand-by, but it started again relatively quickly. That’s why, the spectacular consequences that were expected So? While it is true that the warming was “historical”, “very rare” for the dates on which it occurred and “very abrupt”, it must be understood (above all) as a warning that the atmosphere is very unstable this winter. Like a wake-up call: something we have to monitor. What the models say. As explained by MeteoVigothe models indicate that the strength of the stratospheric winds (the “muscle” of the vortex) will decrease again in the coming days; But facing the last days of December (around the 26th) the vortex will tend to recover a more circular shape and an intensity close to the climatic average. And what does all this mean? For Europe (and specifically for Spain), the vortex is something important: determines the probability of cold winters, anticyclonic blockages in high latitudes and trains of Atlantic storms. That is to say, if the vortex strengthens heading into December there will be less probability of extreme arctic irruptions and, possibly, a greater weight of storms. However, all scenarios are open: the models continue to draw the busiest winter of the time. Image | In Xataka | The last hope of winter in Spain is desperate, but increasingly possible: the breaking of the polar vortex

avoid cell phone use and sleep 12 hours

by

While in Silicon Valley they brag about hugging the culture of “996” with eternal days With no time to rest, Pavel Durov, co-founder and CEO of Telegram, has built a routine that clashes head-on with that model. Instead of living glued to your cell phone, opt for long hours of rest and phone use reduced to its minimum essential expression. All this taking into account that he runs an app with hundreds of millions of users around the world. Sleep as a tool for creativity Durov does not forgive time to go to sleep. The millionaire explained in an interview on Lex Friedman’s podcast that books every night between 11 and 12 hours to be in bed. That It doesn’t always mean you sleep. all those hours, but the founder of Telegram, instead of getting nervous and getting up when he can’t fall asleep, simply limits himself to staying in bed thinking. “Some people hate it. They tell me ‘Take a sleeping pill’ but I never take pills. I love those moments because I have so many brilliant ideas, or at least they seem that way to me in those moments, while I’m lying in bed,” said the stoic millionaire. In fact, the scientific literature corroborates what Durov says and associates it with a moment in which inactivity causes the brain to wandera moment in which the brain’s abstraction mechanisms are activated that are responsible for assimilating knowledge and relating concepts. This process is closely related to creativity as it fosters new connections by helping to find solutions to complex problems. It is the same process that explains why the best ideas or solutions they occur to you in the shower or when you wash the dishes. The mobile phone is not the center of life Another curious habit of the founder of Telegram is that he avoids picking up his cell phone at all costs. just get upand delay as much as possible entering the torrent of notificationsnetworks and messages, as a deliberate way of protect your concentration. Friedman himself confirmed this point, ensuring that in the previous two weeks that he had shared with the millionaire I hadn’t seen him use his cell phone. to share content on social networks or respond to messages. Durov considers that the telephone is, above all, a constant source of distractions that prevents people from developing their own ideas and decide for themselves what they pay attention to. “If you open your phone first thing in the morning, what you end up being is someone who is told what to think about for the rest of the day,” Durov said. The millionaire summarizes his position with a very clear phrase: “My philosophy is quite simple. I want to define what is important in my life. I don’t want other people, companies or organizations of all kinds to tell me what is important today and what I should think about.” Durov’s case is even more striking if his career is taken into account: before Telegram, he had already founded one of the largest social networks in Russia, and now he is in charge of one of the most used messaging services in the world. He himself recognizes that it may seem contradictory to promote products that encourage constant connection and, at the same time, opt for the minimum possible exposure to mobile phones in their personal life. In Xataka | There are big billionaires obsessed with having dozens of children. And then there is the CEO of Telegram, who has 100 Image | Flickr (TechCrunch)

