humanity

Humanity has been wondering for years how to adapt to climate change. The Mayans already achieved it centuries ago

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Beyond its architecture, urban planning and art, there is an aspect of the Mayan civilization that fascinates archaeologists: its decline. Over time, historians have understood that the decline was not sudden nor did it respond to a single factor, rather there was a sum that included changes in trade routes, wars and, above all, adverse weather, with droughts. severe and prolonged. Now we know something more. Even during the stages of Classic Terminal (800-1000 AD) and Postclassic (1000-1500 AD), while large urban centers succumbed, there were settlements that adapted to climate changes. What has happened? Which a group of archaeologists has just published an article in which they capture their years of research in a Mayan settlement located in ‘Birds of Paradise’, some wetlands located in the north of Belize. The site itself is not new. Scientists identified it long ago a few years with the help of lidara tool that is revolutionizing archaeology. What is new are the conclusions that its analysis has left. He study is published in the magazine PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science) and, among other issues, concludes that the wetland offers valuable information about how the Mayans responded to the social and environmental changes they dealt with during two crucial stages of their history: the Classic Terminal and Postclassic, a period that goes from the 9th to the 16th centuries. What have they found out? As they explain from New York University (NYU), to which the main author of the study belongs, one of the most interesting readings that the site leaves is the extent to which the Mayans adapted to the vagaries of the climate. Basically, researchers have proven that at a time when large urban centers were abandoned, pressured in part by intense droughtsthere were Mayan settlements that managed to survive in the wetlands. As? For its ability to adapt to the environment. And how did they do it? Taking advantage of the means they had at hand. “Wetlands provided resources for hunting and fishing to ancient populations, in addition to serving as refuge in periods of drought and social upheavals,” they explain from NYU. The environment supplied them with something else, equally or even more valuable for their settlements: construction materials. The site in question that they have analyzed in Belize in fact includes eight mounds of earth that could have served as a base for building buildings and a large elevated limestone platform. The experts also rescued wooden posts, animal remains and ceramic artifacts, clues that tell us about how life continued while other nearby urban centers declined. What do the experts say? “Together these findings reveal a highly adaptable community with diverse tools, food and construction materials. It shows us that Mayan communities could change habitats and survive extreme climates,” explains Timothy Beachprofessor at the University of Texas at Austin, who nevertheless recognizes that “we still do not know the size of this wetland population and its functioning.” Now archaeologists aim to go one step further. “Our next moves include expanding the excavations to understand how the Mayans built with unconventional wood, how they ate, and how this settlement fit into a region that was suffering from widespread abandonment.” Why is it important? Because of the historical era we are talking about. In their article, the researchers assure that the Belize site demonstrates the ability of the ancient Mayans to adapt to “the profound challenges” that they had to live through from the 9th century AD. For reference, a team led by the University of Cambridge discovered not long ago that between 871 and 1021 they happened eight persistent droughtsof at least three years, in the Yucatán Peninsula. The worst of all actually lasted more than a decade. The scientists arrived at that conclusion after analyzing a stalagmite from a Yucatan cave. And, beyond how spectacular it may be, the data is interesting because it tells us about the challenges that the Mayans faced during the Terminal Classic (800-1000 AD), when the limestone cities of the south they were abandonedthe dynasties declined and civilization moved north, losing part of its political and economic power in the area. Are there more conclusions? “As the large urban centers of the Mayan regions succumbed to interconnected socio-environmental factors, the communities of the Birds of Paradise complex persisted through that transition by constructing a series of elevated structures of earth, stone and wood with direct access to the abundant resources and connectivity offered by the riparian wetland system,” reads the article published in PNAS. “It provides evidence for persistent populations between the Elevated Interior Region and coastal regions during the Terminal Classic to Postclassic. While nearby highland urban centers were abandoned, this population continued to emphasize wetland agriculture and provides our best evidence for other subsistence strategies, such as fishing and gathering other proteins, reflected in the faunal assemblage,” they add the researchers. What did they dig? That is another of the surprises that the study leaves behind. Archaeologists discovered what NYU describes as “the largest collection of architectural wood” located inland, as well as artifacts that help historians understand everyday life in the wetlands. It may seem like a minor issue, but it is not common to find remains of wood in Mayan sites. On the contrary. Their very nature causes them to degrade in tropical environments. In Belize, experts have discovered “a unique opportunity” which allows them to better understand how the ancient Mayans built, what types of wood they used and how they used each one. Is it so uncommon? The majority of preserved Mayan wooden remains are figurines, spears and boxes that were recovered mainly in caves in Belize at the beginning of the 20th century. Remains have also been found in mountainous and saline areas in the south of the country. The new findings go further. “It challenges long-held beliefs that sites like this could not survive in the American tropics and suggests we might be overlooking similar sites,” admits Lara Sánchez-Morales, professor of anthropology … Read more

