hunt

the only tools this expat needs to hunt down Iran’s ghost tankers

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From the 47th floor of his Singapore apartment building, Remy Osman, a British expat who works in the beverage industry, has a front-row seat to one of the world’s biggest geopolitical clashes. Armed with binoculars, a wide-angle camera and live tracking applications, Osman watches as a 333-meter-long supertanker moves at a snail’s pace along one of the busiest shipping routes on the planet. The scene contains a brutal irony: as detailed Financial Timesthat ship’s cargo has almost doubled in value since it set sail just two weeks ago, coinciding with Brent crude oil reached 120 dollars per barrel in the wake of the war between the United States, Israel and Iran. From his balcony, Osman hunts the ships of the so-called “shadow fleet”, sanctioned oil tankers that operate outside the law, but in broad daylight. The ship that caught Osman’s attention is the Hugean 18-year-old oil tanker. According to the sanctions list records of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)it is an Iranian-flagged ship operated by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and heavily monitored since 2018. Although the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz began at the end of February with attacks by the United States and Israel, the Huge It has been one of the few large crude oil cargo ships (VLCC) that managed to get out of that mousetrap. From his privileged vantage point, Osman has identified an unmistakable pattern: the Iranian oil tankers sail towards the east sunken in the water, revealing that they are loaded to the brim, and a week later they return in the opposite direction floating much higher, with their load considerably lighter. The most surprising thing is the nerve with which they operate in the midst of the current crisis. Ships that were previously hidden now display their names and flags as if to say: “We have as much right to navigate these waters as anyone else,” Osman himself said. to the Finance Times. This impunity has reached the point that almost two-thirds of the NITC fleet have started transmitting data accurate in their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) after seven years of manipulation and concealment. Tehran’s lifeline The impact of this ghost fleet parading in front of Osman’s window is titanic. As the world suffers “the largest supply disruption in history” due to the closure of Hormuz, Iran continues to export its crude oilsurpassing the barrier of 2 million barrels per day. The millions of barrels that Osman sees disappearing on the horizon have an overwhelmingly single destination: China. The Asian giant absorbs around 90% of Iran’s oil exports. The data tracked corroborate this massive escapeplacing the “Iran-China” route in first place in dark operations, moving more than 1.6 million barrels per day. While Iran profits, the rest of the planet trembles. With some 20 million barrels a day taken off the formal board due to the physical blockade of Hormuz, the scenario of a barrel at $200 is already a real possibility. The global threat is proportional to the size of this illicit network: according to Fortunethe dark fleet is estimated at about 1,100 vessels, representing between 17% and 18% of all liquid cargo tankers in the world. The machinery to outwit the Western powers is a marvel of evasive engineering that occurs a few kilometers from Osman’s house. As explained Financial Timestankers do not sail directly from Iran to Chinese ports, but instead perform ship-to-ship (Ship-to-Ship) transfers on the high seas. The main scenario for this transfer is the Eastern Outer Port Limits, in Malaysian waters, an area with little supervision. On a single day last January, satellite images confirmed the presence of about 60 of these ships anchored there, operating with total impunity. To achieve this level of invisibility, they exploit legal loopholes in the sea. As detailed Fortune, The international maritime system is based on voluntary compliance: ships simply turn off their radio transponders, spoof their locations, or change their identities by scratching their registration numbers. In addition, they rely on “flags of convenience.” According to the statistics of Tanker TrackersIn addition to Iran and Russia, dark ships often fly flags of countries such as Panama, Cameroon or Sierra Leone. The final link in this chain is found in Asia. The report of Kharon reveals that the final buyers They are not the large state oil companies, but the so-called refineries teapot. These small, independent refiners absorb 90% of Iranian exports and give Beijing “plausible deniability” in the international community, even though these private companies are deeply connected to the Chinese state through joint ventures and front-line networks in Hong Kong. Attempts to stop this illicit transfer have been few and often frustrating. Although Malaysian authorities recently seized crude oil worth almost $130 million from two suspicious tankers, the outcome was laughable: after paying bail of just $75,000, the ships were released. The next day, Osman looked out on his balcony again and there was one of them, the Celebratebrowsing again fully loaded. The paradox in the shadows Still, the war has brought some complications. According to Lloyd’s Listthe escalation of war forced at least six ghost tankers that were sailing empty towards the Persian Gulf to turn around (the so-called U-turns) and abort its operations. But the network is resilient: as experts point out, the shadow fleet is designed precisely to operate under disruption. The great irony is that, while those sanctioned find cracks to navigate, the legal actors are desperate. The blockade has forced Saudi Arabia to use its oil pipeline through the desert against the clock to divert millions of barrels to Yanbuin the Red Sea, where an emergency armada of supertankers is queuing up in an agonizing attempt to evacuate legal crude oil and prevent economic collapse. How to conclude Fortune, The dark fleet did not arise because the maritime system is broken, but because it was always voluntary. Today, sanctions have pushed countries like Iran to build a highly effective parallel system. While the formal world looks for alternative … Read more

Spain went to hunt therians in the parks and there were none. That says more about us than it does about them.