from working 120 hours to thinking that in 20 years work will be optional

by

Elon Musk gained his reputation as a tireless worker when became public that his days at Tesla stretched beyond 120 hours a week and that he even slept in his office at the Austin gigafactory during the production crisis of Model 3. However, the millionaire seems to have changed his mind upon seeing the evolution of AI and has surprised the world with a futuristic vision about work: “working will be optional,” assured the richest person in the world in a recent speech at an investor forum in Saudi Arabia. From 996 to “working is optional”. Elon Musk, famous for defending 80-hour days to achieve great goals, published a message in November 2018 on his social network wrote the millionaire In an interview on the podcast ‘People by WTF’ by Nikil Kamath, Musk has changed his mind and has come to believe that, in a period of “between 10 and 20 years, work will be optional. Like a hobby” thanks to the increase in productivity promised by the evolution of AI and the progressive arrival of humanoid robots like Optimus that Tesla is developing. In his talk with Kamath, Musk compared working to growing vegetables in your own garden: “You can grow your own vegetables in your garden or you can go to the store to buy them. It’s much harder to grow your own vegetables. But some people like to grow their vegetables, and that’s fine. But it will be optional, that way, is my prediction,” said the Tesla CEO. Its formula: universal income. Musk believes that a universal income It will cover all the basic expenses of the population, eliminating the need for mandatory employment. This would allow people to live in the countryside or the city without depending on a job near an office. The businessman added: “You won’t have to be in a city for a job. If you can think of it, you can have it, that will be the future.” This vision of a population financed by a universal basic income aligns with the experiments with basic income funded by Sam Altman, former founding partner of OpenAI and Musk’s current rival. The future of AI comes together. With this change of heart regarding the workday, Elon Musk aligns himself with figures like Bill Gates, who predict that AI will automate almost everything and lead to three-day work weeks in less than a decade. Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, also pointed out in an interview with The New York Timesto the theory of the three-day week thanks to the increase in productivity. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, it coincided a few days ago with Musk on stage at the Saudi Arabia Investor Forum. There he agreed with the Tesla CEO’s postulate. Huang has long argued that AI will boost the four-day work week, promoting idea generation and projects beyond current capabilities. AI is a concern for Gen Z. While the predictions of technological CEOs come true, the reality is that the evolution of AI has become a serious concern for young people of generation Z who are starting your working career. The first data They already point out that some large companies are reducing hiring in entry-level positions, which were usually occupied by recent graduates. A recent survey from the Deutsche Bank Research Institute revealed that generation Z was “very concerned” about AI stealing job opportunities. As the question moves to older generations, that concern fades away. In Xataka | We still don’t have a four-day week and there are already CEOs dreaming of the next level: working only three days Image | Flickr (Gage Skidmore)

There’s a reason you spend hours watching reels on Instagram until 3:00 AM: the science of doomscrolling

by

It’s one in the morning. We should be sleeping but the finger is still sliding across the screen, scrolling through videos on TikTokreels on Instagram or posts on X. A viral meme, a new fire in the area or a new political crisis has us hooked on the screen. And although we may be exhausted, it cannot be stopped. If this scene sounds familiar to you, then welcome to the club. doomscrolling. A term that became massively popular during the pandemic and which can be defined as the habit of consuming prolonged form negative news or distressing, mainly through social networks. But behind this process, which may be very common in society right now, there are numerous chemical processes in the brain that science has not hesitated to investigate. The trap mechanism. To understand why we do doomscrollingwe must first understand that our brain did not evolve to have X or TikTok, but rather it evolved to survive. And it is not so long ago that humans were hunting for food or fleeing from a threat in nature, and it is something that our brain is still very much aware of. According to the most recent scientific literaturethe fact of sliding our screen down activates our reward brain circuits such as the dopaminergic system in each interaction. This drives us at all times to continue searching for information and evolutionarily knowing “where the danger is” was vital. The problem is that in this case the algorithm has no purpose, and we can spend 24 hours watching this type of news. But the reward system, which gives us ‘pleasure’ when knowing where the danger is, is not alone. It is accompanied by the amygdala which is the fear center in our brain. When seeing all this information, such as a war nearby in our territory, the brain interprets it as a potential threat that results in a large release of cortisol. This hormone is precisely known as the ‘stress hormone’, because it keeps the body in a state of hypervigilance. The result of these two circuits is quite clear as point out publications in Frontiers in Psychiatry and Brain Behavior: The brain seeks relief from information, but only finds more threats. This results in a toxic cycle being generated in which one seeks to calm down, becomes more scared, and searches again. The rotten brain. On social networks there is already a lot of talk of the term brain rot which translates to ‘brain rot’ like a real meme. but science has a very different opinionsince recent research suggests that repeated exposure to these fragmented stimuli with high emotional impact, with 15-second videos and alarmist headlines, have a high physical cost. The impact is located above all in executive functions (planning, organization, decision making…). And the constant alternation of these catastrophic contexts forces the brain to jump from one idea to another in milliseconds, and it is not something free. The cost we have to pay can be summarized in three points: Mental fatigue due to the high consumption of glucose that the brain has to make by having to constantly change focus. Deterioration of the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with a reduction in the efficiency of the area responsible for planning and impulse control. Processing blockage when the brain is on hyperalert. This makes it difficult to transfer information to long-term memory. Do we no longer know how to concentrate? This is the question we can all ask ourselves due to this phenomenon. The short answer from science is: we know, but it is much harder for us to “get started.” Studies on digital multitasking indicate that it is not that we have lost ability physiological of sustained attention, but we have trained our brain to expect interruptions. Deep attention (what you need to read a book for example) requires a “warm-up” time. He doomscrolling and the constant stream of notifications resets that counter constantly. Research collected in BMC Public Health they point out that attention remains “anchored” waiting for the next update. Even when you are not looking at your phone, a part of your cognitive resources is focused on it, reducing your performance on the task in front of you. It is not an irreversible decline, it is an atrophy due to lack of use of deep concentration circuits. There is hope. Despite the apocalyptic tone of the studies themselves on the subject, the scientific conclusion It’s not that we’re doomed. to be distracted automatons glued to a phone. The great advantage that humans have is neuroplasticity. With this term we mean that just as the brain learns to scroll compulsively, it can “unlearn.” Experts agree that the damage is not permanent unless the behavior becomes chronic for years without intervention. Evidence-supported strategies for breaking the cortisol-dopamine loop include: Set strict times to inform yourself and never before bed. Do exercises mindfulness as a tool to restore the default neural network. Allowing the brain to rest and ‘get bored’ without stimuli to help cleanse itself and regain the ability to focus. Images | Yazid N In Xataka | Young people have decided to stop posting (so much) on Facebook and Instagram. “AI-generated garbage” has free rein