Mexico was supposed to be giving oil to Cuba out of “humanity.” Now we know that he was charging millions

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On the coast of Veracruz, Mexico’s diplomatic and energy machinery has applied the handbrake. The image of the ship Ocean Marinerdocking in Havana on January 9 with 85,000 barrels of crude oil, seems to be the last postcard of an era that is abruptly closing. As confirmed France 24that was the last successful shipment before geopolitics cut off the flow. His replacement, Swift Galaxywas scheduled to sail in mid-January, but his trip was quietly canceled and he disappeared from the logistical calendar of Mexican Petroleum, how they have advanced in The Country. What happens in Mexican ports is the reflection of a tension that goes beyond commercial matters. After the American intervention in Venezuela on January 3 and the fall of Nicolás Maduro, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, was blunt: “No more money or oil will reach Cuba. Zero.” The threat was accompanied by an executive order that promises tariffs on any nation that supplies crude oil to the island, which Trump has described as a “failed nation.” Caught in this crossfire, Claudia Sheinbaum’s government navigates between two waters. On the one hand, it defends the “sovereignty” of helping a sister nation; On the other hand, in the Washington offices, their own accounting books tell another story: formal businesses and punctual payments that refute the purely humanitarian narrative. Solidarity after the storm From the National Palace, the speech has tried to avoid direct confrontation appealing to history. President Sheinbaum has reiterated that Mexico, faithful to its diplomatic tradition of voting against the blockade from day one, has the sovereign power to decide whether to “sell or give” oil to Cuba. This rhetoric gained strength at the end of 2024. After the collapse of the Cuban electrical system and the devastating passage of Hurricane Rafael in November, the Mexican government started labeling their shipments under the umbrella of “humanitarian aid.” However, here the enigma arises. Although the president assures that there is a humanitarian donation channel other than the commercial one, her administration has not offered specific figures on how many barrels are given away and how many are charged. Everything is opacity in the help, while the business has lights and stenographers, as highlighted The Country. While the political discourse focuses on solidarity, the financial documents are cold and exact. Pemex, which is listed on international markets, cannot afford ambiguities before the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the information delivered to this regulatory body, the Mexican oil company maintains a current contract with the Cuban government since July 2023 through its subsidiary Wellbeing Gasoline. Far from being a hidden charity, the figures revealed by the director of Pemex, Víctor Rodríguez Padilla, show an active and lucrative commercial relationship. In 2025, Mexico sold oil to Cuba worth 496 million dollars. If we add what has been invoiced since the start of the contract in 2023, the total figure amounts to about 1.4 billion dollars. Rodríguez Padilla was emphatic in denying that Cuba does not pay its debts, a common perception given the island’s crisis. “Of course they pay us! We have a business relationship too. They are very formal in their payments,” the manager assuredclarifying that there are no overdue invoices. To try to minimize the impact of these revelations before the scrutinizing eyes of Washington, Pemex has argued thatAlthough the figures sound high, they are marginal for the company: they represent less than 1% of its crude oil production and just 0.1% of its oil sales. It is an “open” contract that depends on Mexico’s availability, and not an unbreakable commitment. The domino effect: why the tap was turned off The current crisis is not explained only by Mexico’s decisions, but by the collapse of Havana’s historical suppliers. For years, Venezuela was the island’s lifeline, shipping up to 100,000 barrels a day during the time of Hugo Chávez. However, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the US intervention in Caracas, these shipments ceased completely in January. as detailed BBC. Mexico then became the last lifeline, sending approximately 20,000 barrels a day, a figure that, although far from the island’s total needs, was essential. to maintain minimum services. The pressure escalated when Republican congressmen, such as Carlos Giménez, put the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) on the table. The threat it was clear: If Mexico continues to oxygenate the Cuban regime, the review of the trade agreement in 2026 could become a nightmare for the Mexican economy. Faced with the risk of tariffs that would damage its own economy, Mexico chose to suspend hydrocarbon shipments. The consequences of this supply cut are immediate and alarming. A graph made with data from Kpler and published by the Financial Times illustrates the seriousness of the moment: Cuba’s crude oil imports have plummeted and, according to the estimates displayed in the report, the island only has oil reserves left for between 15 and 20 days. The situation has raised alarm bells at the United Nations. The Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, he warned through his spokesperson that Cuba is at risk of imminent “humanitarian collapse” if its energy needs are not met. Without fuel, not only do the lights go out; The pumping of drinking water, the transportation of food and the operation of hospitals are stopped. Faced with the impossibility of shipping oil without suffering commercial reprisals, the Sheinbaum government has modified its relief strategy. The president confirmed that, while the Foreign Ministry seeks “diplomatic ways” to resolve the oil issue, Mexico will ship this week shipments of food and basic products managed by the Secretary of the Navy. It is a palliative for a crisis that is, above all, energy. In this maximum pressure scenario, an unexpected edge arises. As Trump closes the oil fence, he has also dropped comments that suggest the door is not completely closed. The American president recently stated that “we are negotiating with Cuban leaders right now,” hinting at conversations about immigration issues and the … Read more