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In recent weeks, social networks and the media have been filled with information, with the usual overtones of alarm, about the phenomenon of therians, people (usually adolescents) who identify as animals. The wave has reached a certain point with the “therian gatherings” of recent days: in Pamplona and other cities, crowds of people showed up in parks and shopping centers to “monitor” concentrations that never occurred. The phenomenon says little about therians and a lot about how we manufacture collective panic in the viral age. First of all: what is a therian. We already explained it in depth in our first approach to the phenomenonbut essentially they are people who claim to suffer from “species dysphoria.” Unlike furries, a therian does not wear an anthropomorphic animal costume, but instead identifies psychologically or spiritually as a non-human animal. There is no scientific basis – as there would be for gender dysphoria – but there are clear links between how this group is being formed and how other subcultures and urban tribes were generated, often born from pop fandom and which today have millions of followers. Crazy Therian meetings. What we have seen are several supposed therian gatherings that were called off on the fly or were outright false, but were attended by hundreds of curious people. The most popular case was that of Friday, February 20 in the Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona, ​​from Therian hangout rumors on TikTok, Instagram and Telegram. Not a single person characterized as an animal appeared at the place, but when people started talking about it The therians could be in the Plaza de Merindadeshundreds of people moved on foot to that area, collapsing traffic on roads such as Avenida de las Cortes de Navarra. Menacing tints. Although there were no outbreaks of violence in Pamplona, ​​there were in other areas of the country. In Córdoba, a collective TikTok account called CloeMastim He called a meeting for February 27 in Miraflores Park. The publication accumulated about 2,000 interactions between comments and shares before organizers canceled it due to a barrage of death threats. In Lugo, the meeting scheduled for Praza Viana do Castelo was suspended after receiving messages such as “we are going to rip off your skins” and “I am going to go hunting.” In Barcelona, ​​the concentration did take place and about 3,000 people gathered in the surroundings of the Arc de Triomf; The meeting ended with five arrests and the intervention of the Urban Police and the Mossos d’Esquadra. These violent traits are well known to the therians themselves: a member of the community denounced that “sometimes they create fake accounts in which people posing as Therian propose to make meetings to attract people and go attack them.” That is to say, some of the calls that caused alarm did not even come from real therians. When did it become massive? Therians have existed for decades on internet forums, invisible to the general public. The change in scale occurred between 2020 and 2021, when the TikTok algorithm began to amplify videos of young people performing shifts either quadrobics (movements that imitate the locomotion of quadrupeds) with masks and accessories that evoke their animal identification. TikTok’s short format flattens any identity until it becomes aesthetic: what for some is a question of identity, for the majority of spectators is an extravagant costume or choreography. The same old story. The cycle is the same that we have seen in other cases of social panics and that has been amply studied in its forms of spread: media that had never written about therians published emergency pieces, many of them bringing up the possible “contagion” of these behaviors and putting the issue of mental health on the table with not exactly didactic intentions; television talk shows debated the phenomenon with the same tone with which decades before sects were discussed. And in several cities, groups of adults turned out en masse to “watch“non-existent concentrations. We recommend reading the 1972 book ‘Popular Demons and Moral Panics’ by Stanley Cohen, which already described precisely what we have seen in recent days, in five phases: a group or behavior is identified as a threat to social values; the media portrays it in simple and symbolic terms; public alarm grows; the authorities respond to the climate of concern; and finally, the panic dissipates, but the stereotypes remain. And of course, the group mentioned belongs to groups in a marginal position, before the panic chose them as a focus. Of course, Cohen was talking about an inflammation process that lasted weeks and now, with social networks, it happens in hours. The anti-trans side. There is a phrase that appeared in dozens of comments during the days of the Spanish therian fever of February 2026: “If you can perceive yourself as a cat, why not as a washing machine?” It is not an original occurrence but, as documented by sociologist Andrés Kogan Valderramaa slogan with a route, systematically used in different Spanish-speaking countries (do you remember that thing about combat helicopter?) to link therian identity with trans rights and present both as equally absurd. Because the threats that the Therian profiles received have the same rhetoric as that raised against the LGTBI community. In Latin Americawidely distributed far-right media present a template that was transferred unchanged to Spain: first, pathologization of the therian collective as “mental disorder” or “identitarian delusion.” Then, direct association with the “woke agenda” and gender identities. Finally, a threat that demands moral restoration. Feminism, sexual education and trans rights have passed through there. As stated the newspaper ‘Ara’the aggressors who went to “watch” the therians in parks and squares will, in all probability, be the same ones who tomorrow will find another group to point out. In Xataka | What are urban tribes and how have they evolved until today?