It lasted three hours and was aboard the Concorde

by

We could say that, at the end of the 80s, everything in technology it was field. Everything was yet to be done and the technological competition was in full swing. Larry Ellison, the founder and CEO of Oracle, decided to do something truly extraordinary to present a new product that would be what many today consider the first stone of the current Oracle: Oracle 6. As and as they remembered from LuxuryLaunchesin 1988, the millionaire founder wanted to give a theatrical coup to the presentation of the new version of his relational database management system and, without a doubt, he succeeded. He did it in the middle of the Atlantic flying with a group of journalists and analysts in a Concorde chartered for the occasion. As fast as a Concorde. Just as they collect the publications of the time, Ellison had the brilliant idea of ​​linking the speed of processing the databases of his new edition of Oracle 6 with his other passion: supersonic planes. Oracle rented a Concorde, the famous supersonic plane that linked New York and Europe in just over two hours because it flew at speeds of up to Mach 2 (2,469 km/h). The concept was clear: the new Oracle 6 was the computer equivalent of the Concorde. The idea was to show that its database worked at supersonic speed, compared to the competition from IBM. A quick dinner. The choice of Concorde was not accidental. Larry Ellison was known for his passion for fighter planes and speed, which made a trip at more than 2,400 km/h the ideal place to present a product that wanted to stand out for its speed. Mike Jacobs, veteran Oracle executive, stated in the book ‘The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: Inside Oracle Corporation’ by Mike Wilson about that presentation “We took the analysts and the press to dinner on a flight to nowhere, and it was quick.” The Concorde seats were not affordable for everyone, so the food that was served on board It wasn’t either. Passengers enjoyed Dom Pérignon champagne, followed by caviar and a complete selection of French classics such as lobster, duck or beef served on delicate porcelain tableware. All this while the company’s engineers were telling the benefits of the new features of Oracle 6. The after-dinner session did not last too long since the tjourney aboard the Concorde It barely lasted less than three hours. It wasn’t a cheap account either.. Each Concorde ticket cost an average of $7,500 (about $15,500 currently). Therefore, inviting the approximately 100 journalists and analysts who could fit on a Concorde to dinner today would cost Ellison $1.55 million. However, that was the price of a charter flight operated by British Airways or Air France. But, it should be remembered that Oracle chartered the Concorde exclusively for the presentation, so it was not a regular flight. Which adds some zeros to the final count. We guess the tip was on point too. The first stone for Oracle. That presentation, beyond the eccentricity of appearing aboard the fastest and most exclusive plane in the world, marked a before and after in the history of Oracle, laying the foundations of the company. what we know today. The new software served to change engineers’ perceptions of Oracle, as it was previously joked that “Oracle never breaks, it just gives you wrong results.” A recurring joke among computer scientists of the time about the reliability of Oracle software. This database solved previous problems and positioned the company as a great competitor in the data management software market. The use of Concorde as a stage for the launch was a coup that reinforced the image of innovation, speed and success that Ellison wanted to convey to his public and his rivals. In Xataka | Larry Ellison wanted to feed the world by growing lettuce on his private island: he irrigated it with 500 million dollars Image | Wikimedia Commons (Eduard Marmet), Flickr (Oracle)