In 2020, humanity was confined by covid. And that caused a species of bird to modify its beak to survive

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During the COVID-19 pandemic the world stopped completely. Something that scientists have named ‘anthropause‘: a sudden silence of human activity that left many of us confined at home and that even affected nature. This effect was so extreme that even a species of bird changed its beak as science has now seen. The study. Although in the past we saw some disorders in nature, such as the appearance of wild boars in Barcelona or dolphins in Venetian ports, now a team from UCLA has gone further. a study published in PNAS indicates that a population of urban birds modified his physical anatomy in record time. The objective they had was to survive the absence of humans at that time. But the most surprising thing is that when everything returned to normal and humans began to go outside, the birds returned to their original beak. The dilemma. To understand the discovery, you first have to know the protagonists: the dark eyed juncos. Some small birds that are very common in the field of the University of California in Los Angeles. Before 2020, these birds had short, wide beaks. Something that makes perfect sense, since they were in an environment full of students and, therefore, His diet was based on leftovers. that were left This is why it needed to have a robust beak to handle these ‘artificial’ foods. In contrast, their relatives that live in wild forests have longer, thinner beaks, designed like precision tweezers to search for insects and seeds hidden in vegetation. The pandemic. When UCLA closed its doors in 2020 and the students disappeared, so did the easy food. And this was where the university researchers saw a unique opportunity to study what happens when you eliminate humans from the ecological equation. The results. What was seen in this case is the new generations of reeds that were born precisely in this time of ‘loneliness’ they developed longer and thinner beaks. All this because since there was no human garbage, they had to behave like wild birds again, foraging on the ground and looking for food alternatives. But what was most fascinating happened after the reopening. As soon as students (and their snacks) returned to campus in 2022, the morphology of the peaks quickly reverted to the urban form with a short, thick shape. This is ultimately an extremely rapid evolutionary change that is very rare to see. A change of mind. What makes this study so relevant to the scientific community is the speed of the field. Generally, we think of evolution as a process that takes thousands of years. However, what we observed here suggests that urban species have a much more elastic capacity for adaptation than we believed. Since it’s not just the peak. Previous studies by the same team had already noted behavioral changes: during the pandemic, these birds lost their fear of humans, becoming less aggressive and more curious, although that behavior also readjusted with our return. Its importance. This case is a brutal reminder of our ecological footprint. We don’t just alter the climate or the landscape; our mere presence and our waste acts as an evolutionary force that shapes the biology of the animals around us like these birds. The UCLA rushes have taught us that nature is not static; It is a dynamic system that reacts to our habits almost in real time. The question that remains in the air is: if a couple of years of silence changed the shape of a bird, what other invisible changes are we causing without realizing it? Images | Vincent van Zalinge David Mitran In Xataka | The insects of Antarctica had been living peacefully for thousands of years. Until microplastics arrived