hunt down Russia’s most ruthless group without a single shot

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Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has been a succession of adaptations forced, where each side has had to learn faster than the other to survive. What began as a bet on speed and political collapse led to a long conflicttechnical and increasingly ruthless, one in which the rules have changed as many times as the weapons on the field. From wear to operational calculation. After almost four years of war, Ukraine has begun to accept that inflicting massive casualties like explained recently A minister, by himself, does not change the logic of the conflict. Russia has shown that it can absorb huge losses without modifying its strategy, while using drones and deep strikes to erode the Ukrainian rear, cut off supplies and psychologically break the troops holding the front. This context has forced a rethinking from kyiv: the battlefield is no longer decided only on the line of contact, but in what happens dozens of kilometers behind, where commanders, drone operators and logistics routes support the Russian advance in slow motion. The war of the rearguard. In open regions like Zaporizhzhia, the difference between resisting and giving ground comes down to the ability to deny the enemy freedom of movement in the rear. Russia has converted medium-range drones in your key weaponattacking Ukrainian roads, convoys and equipment before they even enter combat. Ukraine, on the other hand, has depended for too long of death zones close to the front, betting on annihilating Russian infantry when it is too late to stop the general pressure. More and more Ukrainian commanders assume that, if it is not hit before to the system that fuels the assaults, war becomes a race of attrition impossible to win. The window of opportunity. This change of mentality coincides with a series of blows that have disorganized the Russian army. Disconnection of terminals key communications and internal decisions that have limited its own coordination channels have created a temporary vacuum in enemy command and control. Ukraine has read that weakness not as an occasion to launch local attacks, but as a strategic opportunity rare: for the first time in months, a large Russian formation appears exposed, dependent on fragile lines of communication and struggling to coordinate its defense in depth. And not just any one. The hunt for an army, not adding corpses. The plan that begins to take shape It goes far beyond “kill more or how many more.” The objective now is to encircle, isolate and destroy a specific and hitherto implacable formation of the Russian army, depriving it of reinforcements, ammunition and effective command until it becomes a a burden for Moscow instead of an offensive instrument. Where? In the southeast of Ukraine, where movements indicate that kyiv tries to wrap to the 36th Russian Navybut not through a great armored advance, but with a constant pressure on their flanks, selective attacks on key nodes and a systematic denial of their rear. In other words, it is not a spectacular offensive, because the least important thing is the shots, but rather a prolonged and methodical hunt. A risky but necessary position. There is no doubt, the shift involves risks more than obvious: for example, it demands more intelligence, more medium-range drones and even complex coordination at a time when Ukraine remains very limited by resources and irregular external support. But it also reflects a harsh and realistic conclusion: as long as Russia can rotate units and replenish men, the casualty accounting does not decide the war. Only the destruction of formations entire, unable to withdraw or reorganize, may alter the operational balance and, with it, Ukraine’s position both on the front and in any future negotiations. In that sense, what is underway is not just another offensive, but an attempt to change the rules of the game on the ground. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | An unprecedented experiment is happening in Ukraine: bombs have turned dogs into other animals In Xataka | Europe has been wondering for years “what Russia will do when the war in Ukraine is over.” The answers are not optimistic

Using facial recognition to hunt for copycats seemed like a good idea. This Valencian university has just discovered that it was not

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Educational centers that decide to do online exams face a challenge: without being able to monitor students in person, how do you ensure that they do not copy? A Valencian university found the solution with a sophisticated video surveillance and facial recognition system. Well, the joke has paid off. Resolution. In the summer of last year, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) filed a complaint against the International University of Valencia o VIU for the use of facial recognition and recording to conduct online exams. As reported in À Puntthe resolution has already arrived and the VIU is going to have to pay 650,000 euros The system. In the VIU evaluation regulationsit is detailed that a “facial recognition technology system” will be used in the online tests. This system consists of the use of two cameras (which the student must provide), one to monitor the student and another for the environment, ensuring that there are no other people in the same room. The software is constantly capturing and analyzing images in real time to verify the student’s identity through AI. At the same time, the program is responsible for controlling the screen and even the devices connected to the computer with which the test is carried out. Two fines. The 650,000 euros are actually the sum of two fines. The first, of 300,000 euros, is for having failed to comply with the article 9 of the GDPR which prohibits the processing of biometric data with few exceptions. The second, which amounts to 350,000 euros, is due to a breach of the article 5.1c of the GDPRwhich maintains that personal data must be “adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary.” The AEPD considers the use of facial recognition for this purpose to be disproportionate. Consent discarded. One of the exceptions to article 9 of the GDPR and which the VIU tried to rely on is that “the interested party gave explicit consent.” It is true that the students had agreed to use this control system, the problem is that they were not given any alternative: either they accepted, or they did not take the exam. The AEPD does not “consider the mandatory acceptance of general conditions upon registration to be valid consent”, which is why it rules it out in its resolution. The VIU also tried to take refuge in the “essential public interest”, another of the exceptions of article 9, but the AEPD has rejected it because there is no specific law for the processing of biometric data in the educational context. The university invoked the university law that says that universities must verify that students have acquired a series of knowledge, but the AEPD has also rejected it as insufficient. Wow, we have to pay. It’s not just the VIU. There is other universities such as the European University, Isabel I, La Rioja or Burgos that also use similar systems that combine cameras and facial recognition. During the pandemic there was no choice but to opt for online training and this prompted the appearance of video surveillance systems in exams, which raised the eyebrows of the AEPDwhich in 2021 already warned that biometrics could not be used to monitor exams. This resolution is the first that imposes a large fine, so it is assumed that universities will make changes if they do not want to go to the cashier’s office. Open door. The AEPD does not close the door to the use of biometrics as fraud prevention in the educational field, including AI systems. However, he points out that according to the European Union AI Regulationbiometric data is considered high risk, which does not prohibit its use, but does not give express permission to use it in this context. In Xataka | I’ll take the exam online for €20: the new student situation is an open bar for cheating Images | VIU, Pexels