last hours to get your free ticket and experience the gala live and direct

by

The moment is approaching! The next November 20 the gala of the Xataka NordVPN Awards 2025an event in which we will discover the best technological products of the year. It’s going to be an event full of surprises, humor and lots and lots of technology, and if you want to experience it first-hand you still have time. There are still some tickets left, so we invite you, if you have not done so yet, fill out this form and order yours. It is completely free and you can include a companion. Little tip: don’t leave it! There are few tickets left and they are delivered in strict order of arrival. Agenda When: November 20, 2025. Where: Capitol Cinemas (Madrid). Schedule: Start of the gala at 8:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time), although we will tell you more about door opening and access by mail, when you receive your confirmation. Request your entry in this form If you want to join us in person at the Xataka NordVPN 2025 Awards gala, you just have to register in this form. The tickets, as we said, They are totally free and they will be delivered in order of arrival until capacity is reached. There are still a few left, so hurry up and register to reserve yours (and that of a companion if you wish). Once you have completed the form, you will receive a confirmation email with all the details about the event and the party (that’s all, see you there!). Check your email carefully and pay attention to your inbox. Note: If the form does not work for you, you can sign up here. And if you can’t join us physically, remember that we will broadcast the gala live from our website, so be sure to visit us that day. See you on November 20!

The EU wants to connect Madrid and Paris by train, in six hours and by 2035. Or in 2042. Or maybe never

by

The European Commission has approved an ambitious Action Plan for the high-speed railway that aims to triple the European network, going from the current 12,000 kilometers to 36,000 kilometers before 2040. The objective is to turn the train into a real alternative to the plane for medium-distance journeys, drastically reducing travel times between the main capitals of the continent. And Spain is going to have an important role. What changes for Spain. The plan directly affects our country with two priority connections: Madrid-Lisbon in three hours (compared to more than eight currently) and Madrid-Paris in six hours (instead of the more than twelve that are needed now). From Bilbao you can reach Lisbon in less than six hours passing through the capital. The proposal contemplates that these improvements be operational in 2035although the corridor with France raises more doubts than the plan to join with Lisbon. Why it is important. Currently, the 12,000 kilometers of European high speed are mainly concentrated in Spain, France, Italy and Germany, while the east and center of the continent remain poorly connected. Just like points out Commissioner for Sustainable Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, “Central and Eastern Europe remains woefully poorly connected.” Spain, with almost 4,000 operational kilometers, is European leader in high-speed infrastructure, only behind China globally. The money problem. Complete the planned network by 2040 will cost about 345,000 million euros. If we also want trains to run well above 250 kilometers per hour, the figure shoots up to 546 billion until 2050, according to Brussels. The organization admits that public financing it won’t be enough and seeks to attract private investment, in addition to loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the national public bank (ICO in Spain). The idea is that in 2026 an agreement will be negotiated between Member States, financial institutions and other organizations and companies to settle the investment issue. Between the lines. Although the plan sounds ambitious, Brussels recognizes that it is very late: In 2020, the goal of doubling the network by 2030 was set, but by 2023 it had only grown by 17%. France, key to connecting Madrid with Paris, maintains a more pessimistic calendar than Brussels and does not see the connection as feasible until 2042. The Spanish minister himself Óscar Puente has recognized that the direct connection with Paris “will not arrive next year”. Tzitzikostas has announced who works intensely with the ministers of Spain and France to “overcome border bottlenecks.” The effect on airlines. A Madrid-Paris flight lasts just over two hours, but adding waiting times, boarding and transfers from airports, it is close to the six hours that the direct train to the city center would take. Spain and France short flights have already been banned with a rail alternative of less than two and a half hours. In addition, the EU obliges airlines to use at least 70% green fuels by 2050, starting with 2% this year, which will make flights more expensive. And now what. The plan is certainly not written in stone and the roadmap will depend on the political will of each country and the ability to attract private investment. Spain is well positioned to take advantage of these funds, since according to the media Expansión, It has 700 kilometers under construction and another 700 projected that will take the network above 5,000 kilometers between 2030 and 2032. The Commission also promises a new ticket strategy in 2026 to “make it easier for passengers to book multimodal tickets” and a full liberalization of the sector in 2040, which should reduce prices. Cover image | Tim Adams In Xataka | There was a day when Japan was the leading high-speed country. It has been surpassed by China, a victim of its own country