The absurd legal battle between Elon Musk and the game “Cards Against Humanity” has ended in a bittersweet ending

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The creators of the irreverent card game Cards Against Humanity have reached an out-of-court settlement with SpaceX, ending a legal dispute financed by his own fans. Although they promised to distribute the 15 million dollars they would receive from the company if they won the trial, there will be no trial to hold No money to distribute. The origin of the dispute. The story begins in 2017. Cards Against Humanity raised $2.25 million from its fans to buy land in cameron countyTexas. The goal? Legally block the construction of the wall promoted by Donald Trump on the border with Mexico. The purchase of the plot was possible, in addition to the ingenious marketing campaign, thanks to 150,000 donations of $15 each. The problem arose when SpaceX, which has the Starbase launch complex right next door, began using the empty Cards Against Humanity plot to store material. Elon Musk against the card game. In 2024, Cards Against Humanity accused SpaceX of invade your property for at least six months. In addition to starting a new marketing campaign, this time against Elon Musk, the owners of the game sued the company for depositing construction materials, gravel and debris on their plot without permission. Amid insults against Musk, whom they called “a billionaire even richer and more racist than Trump,” Cards Against Humanity promised $100 for each of the 150,000 crowdfunding participants. As? Demanding $15 million from SpaceX as compensation for the crime. Bittersweet ending. Finally, Cards Against Humanity has informed its fans that there will be no trial. SpaceX and the card game have reached an out-of-court agreement whose figure has not been revealed, but which the creators of the game describe like “Musk did the legal equivalent of throwing dust in our eyes and kicking us in the balls.” So why have they accepted it? Cards Against Humanity explained that a trial “would have cost more than we probably would have earned from SpaceX.” “According to Texas law,” they add“we probably wouldn’t have been able to recover our legal costs. We had the truth on our side, but Musk and SpaceX could have easily outspent us.” How will they compensate the fans? This is where the story takes a Cards Against Humanity turn. The 150,000 donors who helped buy the land will not receive cash, but only “comedy.” The company will send all entrants “a new, exclusive mini-pack of cards about Elon Musk,” which they hope to ship in early 2026. In an email to fans, the company summed it up: “Since we can’t give you what you really wanted—cash from Elon Musk—we’re going to make it up to you…with comedy!” The land is empty again. Images | Ministry of Communications of Brazil, Mercado Libre In Xataka | A genius named Tom Mueller designed the engines for the Falcon 9. And now that genius wants to beat SpaceX on its own turf

74,000 years ago, a volcanic eruption led humanity to the edge of extinction. We begin to understand how we survive

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74,000 years ago, in a remote lake north of Sumatra, a volcano erupted. But it wasn’t a normal volcano. According to archaeologist Jayde N. Hiniak“The Toba expelled 2,800 cubic kilometers of ash to the stratosphere, created a crater of 1,000 soccer fields” and caused a global winter. That could take our species to the edge of extinction: for more than half a century, many anthropologists are convinced that it was that eruption (one of the greatest known eruptions) that reduced the human population to about 10,000 fertile couples. It would be the most critical moment of Homo Sapiens since it arose. It is true that the theory is controversial and the debate around the real climate change that the Toba created is still very alive; However, no one doubts that what happened that day in Sumatra was a huge catastrophe. And that can be seen in archaeological remains. As Hiniak pointed out“Most archaeological sites show a history of resistance.” In areas such as South Africa or the lowlands of Ethiopia these climatic changes led to the adoption of technological innovations such as the development of arches and arrows. In much closer places (such as Indonesia, India or China), the population also suffered deep changes that allowed him to survive. All this can be known because the Toba left many geological samples distributed throughout the world. Studying the deposits before and after the ash of the volcano gives a lot of information on how these societies changed socio-technologically. The flexibility was key. Regardless of what Toba will cause (or not) drastic reduction Of the population, what is clear is that it allows us to draw conclusions about what was the fundamental feature that explains the survival of human communities: behavioral flexibility. Something that allows Image | Tetiana Grypachevska In Xataka | When Newton reached the fundamental laws of physics there was already a sign that said “Leonardo was here”