The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones

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In the crystal clear waters of Southeast Asia, where the Strait of Malacca meets the South China Sea, a war is being fought that does not appear in conventional military reports. There are no trenches, but there are rusty helmets that turn off their GPS signal to disappear from international radars. This is the kingdom of the “ghost fleet”, an ecosystem of lawless ships that, according to the latest researchhas found its safe harbor in Malaysia, doubling its activity in just twelve months. However, the time for impunity appears to be running out: from the use of artificial intelligence to the deployment of naval drones, technology is beginning to illuminate the darkest corners of the ocean. The black market boom. The situation on the east coast of Malaysia has ceased to be an open secret and has become a global security problem. According to the specialized media Seatrade Maritime“ship-to-ship” (STS) oil transfers have recently doubled, going from just seven weekly operations to peaks of fifteen in just one year. This increase responds to an infrastructure designed to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia, Iran and Venezuela, using Malaysian waters as a gigantic clandestine service station before the crude oil continues on its way, mainly to China. Analyst Charlie Brown, of the organization UANIhas managed to capture a disturbing reality through satellite images and direct photos. In mid-January 2026, some 60 vessels linked to Iranian oil and another 30 with Russian and Venezuelan cargoes were waiting at anchor in Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. These ships not only operate outside the law, but they do so under deplorable technical conditions. Images distributed by UANI show tankers with false names broadbrushed on their hulls and flags of convenience hidden under tarps to deceive authorities. The metamorphosis of the threat. What began as a purely economic strategy to keep Moscow’s revenue flowing has mutated into something far more dangerous for European security. As the chronicles of my colleague Miguel Jorge relate in XatakaRussia has converted part of this fleet into covert hybrid warfare platforms. It’s not just about moving barrels; Now these ships incorporate “technicians” who, under a civilian guise, are usually special forces veterans or mercenaries linked to the Wagner group. These agents wield authority that often exceeds that of the ship’s captain and have been accused of photographing military installations and monitoring underwater cables in EU and NATO waters. An example of this tension was experienced with the oil tanker Boracaywhich after embarking Russian technicians in the Baltic, was intercepted by the French navy off Brittany after suspicious drones were detected flying over critical infrastructure in Copenhagen. The ghost fleet is today, in essence, an extension of the Kremlin’s security apparatus sailing with impunity under the flags of countries like Gabon or Gambia. A new fragmented energy order. From the academic level, the Elcano Royal Institute’s analysis highlights that this phenomenon is the symptom of a “deglobalization” of the gas and oil market. In your reportresearcher Gonzalo Escribano explains that international value chains, previously based on efficiency and transparency, are being replaced by “geoeconometrically armored” circuits. Europe finds itself at a crossroads: although it seeks to disassociate itself from Russian energy, the persistence of these black markets complicates strategic autonomy. This fragmentation has even reached the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) market. According to Bloombergsanctioned Russian gas transfers have been documented in Malaysian waters, a technically much more complex operation than crude oil. The ship Pearlmanaged by an opaque company based in a Dubai hotel, is the face of this new network that desperately seeks buyers in Asia for the gas that Europe no longer wants. The technological response: AI and drones to the rescue. Faced with a fleet that “turns off” the real world by hacking GPS signals (spoofing) and the shutdown of transponders, the response is being purely technological. The middle CNBC highlights thatof the ships loaded with Iranian crude in 2025, 96% made dark transfers and 77% falsified their location. To combat this “blackout”, Ukraine has shown the way with an innovation that has made conventional fleets obsolete: the use of artificial intelligence in naval drones. The drones Be Baby have multiplied its capabilities thanks to AI, allowing precision attacks from thousands of kilometers away. In a recent operation near the Turkish coast, these drones hit Russian ghost fleet tankers, specifically targeting their rudders and propulsion systems. The objective is not to sink them, which would cause an ecological disaster of catastrophic dimensions, but to render them useless and turn them into an unbearable economic burden for those who operate them. This “precision offensive” is forcing insurers and shipping companies to reconsider the risk of collaborating with Moscow, raising the costs of war for the Kremlin. The dilemma of safety and the environment. The proliferation of elderly ships, without liability insurance and with dubious maintenance, is an environmental time bomb. Lars Barstad, CEO of the operator Frontline, warned in the Financial Times that organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) appear to be “sleeping at the wheel”. Barstad notes that it is only a matter of time before a major disaster occurs, as these ships operate outside of any regulatory framework. Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure increases. The US has begun a campaign of aggressive seizures, such as that of the ship Sailor (before Bella 1), which was boarded by the US Coast Guard in North Atlantic waters after a chase from the Caribbean. This “gunboat diplomacy” of the 21st century, analyzed by the Atlantic Councilposes immense legal challenges: once a steel giant full of crude oil is seized, the maintenance and storage costs are astronomical. The end of the shadow. The current geopolitical dashboard report shows that Malaysia, Spain or the waters of the Caribbean are just scenes of a larger battle for visibility. The ghost fleet survives in the shadow of legal ambiguity, but the advance of artificial intelligence and constant satellite monitoring are tightening the fence. As the analysis concludes from my partnerthis is not a frontal … Read more