Convenience stores were an emblem of Japan. Until the demographic crisis has revealed the dark side of opening 24 hours

by

The stores japanese convenienceknown as konbini, are not simple shops where you buy fast food or basic products, they are a deep part of the social fabric of the country. Its success is measured not only in numbers (more than 55,000 establishments spread across the 47 prefectures) but in the way in which they accompany daily life: they allow you to pay bills, send packages, print documents, buy tickets for shows, resolve unforeseen events, take refuge in case of emergency or simply take a break in them. And now that the country doesn’t stop agingthe stores are mortally wounded. The konbini. Let’s think that, in urban neighborhoods, rural towns or isolated coastal areas, these establishments have become the minimum infrastructure indispensable where there used to be post offices, banks or small family businesses that have now disappeared. The store, therefore, is not just a business: it is a safe space, open and available 24 hours a day, an emotional and logistical support point that has shaped the Japanese daily rhythm and has captivated even to millions of touristswho find in these establishments a mix of efficiency, warmth and aesthetic thoroughness that is difficult to replicate. Efficiency and expansion. I remembered the new york times in summer that the development of the Japanese konbini has been the result of an evolution of decades. Since 7-Eleven opened your first store In Japan in 1974, the combination of non-stop hours, quality fresh food (onigiri, bentō, noodles, seasonal desserts) and integrated services made the model a unique phenomenon. For many residents, these stores are literally the closest store, the most accessible ATM, the place to go when something is missing or something happens. The associated image is one of precision: perfectly organized shelves, impeccable coffee machines, attentive employees, continually renewed food and a sense of total availability. From Japan to the world. This internal success was projected outwards, so that 7-Eleven, today Japanese owned, is the largest retail chain on the planet, and global expansion plans aim mainly to North America. The konbini became an exportable image of Japan: efficient, friendly, reliable. The hidden reverse. But not everything shined the same. one piece from the Financial Times has revealed that behind that facade of functional perfection A franchise system is under increasingly intense tensions. Japan agesthe active population is decreasing and small businesses are experiencing increasing difficulties to hire staff. The model requires stores open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the pressure not to close falls squarely on the owners. He Akiko’s case and her husband, a 7-Eleven manager who worked without a day’s rest for six months until dying by suicide, starkly revealed the human price of this silent perfection. And more. It was not an isolated case: a labor inspection recognized the relationship between death and overwork, but the root of the problem is structural. Franchisees must deliver between 40% and 70% of gross profit to the parent company, which reduces their margin and exposes them to absorbing personnel, overtime and unforeseen charges. Visible efficiency therefore has an invisible cost. The crisis of the model. Faced with the problem, the chains 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson have tried make schedules more flexibleintroduce automatic checkouts, ordering systems assisted by AI and robots cleaning to reduce the need for labor. But none of these measures solve the main equation: fewer available workers and more opening hours supported by fewer people. Domestic consumption is also not growing as before, which limits the owners’ ability to increase payrolls. As minimum wages rise, margins narrow even more. many managers they work for free for dozens of hours to keep their stores open. Some they confess that, in the current state, closing would be a more rational option than continuing to operate. The fragility of the system thus becomes visible: if there are no new franchisees willing to take over, the model can collapse. Adaptation or goodbye. The response of the companies points towards a profound transformation of the model. 7-Eleven study contracts renewed from 2027, possibly moving towards the “mega-franchise” model, where the same owner manages multiple stores and distributes human resources between them. However, this implies a concentration of the business and could further displace the small independent owners who historically defined the konbini as a community space. The central question is whether the konbini will continue to be a connected capillary network to the territory or whether it will become a centralized corporate system, more profitable but less close. The great dilemma. If you will, the konbini was born as proximity symbol and frictionless service, and became part of emotional memory from Japan: open places when everything else is closed, spaces where the daily routine has a friendly pause. But that same ideal has been held for decades by people whose efforts they have become invisible beneath the surface of efficiency. Today, the system faces a limit that is not technological, but human. The future of the konbini will depend on whether Japan manages to rebalance the contract between the community, the company and those who keep the doors open at any time, 365 days a year. If it manages to adapt without sacrificing those who support it, it will continue to be an intimate and essential institution. If not, it could become the emblem of a society that knew how to take care of every detail… except for the people who made it possible. Image | Pexels, Japanexperterna, Shankar S. In Xataka | While half the planet aspires to retire, in Japan the opposite is true: 100-year-olds who only want to work In Xataka | The aging population and a poor pension system have a new symbol in Japan: grandmothers are rented