Labubu Humanity Bags are being small. So its creator already knows how to sell even more

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Labubu have become a global phenomenon. In China alone, for 2024, they reached sales for about 355 million euros and, since then, their figures in the rest of the world They grow at a rhythm of 480%. To Spain too The fever arrived: The stores They ran out of stock and many buyers have had to resort to Wallapop or Vind, with the consequent Risk of falsifications. Pop Mart, the manufacturer of the stuffed animals, He has shot in the stock market After affirming the CEO Wang NO that its initial forecast of reaching 2.8 billion dollars in sales for this year can grow 50% to 3,580 million, something that, says “would be quite easy.” He would be able to double the income of 2024. And they have explained how they plan to do it: launching the “Mini Labubu“ From the bag to the mobile. With their rabbit ears and a very sinister smile, the labubu have conquered bags and backpacks of their buyers, after being popularized by influencers like Lisa, from the K-Pop Blackpink groupDua Lipa, Madonna, David Beckham or Kim Kardashian. Now Pop Mart wants to conquer something much more common and transversal than a bag: the smartphone. As the company explained, the Mini Labubu can be placed on phones, and will not take them to launch them. It will happen this week. The ‘Sonny Angel’ taught the way. The mobile accessories market is huge, but none explains so well the step that is going to give Pop Mart with the Mini Labubu like the ”Sonny Angel‘, those little “plastic angels” that after being created in 2004, are now glued to many mobile and even laptops of very young people from Spain after being a viral phenomenon in Tiktok. The key was the version ‘Hipper‘, designed to fit with the mobile and corners and frames of the screens and popularized by celebrities such as Rosaría or Victoria Beckham. And they took steps such as collaborating with covers of covers such as Casetify that show Pop Mart where sales can continue to grow once they launch the reduced size labubu. In fact, They already collaborate With brands such as Disney, DC, Marvel, Minions, Capcom, Garfield, etc. As explained in The Economist, China is now “Cool”and has everything to conquer Europe. Without supplying, but with a plan. Wang said that it is very optimistic for the company’s performance “in foreign markets”, and believes that “there is a very wide space for growth”, predicting that the sales of North America and Pacific Asia will match those of China in 2024. The problem is that Labubus’s production does not give to meet demand. This explains average resale prices of $ 121 (and up to 240 euros), compared to the 30 dollars that are officially sold. It is the same problem that Xiaomi also faces in China with The resale of su7but they are working on expanding the production capacity, and Yuan Junjie, president of the Pop Supply Chain Center Mart, states that produce 10 times more than in the same period last yearwhich translates into 30 million units per month. They plan to continue improving, with two new factories abroad and two in China. At the moment they have benefited from Getting with Labubus is an art. Image | Dushawn Jovic in Unspash and Pop Mart In Xataka | Most brands take decades to leave the “Death Valley.” Xiaomi has taken two electric cars

Humanity has a serious problem with antibiotics. A Spanish researcher has used AI to solve it