China studied the secret of falcons to hunt their prey. Now your drones only need 5 seconds against their targets

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Throughout history, armies have always observed nature to learn to hunt, defend themselves and coordinate better, from way to attack in group to the selection of the weakest enemy. Today, that old military tradition makes sense again in a radically different context, one marked by algorithmsautonomous machines and a new technological race that is reminiscent of other great military leaps of the past. AI as the axis of combat. In this scenario it appears China, which is systematically promoting the use of artificial intelligence in the military sphere, especially in swarms of drones and autonomous systems capable of operating with little or almost no no human intervention. counted the wall street journal this week that they are in possession of patents, academic papers and procurement documents showing that the People’s Liberation Army sees future warfare as an environment dominated by algorithms, where swarms replace individual platforms and the mass of cheap systems can overwhelm defenses, attack targets and resist electronic warfare. The Ukrainian experience reinforces this vision by demonstrating that drones are already decisive and that autonomy becomes increasingly valuable when human control degrades. Learn about animals. To solve how to coordinate swarms in real time, Chinese researchers are modeling algorithms inspired in animal behavior. For example, in an experiment developed at Beihang University, defensive drones trained as “hawks” They learned to identify and destroy the most vulnerable targets, while attacking drones imitated “pigeons” to avoid threats. In a five-on-five simulation, the defenders They eliminated all the attackers in just 5.3 seconds. Beyond the success of the results, the interest was in the method: adapt hunting, escape and animal cooperation rules to realistic combat scenarios, where drones fly, maneuver and make decisions under pressure. Mass production. The Chinese bet combines these algorithmic advances with a clear industrial advantage: factories capable of producing hundreds of thousands or millions of cheap drones per year. This allows us to think of swarms as a main weapon and not as a complement, something much more difficult for, for example, the United States, which produce fewer drones and at a much higher cost. Systems such as mobile launchers of dozens of drones, mother models capable of releasing swarms in flight or even “robot wolves” Armed forces show a doctrine oriented towards coordinated quantity, not individual technological excellence. Centralized control. The appeal of autonomy also reflects a structural distrust in the capabilities of Chinese middle managers, a recognized problem for years by the political and military leadership itself. The swarms controlled by algorithms They fit better with a centralized command culture, where decisions are designed from the top and executed without improvisation. For Beijing, AI offers a way to compensate for the lack of real combat experience and reduce reliance on human commanders in chaotic situations. One soldier, 200 drones. Added to this line of development is the massive deployment capacity that the People’s Liberation Army has begun to publicly display, with tests in which a single operator is capable of supervising swarms of more than 200 drones released in a very short time. In images and data released According to Chinese state television, the drones, trained through simulations and real flights, are capable of flying in precise formations, dividing reconnaissance, distraction and attack tasks, and changing functions on the fly thanks to autonomous algorithms that allow them “negotiate” among themselves without constant human orders. The implicit message is clear: China is not only investigating how to make swarms more intelligent, but how to put them in the air on a large scale with very few personnel, a force multiplier that reinforces its commitment to coordinated quantity as a central feature of its future doctrine. In the background, Taiwan. Of course, the approach is not without risks: Systems can fail under real conditions, be neutralized by countermeasures or, at the opposite extreme, make lethal decisions that are difficult to explain or control. Even so, the WSJ reported that the documents and analysis suggest that one of the most likely scenarios for the use of those chinese swarms It would be a conflict around Taiwan, where they could be used to saturate air defenses, locate targets and facilitate subsequent attacks. The result is a dangerous race, in which China seems to advance rapidly despite the uncertainties, bringing closer a type of war that until recently seemed pure science fiction. Image | USFWS Mountain-Prairie日本防衛省・統合幕僚監部 In Xataka | China’s new futuristic drone is already flying alongside the J-20 fighters. And Beijing has shown it without saying a word In Xataka | China has just crossed the same red line as Russia: for the first time, a military drone has invaded Taiwan’s airspace

Russia has shown on video how to hunt drones with shotguns. And he has also revealed what he did not want us to see