There are people listening to Drake on Spotify 23 hours a day. Or maybe they are not human and it is a ‘royalty’ fraud

by

That Spotify pays artists quite poorly It’s no secret, but now they are being accused of something else: there are artists inflating their reproductions in order to reduce the payment for the rest since the distribution is proportional. The demand. They count in Ars Technica which is a class action lawsuit proposed by American rapper RBX. In it, the platform is accused of having allowed Drake to inflate his views. Currently, the rapper holds the record on the platform with 120,000 million views. Although Drake is at the center of the lawsuit, he goes further and claims that Spotify ignores “millions of fraudulent streams.” The signs. According to RBX, Spotify ignored at least 37 billion inauthentic streams of Drake’s music over the past three and a half years. To do this, they have analyzed listening patterns and have detected strange behaviors such as “months of significant increases” without the release of new music to explain those peaks. But the most suspicious of all is that certain accounts only played Drake’s music for 23 hours a day, something they consider “astonishing and irregular” and why Spotify had detected it. The payment system. Spotify does not pay artists for each play, but instead uses a proportional model. Every month a “pool” of money is created and each artist receives a proportional share based on the reproductions they have had in that period. Thus, if one month the sum amounts to 1 million euros, an artist who has achieved 1% of the total reproductions would take home 10,000 euros. It affects everyone. With the proportional system, if one artist inflates his figures, it negatively affects all the other artists competing for a piece of the pie. Although they have not given details of how they arrived at that figure, the lawsuit speaks of “hundreds of millions of dollars.” If the judge accepts the case, it could cover more than 100,000 copyright owners who use the platform. It’s not something new. Years ago we talked about the techniques to manipulate the charts on the platform. The most famous case was that of Justin Bieber, who In 2020 he asked his followers to loop his song ‘Yummy’ to take it to number one on the charts. But the normal thing is that it is done undercover, using fake accounts hidden under a VPN that hides the real location. In statements to Rolling Stonea Spotify representative has denied benefiting from fake plays and claims to invest in systems to protect artists and eliminate fake plays. Image | Wikipedia, Pexels In Xataka | The problem is no longer that Spotify has been filled with AI artists: it is that AI is “reviving” dead musicians

There is a Facebook group available 24 hours a day that even doctors attend. Your mission: identify poisonous mushrooms

by

“Hello, I have a human patient with late-onset gastrointestinal symptoms after ingesting these mushrooms.” This is how one of the many messages you receive in ‘Poisons Help; Emergency Identification For Mushrooms & Plants‘, a Facebook group formed by experts in the identification of poisonous plants and mushrooms. They are available 24 hours a day and not only receive consultations from individuals, but also doctors and veterinarians. ID. There are more than 100,000 species of fungi, of which more than a hundred are poisonoussome even mortal. And the same thing happens with many plants. If a person or animal ingests one of these by accident, it is crucial to identify the species to see what steps to take. However, distinguishing these species is not an easy task; in-depth knowledge of botany and mycology is required. In 2018, several experts founded a Facebook group to help identify poisonous species in emergencies. And they are extremely effective. For emergencies only. When you enter the group, a message appears with the rules for posting. The first thing they make clear is that it is a group for emergencies, that is, you can only post if a person or animal has ingested the mushrooms. If someone has a question because they are curious to know details about a specific specimen, there are other groups for that. They also have a warning for trolls: “People come here at scary times for immediate life-saving help, please don’t make jokes, judge or criticize. This is not the place to test your sense of humor or correct others.” Strict rules. For the group to be effective, in active cases no one is allowed to comment other than the administrators themselves or the people who have reported an emergency. It is necessary to provide all possible data: location, amount ingested, time since ingestion, photos of the specimen, weight of the person or animal that ingested it, etc. Doctors and veterinarians. Many of the posts are made directly by professionals who have a patient with problems after ingesting an unknown mushroom or plant. Most are veterinarians, but there are also many cases of doctors with human patients in the same situation. Even there have been cases in which the poison center itself has been the one who recommended going to the group for identification. Recognition. In addition to being a source of consultation for professionals, its work has also been recognized by associations such as the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, which last August invited them to give a talk in one of his conferences. Among the group administrators There are mycologists, botanists and also amateur hobbyists. Cover image | Vladimir Srajber, Pexels In Xataka | Sex is deadly for many males. The octopus has a strategy to survive: inject poison into its partner

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.