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Artificial intelligence has opened a chest that had been closed almost 4,000 million years. Inside there was no gold, but something much more valuable: an arsenal of molecules capable of fighting superbacteria. This is the result of the team led by the Spanish biotechnologist César de la Fuente at the University of Pennsylvania, which has studied the genome of the arches, one of the oldest lineages of life on earth, to discover a family of antibiotics that has called archesasins. An invisible and increasingly strong enemy. WHO considers the resistance of antimicrobials (RAM) as One of the greatest threats to humanity. Only in 2019 almost 5 million deaths were associated worldwide Due to bacteria that cannot be eliminated with antibiotics because they have developed defenses against them. A threat that is increasing, and that forces us to look for new antibiotics to fight against them. The problem It is especially serious in vulnerable areas such as conflict environments or that have a very fragile health system where the misuse of antibiotics causes these ‘superbacteria’ to appear. And in Spain, something as simple as Take antibiotics to treat a virus or not finish the complete pattern prescribed can also contribute to this serious problem. Archaeas: Extreme rescue survivors. The Archaeas They are unicellular microorganisms that are really ‘strong’. They are evolutionary premiums of bacteria, but form their own life domain, together with bacteria and eukaryotes (the group where we find the cells we have in our body or in plants). They were born in the primitive earth, a hostile environment that forced them to adapt to live in conditions that would kill most living beings, with temperatures greater than 80 degrees, extreme acidity or the great pressures that were in the oceanic funds. Its resistance is our great advantage. Precisely seeing that these bacteria could survive the most inhospitable places, he gave rise to the research team to search among their defense mechanisms. And it was the key. César de la Fuente himself He explains it Thus to El País: Since the discovery of penicillin, the search for new antibiotics has been practically focused exclusively on bacteria and fungi. With our work, this paradigm changes because we find antibiotics in a domain of virtually unexplored life. An AI to look for molecular treasures. To be able to search among the more than 20,000 species of different arches, the team had to develop an AI with ‘Apexoracle‘To be able to find what they were looking for. And he did. The AI identified 90 candidate compounds that gathered the criteria they were looking for and of these, 93% were those that showed antimicrobial properties. In this way, a lot of time were saved. Archaeasins: The new artillery against superbacteria. Among the discovered compounds, one of them was the archeanine-73. This has demonstrated in models In vivo That has a power comparable to polymixin B, an antibiotic that is on the last step of antibiotic therapy when literally used as a last resort in a superbacteria. And here the future opens up to a new batch of antibiotics that allow us to continue surviving ultra -vertrassing bacteria. It is not the only way, but it is a revolutionary. This strategy of combining computational power with biology is a field in full boiling. We are seeing it with ia that are used to detect pancreatic cancer early, predict breast cancer either be a general help for any radiologist. And in the field of research, they also continue to support even to know why a superbacterial did not respond to a treatment. Images | Danilo.Alvesd Myriam Zilles In Xataka | Some engineers have simulated 500 million years of evolution with an AI. Now we have a fluorescent protein

If you have ever wondered how much humanity would occupy if it was a giant meatball, quiet: you are not the only one

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Once, many years ago, I came up with a stupid question, At the level of Yahoo Answers. If I spit a lot, can I dehydrate? My reasoning was that, at some point, I would lose the ability to create fluid, but it did not happen a good moment of laughter with those present. There is an internet corner in which my question would have been taken very seriously: Reddit. And it is precisely where the definitive question is answered: how great a meatball made with all human flesh. At the moment, We are about 8.2 billion people running around the world (although there are those who think we have left Between 1,000 and 3,000 million along the way). Consult that real time number It is dizzy and addictive, and it is really difficult to “visualize” how much we are more than 8,000 million people. A lot, yes, but … how much? There is graphics and maps that try to reduce this so that we have a perspective of what the Asian population supposesfor example, but it is still complicated that we visualize what it would mean by together more than 8,200 souls in the same place. As I say, in Reddit there is a very special place, one called ‘they did the math‘In which users post absurd questions and solve themselves using all possible mathematical seriousness and rigor. The great human meatball We are going to focus on that idea of the “great human meatball.” Kiwi2703 was the one start This great debate, with simulation included. The parameters he took were 7,880 million existing people at that time, with a calculation of 62 kilos of average weight and a density of 985 kg/m³. Mixing everything and creating a compact ball, we would have a sphere of just under a kilometer in diameter. To contextualize everything much more, Kiwi shared a drawing in which we can see that the human meatball would be much higher than the Manhattan skyscrapersbut I would enter Central Park. As we say, the updated numbers would make the meatball be somewhat larger because we are 400 million more humans (and we will continue to increase until Let’s reach 10,000 millionS By the end of this century before starting to fall) but it is curious that we occupy so little space within our planet (once we have pressed in a ball, of course). This Absurd questions is a sciencebut taking them seriously can be really fun. Examples: would it be possible to put a rocket into orbit if the propulsion were candies mixed with Coca-Cola? The conclusion is that nosince it does not use Coca-Cola Light and because releasing co₂ from an aqueous solution does not have enough energy to achieve the necessary thrust. In another, a photograph of a type that has a structure like a harness that allows to have a compressor and a split of a air-conditioning Next to a battery to literally have a portable air conditioning. The question It is how long it can work and the calculations point to between one and two hours, but it depends a lot on the way we choose. Because yes, there are many real absurd questions, but others that force us to think and use those resources that we learn in the studies and think that they will not help us from nothing. An example? When I know look for calculate the weight of a huge cube of tungsten Next to a man, a really dense material. The users exposed the density of the metal, the height that man could have, the possible dimension of the cube and calculated the weight. And, at the end of the day, the calculation that all humanity can form a meatball that between Central Park is not worth much, but if you run out of subjects to talk about and You hate awkward silencesIt is definitely a good resource. For now, I’m going to see if my spit question has been resolved in Reddit. Image | Reddit (Kiwi2703) In Xataka | Europe has always seen Japan’s demographic crisis as the future. For Italy it is already the present