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During the years of Russian invasion of Ukraine we had seen many tactics that copied techniques and weapons from the past. For example, the use of the Davis cannon of the First World War, or the application of anchored shotguns on airplane wings. In fact, the use of shotguns and rifles from the last century has become a normalized scenario over the months due to the lack of modern artillery. Russia has now shown in a video how to hunt drones. Although he has also inadvertently revealed another detail. Shotguns in the front. The silent battle that is fought every day between Russian boats and swarms of FPV drones in the Dnieper has revealed now one of the most unexpected tactical turns of the war: the resurrection of the shotgun as a survival tool on a battlefield dominated by sensors, radio waves and munitions costing just a few hundred dollars. The viral sequence recorded from the helmet of a Russian marine, it offers a deceptively heroic portrait of a crew sailing at full speed through narrow channels while shooting down drone after drone (up to 13), although the meticulous analysis of each fragment shows that the initial epic falls apart as soon as the details are examined and what is behind it is understood: a fragmented combat, recorded on different days, in which the probable casualties are left out of the shot and where the electronics have as much weight as the shots. The mirage of the mission. They counted it analysts at Forbes. What seems like a single continuous episode in reality It’s a montage of multiple confrontations, where the sky changes color between shots and where the marines shoot at both real threats and invisible threats, lost among interference and gusts of wind. The barge sails while three shooters with semi-automatic shotguns, an automatic rifle and a light machine gun try to keep at bay drones that explode at the slightest contact. Thirteen devices fall, but the editing hides both the failures and the side effects. Two explosions centimeters from the hull leave doubts about possible injuries that are never shown, while a revealing detail (a Marine who already has a tourniquet placed preventively on his thigh) speaks of very specific expectations: the probability of being hit is not a hypothesis, but an assumed fact. Elite unit supported by electronic warfare. Forehead to the ‘Mobiks’ sent to slaughter with weeks of instruction and precarious material, this unit stands out for modern equipmentfor the shooting discipline and for the hidden arsenal that really explains part of their survival: a antenna constellation electronic warfare mounted on the boat. These inhibitors, with a range of between 50 and 100 meters, turn many drones into uncontrolled projectiles that fall by pure gravity. The shotgun just finish what electronics has already weakened. In an environment where FPV munitions explode even when the operator loses signal, the difference between living or dying depends not solely on aiming, but on the ability to blind the drone before it gets too close. That is why the shots show drones collapsing far from the effective range of the shooters: they did not fall due to an accurate shot, but due to interference. The limits of the shotgun. That a shotgun can take down an FPV at close range is so true as misleading. The scene has fueled a narrative of false confidence that the soldiers themselves deny off camera. There are testimonies of teams that five drones were shot down followed to fall before the sixth when they ran out of ammunition, or patrols that aimed and fired until the last cartridge before a device entered through the window and destroy the vehicle. If you like, the arms industry has also adapted: Benelli already produces models specific “anti-drone”equipped with tungsten ammunition, and foreign donors have sent hundreds of semi-automatic shotguns to Ukrainian units. But the tactical principle does not change: a shotgun does not compete with the mass production of drones. It is a desperate tool to gain seconds in an environment where each drone costs less than a box of ammunition and where both armies manufacture them by the millions. Desperate defense. He video ends with the boat rescuing another group of marines: one is wounded, others advance with two weapons in their hands, and the scene, far from glorifying the resistance, underlines the true tactical message. The shotgun works, yes, but only when the number of drones is small, when the shooters are trained, or when there are active inhibitors and when luck is on the side. The complete story, the one that never goes viral, remembers that for every boat that returns, another does not. In the Dnieper War, the shotgun is not a weapon of air supremacy: it is the final spark that is fired when all else has failed, a defense of last resort against a swarm cheap and numerous which is redesigning the way armies move, attack and survive. A shotgun may give you time, but in an FPV-saturated front, that time may not be enough. Image | RUSSIAN MOD In Xataka | Ukraine has just reduced what took days to two minutes. And then he began to crush the most feared Russian weapon: his kamikazes In Xataka | The new peace plan in Ukraine has been reduced to 19 aspects. The problem is that the key point measures 900 km

In Ukraine, the difficult thing is not to replace a drone, but its pilot. So Russia has started the hunt with something unprecedented: Rubikon

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For two years, Ukrainian drone operators had managed to maintain a decisive tactical advantage: the ability to detect, harass and destroy Russian positions with an agility that Moscow could not match. Pilots worked in small teams, in makeshift basements or camouflaged trenches, piloting from a distance FPV that turned the front into a transparent space where the enemy could rarely move unobserved. All that has changed with an appearance. The dark turn. Yes, that domain has been abruptly broken with the appearance Rubikona Russian unit created to track, locate and eliminate not so much drones as to those who operate them. The testimony in the financial times by Dmytro, a Ukrainian pilot and former rapper, summarizes this change of era: he went from being a hunter to being hunted in seconds when a Russian drone detected him on a reckless walk. That moment, which two years ago would have been exceptional, has become part of the daily routine on a front where the survival of the operator has become a strategic objective for Russia and a critical weak point for Ukraine. The result is a complete investment of roles: Innovators, previously almost untouchable, are now a priority target. Rubikon structure and ambition. This Russian elite corps is not simply a drone unit, but an organization of about 5,000 troops endowed with ample financial resources, tactical autonomy and a defined mission: deny Ukraine the ability to operate its drone network. Unlike the heavily bureaucratic operation that characterized the Russian army in the early stages of the war, this unit acts with speed, initiative and an approach more reminiscent of the Ukrainian groups it seeks to destroy. Their main task is not to attack the infantry on the front line, but penetrate behind the frontup to 10 kilometers in depth, to destroy logistics vehicles, ground robots and, above all, locate the operators who control the Ukrainian defensive swarms. Emblem of the elite Russian unit And much more. For Russian and Western experts, Rubikon functions as a development center of unmanned systems: trains other units, analyzes tactics, refines procedures and continually adapts its way of operating. Each technical or doctrinal improvement that emerges from Rubikon ends up radiating to the rest of the Russian army, which explains why the Ukrainians detect unexpected qualitative leaps in the performance of enemy drones. This ability fast learning It is one of the most disturbing elements, because it allows Russia to correct in months the technological gap that Ukraine built for years. The new invisible dimension. The combat is no longer limited to the visible sky, but is fought in a domain more abstract and lethal: the electromagnetic spectrum. Both Ukraine and Russia deploy electronic intelligence stations, signal guidance equipment and jamming systems capable of defeating, jamming or even hijacking adversary drones. This rivalry makes any radio broadcast a potential risk. Operators, no matter how hidden, need clear lines of sight, elevated antennas, and transmitters relatively close to the front, factors that Rubicon systematically explodes. Their teams track antennas on hills, thermal shadows in forests and emissions that reveal the presence of a pilot a few kilometers away. Andrey Belousov inspecting the Rubikon unit The signs. The inhibitorsdespite their usefulness, generate visible electrical signatures that can attract attacks. And in the midst of these maneuvers, both sides resort to signal hacking video to observe enemy cameras or locate the exact source of a remote control. Expert Tom Withington resume this complexity with a precise image: it is a game of cat and mouse where physics dictates the rules, and where each action leaves a trace that the opponent can exploit. Pressure on the pilots. Plus: unlike the Russians, Ukraine lacks the necessary troops to maintain continuous shiftswhich creates physical and psychological exhaustion that becomes as dangerous as the enemy itself. Zoommer, a Ukrainian soldier from a small drone unit, explained in the Times that Rubikon can operate without breaks because it has enough staff to rotate every few hours, while they must remain alert almost all day. The arrival of this unit to Pokrovsk area (a city that has been in a desperate defensive struggle for a year) has transformed life on the front, going from manageable days to a constant tension in which any movement can mean death. Before, says Zoommer.the area was almost “a vacation”, now it is an invisible hell where every antenna, every fleeting signal and every movement outside the trench can be a fatal mistake. This pressure has forced the Ukrainians to change routines, camouflage positions with extreme care, hide transmitters, disperse equipment and create anti-drone cells that act as a defensive mirror of Russia’s own tactics. The loss of transparency. Drones had provided Ukraine with a crucial tool: the ability to see and hit farther and faster, giving its defenders situational transparency that compensated for numerical inferiority. According to the RUSI analysisup to 80% of current casualties are attributed to drone operations, underscoring their central role in a war in which artillery and infantry depend on these mechanical eyes. What’s happening? Than Rubikon and the like have eroded that advantage in forcing Ukraine to reallocate resources from offensive missions to the protection of its own operators. The result is that, while Russia advances at an increasing pace, Ukraine devotes more efforts to stopping than hitting, losing the initiative at a critical moment in the conflict. Moscow has quickly absorbed the enemy’s lessons and turned them into doctrine, a process that would normally take years and that here has been compressed into months, tipping the balance on an increasingly dynamic front. Psychological warfare. The latest analysis show that the front is no longer defined only by the technology deployed, but by psychological pressure endured by Ukrainian operators and by the transformation of the Russian army towards a more agile structure, represented in Rubikon. The pilots, who have become priority objectives, live under constant tension that forces them to minimize any movement and operate with the permanent feeling of being watched, because … Read more

A university used an AI to hunt down students who used AI. The result was a predictable disaster