The weird event that humanity has witnessed on average, each billion the age of the universe

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Year 2019. In an underground laboratory, A kilometer and a half under the Masso del Gran Sasso in Italya dark matter detector witnessed something extraordinary: the radioactive disintegration of an atom of Xenon-124. It is the slowest process (And therefore, more rare) Never registered. They touched the cosmic lottery. The Xenon-124 has a semi-width of 1.8 × 10²² years. That is 18 followed by 21 zeros: 18,000 trillions of years. To put it into perspective, the universe has “just” about 13.8 billion years, so that the process that Italian scientists could observe in 2019 is a billion times more durable than the universe’s own age, as The researchers described it In Nature magazine. A little context. The “semi -experience” is a statistical measure similar to half -life, but specifically defines the semi -dear period of a radioactive substance. Uranium-238, for example, has a semi-width of 4.5 billion years. In the case at hand, the semi-experience tells us how long it has to pass so that half of a very large group of Xenon-124 atoms disintegrate and become another element, the teluro-124. For an individual atom, its disintegration is a purely random event. A concrete atom could disintegrate in the next second or be stable for a much greater time than its semi -experience. For a group of atoms, the semi -experience is a very reliable prediction of its collective behavior. If you had a container with a large number of Xenon-124 atoms, you would have to wait 18,000 trillions of years for half of the atoms to transform. How did they do it? With a very large container, which contained 3.2 tons of ultra -overthopuro liquid xenon. We refer to Xenon1t experiment of the National Laboratory of Gran Sassoin the center of Italy. A dark matter detector designed for the direct search for hypothetical Massive weak interaction particles (WIMP). The detector was designed with extreme sensitivity and built under a mountain to isolate it from cosmic radiation. But what he captured was not dark matter, but the whisper of an atom of Xenón-124 decomposing; transforming into Teluro-124. The weirdest event ever witnessed. It is not a hyperbole. It really was a milestone of experimental physics that we should not have seen even in a billion lives of the universe. But although the probability that an atom of Xenon-124 disintegrate in a year is practically nil, the detector contained almost 10,000 billion xenon atoms in the two tons of volume that were analyzed. With such an overwhelming amount of “lottery tickets”, the probability that at least one disintegrate during the observation period increased dramatically. During the 177 days of data collection, the team observed not one, but a total of 126 events that could later confirm how the decay of the Xenon-124, a type of radioactive disintegration allowed by the standard model of particle physics, but practically undetectable. What did they see. An atom of Xenón-124 disintegrates when its nucleus simultaneously captures two electrons of the innermost layers. This causes two protons to become neutrons, transforming the atom into Teluro-124. But the energy released is carried by two neutrinos, which escape without being detected. What the Xenon1T photomultipliers detected up to 126 times was the X-ray waterfall and omer electrons that occur when the electrons of the upper layers of the Xenon-124 fall to fill the gaps that have left the two captured electrons. This is the energy firm, the “flash” that betrays the weird event of the universe. Has it served for something? For more than it seems. Although there was no luck with dark matter, the detection showed that Xenon1T can capture an incredibly weak and rare signals, validating its design. But the measurement also provided experimental data to test and improve the theoretical models that describe the structure and stability of atomic nuclei. This observation is a general trial for an even more ambitious goal: the search for double electron catches without neutrinos. If this hypothetical process was detected, it would demonstrate that Neutrinos are their own antiparticles (What is known as Majorana particles). This would explain why the universe is made of matter and not of antimatter. Image | Lngs In Xataka | When no result is a good result: Xenon’s story and the search for dark matter