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What has happened? They count in Futurism that in 2024, the Australian Catholic University accused about 6,000 students of academic misconduct. At least 90% of cases were related to the use of AI for cheating. What is striking is that the university itself used an AI to issue these accusations, many of which were erroneous. Why it is important. It is one more example that AI is not yet reliable. We see it constantly with wrong results and hallucinations. The Australian university is not the only one that has relied on AI to accuse its students, it is a practice quite common and there have been others similar cases. The reality is that AI text detectors are also AI and, at least for now, They are imperfect. Turnitin. It is a plagiarism detection software whose first version was released in 1997 and is widely used in universities and educational centers. In 2023 he added a tool to detect texts created with AI and it is the one they used at the Australian Catholic University. The company itself says in its usage guide that the AI ​​detector is not always accurate and should not be used as the sole source when accusing a student. However, according to ABC Australiathe university used it as the only evidence when issuing his records for misconduct. The university version. Allegations regarding AI use included AI-generated works, fabricated references (hallucinations), and the use of AI tools to cite and translate content. The university says at least a quarter of all allegations were dropped after an investigation. They also rejected those in which the only proof was the AI ​​itself and in March of this year they stopped using that software. The dilemma. The emergence of AI tools poses challenges in the educational sector. Hay voices that advocate its banwhile others They defend integration and encourage good practices. UNESCO published a guide to the use of generative AI in education in which they establish rules and obligations, such as privacy protection, age limits and an approach that guarantees ethical and safe use of these tools. Image | Turnitin In Xataka | A teacher corrected a final exam done with ChatGPT, but another AI evaluated it differently and exposed the dilemma

The F-47 will not only be the most advanced hunt in the US. The filtration of his badge has revealed which country aims

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Last March was the closest thing to winning the lottery in the Boeing headquarters. After spending tremendously complicated years, the United States gave him air with the contract contract: The future F-47aspiring to replace F-22 and overcome it in everything to become the New armed arm of the nation. Several months have passed since then, and now the badge that will accompany the standard of American combat fighters has been leaked. There are not many doubts about the enemy. An emblem under construction. The Network appearance of a patch with the Registration “F-47 SMO” and the central figure of a phoenix has revived speculation around the program of the sixth American generation hunting. The Air Force confirmed That the design was prepared within the F-47 system management office, although it has not yet been formalized and is in the development phase, that is, the final design may undergo some change. The patch includes several recurring elements of the military heraldry (golden deltas, red stars, books in Latin), but also, and perhaps the “nuclear”, more enigmatic symbols, such as silhouette From the Chinese oriental coastthat suggest the strategic orientation of the project towards an eventual confrontation with Beijing in the Pacific. The motto “SUPERAMUS PERSAMUS LETAMUS” (“We defeat, persevere, rejoice”), inherited from previous initiatives of the NGAD programreinforces the idea of ​​continuity of an effort that was close to canceling and that, like the mythical bird, seems to resurface from its ashes. Program symbol. The central reason for the phoenix, or Firebird, is especially significant in the trajectory of F-47. Before administration Trump will rescue himthe NGAD was about to be sacrificed to other budgetary priorities. Hence, the metaphor of the Renaissance charges strength: an immortal project that, despite political doubts, resurfaces with renewed vigor to become the pillar of US air superiority in the coming decades. The reference to the phoenix also evokes the duality of the “Firebird” Eslavacapable of being blessing or cursewhich reflects the enormous technological and financial commitment that the program implies. Although unlikely as an official name, the nickname could be popular in the same way as The A-10 It is known as “Warthog” and not for its formal denomination, Thunderbolt II. Cryptic details Beyond the phoenix, the patch accumulates symbols with open interpretations. The three yellow deltas remember the used In previous badges of the Agile Development Office, linked to the NGAD since 2019, and could refer to the competition between Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, from which it finally emerged Boeing winner. The six red stars Evoke to the Test Center Groom Lake ultrasecreto, known as area 51where NGAD prototypes were tested. With fewer doubts that white silhouette appears, with the profile of the Chinese coast, and which fits with the role assigned to F-47 as a spearhead to penetrate the EPL anti-aircraft systems in an eventual conflict. The acronym “FBC”, without official explanation, adds one more degree of mystery to the whole. History and nomenclature. The number 47 pays tribute to both the legendary P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II as a year of Foundation of the Air Force in 1947, in addition to coinciding with the presidential numbering of Trump, decisive in the relaunch of the program. The history of US military aviation offers precedents in which unofficial names surpassed the formal: the A-10, officially Thunderbolt II, is universally known as Warthog. Perhaps for this reason, in the future, the F-47 could maintain the Thunderbolt tradition, released after the withdrawal of the A-10, or adopt an alternative nickname like Phoenix, although the denomination is already reserved for Another navy plane. Projections and context. The F-47 will be the nucleus of the United States air projection capacity on the horizon of mid-century, conceived not only as a combat plane, but as part of A system system which will include accompanying drones and emerging technologies. Boeing already works on the first specimens, with an inaugural flight planned for 2028although the entry into operational service remains uncertain. Your essential mission will be drilling The denial bubbles of area (A2/AD) of the adversary and ensure the air advantage in high intensity scenarios in front of China. The aesthetics of the patch, which, as we said, is still provisional and can undergo changes, therefore works as a symbolic window to the “nuclear” mission and the narrative that the Air Force wants to build around its most ambitious air project since The F-22. Image | USAF/RAMA World, inc. In Xataka | Boeing came from difficult years. The US has just given air with the contract that can mark his return: that of the new F-47 In Xataka | Boeing F-47 images reveal that it will not be as “furtive” as expected. But it has something more suggestive: Canards

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