What will there be when AI ends humanity

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In a mansion with a view to Golden Gate, the elite of artificial intelligence met last Sunday to discuss a disturbing issue: the end of humanity and what will come later. Among glasses (without alcohol) their around 100 attendees, among which there were philosophers, businessmen and researchers, imagined a future in which humans no longer existed, but an intelligence created by us. How should our successor be? The end of the end of the world. The event we have known through This Wired report It was called ‘Worthy Successor’ and aimed to discuss precisely about that: define a “successor to height” for when humanity no longer exists. This idea is related to the creation of a General Artificial Intelligence or AGIfor its acronym in English. A (for the moment) concept of superintelligence that would overcome the human being in all facets of knowledge, so good that, in the words of Daniel Faggella, host of the party: “You would with pleasure that she (not humanity) determines the future path of life itself.” Who attended. The first: Who is this guy and why should we listen to it? Faggella is the founder of Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research, a consulting firm and analysis of AI. In 2016 he wrote in Techcrunch On the risks of AI and is currently focused on disseminating the moral and philosophical approach, specifically the creation of this ‘Worthy Succesor’ an idea that had been hovering for a long time. According to account On LinkedInhas been contacting different relevant personalities of the industry to, two years later, to hold this meeting. At the party three papers could be heard from the hand of Ginevra DavisNew York writer, the philosopher Michael Edward Johnson and the host itself. The complete list of guests has not transcended, but Faggella presumes that founders of AI companies attended with values ​​of up to 5,000 million dollars, people from the laboratories that are investigating to create an AGI and some of the most important philosophers and thinkers in the sector. The superintelligence that will end with everything. In Faggella’s words: “The great laboratories know that AGI will probably end humanity, but do not talk about it because incentives do not allow it.” It sounds like conspiracy theory, but it is not the first to warn of something like that. A decade ago, Bill Gates told us We should fear the AI. Shortly after Musk demanded regulation To mitigate the dangers of what was to come. More recently, different AI experts signed A message that alerted the “risk of extinguishing for AI”. Openai also thought about The risks of the AGI. There is even talk that his statements about the creation of an AGI would have been The reason for the sound dismissal of Altman months later. What’s true in all this. We cannot know for sure, but we do know that most of the arguments about the IMMINENCE OF THE AGI And their risks are based on opinions and speculation, not on empirical evidence or concrete advances. For example, recent research has shown that current systems They still fail in basic reasoning taskswhich contradicts the idea of ​​a short -term superintelligence. Moreover, there are indications that The generative AI could be close to its roof. There is also no consensus among experts. There are detractors who They consider it ridiculousbut of course, it is less ‘viralizable’ than to say that AI will extinguish us. And most importantly: we cannot ignore the fact that those who make these statements are business people Like Altmanand the business is very expensive And you need to finance. Agite the loop insisting on the imminent arrival of the AGI could be a way to raise more money for its companies. What we will leave when we disappear. The central theme of the party was not so much how humanity will be extinguished (it seems that this is taken for granted), but what kind of intelligence we should create to make our successor. Attendees heard presentations that revolved around the values ​​and capabilities that this new superior intelligence should have. For Faggella, humanity has the responsibility of designing a successor that is aware and capable of evolving. The philosopher Michael Edward Johnson highlighted the remains of creating a conscious AI beyond the possible extinction: “We risk enslaving something that can suffer or trust something that cannot be trusted,” he said during his presentation. Rather than forcing AI to obey, he proposed a joint education of humans and Ias to “pursue good”, whatever that is. In short, an interesting debate from the ethical and philosophical point of viewbut with little anchor in reality. At least for the moment. Cover image | Gemini In Xataka | The secret weapon of the fashion industry in China: this startup uses AI to predict the next tendenci

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