ice

30 years ago a young Chinese man set up an ice cream stand. Now he leads an emporium with more stores than McDonald’s

by

It’s hard to believe in a world dominated by big brands and multinationals, but there is a hospitality chain with more stores than McDonald’s and Starbucks that you’ve probably never heard of. His name is Mixue (Mìxuě Bīngchéng) was founded in the late 90s by a university student from Zhenghou, China, and today it is considered the largest food and beverage chain in the world. This is how it is recognized, for example, by the magazine TIMEwhich has included it in your listing of the 100 most influential companies of 2025. It is estimated that it has more than 46,000 stores spread throughout Asia, Australia, the Middle East and South America, a vast network of stores offering a menu based on ice creams, smoothies, coffees, traditional teas and bubble teas. Bigger than McDonald’s? Yes, if we talk about the number of establishments. The benefits already they are something else. While McDonald’s boasts of having more than 43,000 restaurants spread across more than a hundred countries and Starbucks managed 40,576 stores At the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, Mixue surpasses (and quite comfortably) both figures. A few months ago the magazine TIME assured that the chain has more than 45,000 spread mainly throughout mainland China, although it also operates in other regions. Do you have so many stores? Yeah. Fortune calculate which exceeds 46,000 points of sale throughout Asia, Austria, the Middle East and South America. Other sources speak of more storesraising the total network to 53,000 points selling. Beyond these dancing numbers, one thing is clear: Mixue is normally considered the food and beverage chain with a greater deployment of establishments in the world. In addition, its branch network continues to expand to good If in the West its brand is less known to us than McDonald’s or Starbucks, it is because (despite the international jump that has given in recent years) most of the Mixue stores they remain focused in China. The firm also has another handicap that helps understand its global expansion: while in the case of Starbucks more than 50% of the stores are in the hands of the company itself, in Mixue practically all They operate through franchises. What is your story? Mixue’s is the typical story of improvement and accelerated growth that gives shine to the classes of coaching business. The father of the company is Zhang Hongchao, who laid its foundation almost 30 years ago from scratch. Your story starts in 1997in Zhengzhou, when Zhang, then a university student, managed to get his grandmother to lend him 3,000 yuan ($420) to set up a small slushie and soft drink stand. Despite the challenges that were encountered along the way (and some other business failure), Zhang moved forward, managed to adapt to the changes in Zhenghou, reinvested in machinery and found the key to creating a million-dollar business. Sam Tang account that his first success came in 2006, when he launched ice creams for one yuan. In 2014, its brand already had 1,000 stores. In 2020 there were 10,000. And how has it succeeded? The big question. Mixue’s business model has several clear characteristics. The first, its commercial approach. The chain basically sells ice cream. soft servesmoothies, tea drinks and bubble teasalthough in your menu coffee and Fortune assures which in the future plans to expand its offering with beer. The other great features of your menu are the affordable priceswith ice creams for less than one euro. Other peculiarities of the company are its commitment to dominate the supply chainits commitment to a clearly identifiable brand thanks to symbols such as its mascot (Snow King) and, above all, an expansion through franchises. In a report from a few months ago the company itself recognizes that almost all of its stores (99%) are opened and operate through franchises. Mixue is responsible for supervising businesses, choosing locations, decoration and assessing the capacity of the staff. For her, the business is not so much in the fee that those stores then pay as in the equipment, merchandise and packaging that she sells to them. And the future? It doesn’t look bad. In spring the company went public in Hong Kong and managed to raise nearly 450 million of dollars, starring in one of its best premieres of the first half of 2025. The company seems willing also to get into the powerful (and disputed) US market. According to precise Fortuneduring the first half of the year the company reached a revenue volume of 2,000 million dollars (40% more than in 2024) with profits of 370 million. Despite its humble origins, its founder and his brother now manage a fortune of billions of dollars. Images | Choo Yut Shing (Flickr) 1 and 2 and Jeremy Thompson (Flickr) In Xataka | One of the biggest wine critics is French and has toured China. There is no good news for French wine

China aims to break records with the largest ice park in the world. And he has already begun to lift it block by block

by

At the end of November, in Harbin, the image is repeated every winter, with a scale that has not stopped growing in recent editions: cranes, machinery and workers begin to raise structures on a surface that weeks later will become walls, towers and slides made of ice. According to official dataconstruction is advanced this year thanks to the ice stored during the previous season and preserved for more than ten months. This material allows work to begin even before the river freezes completely again, with the aim of preparing an area that this winter will have 1.2 million square meters. Harbin Ice-Snow World It has grown from a local celebration to a seasonal theme park that rises again each winter. It functions as an enclosure with defined entrances, circulation areas, walkable structures and spaces to stay for hours, especially when it gets dark and the lighting changes the perception of the place. It is not just a setting for photographs, but a park designed to be walked, used and visited for a few weeks, while weather conditions allow it. When ice stops being landscape and becomes infrastructure Upon entering the venue, the experience is more similar to that of a theme park than a temporary exhibition. You can walk between buildings, climb platforms, slide down ramps or access areas prepared for snow activities. The architectural elements are not presented as immobile pieces, but as part of the route. For this edition, those responsible have announced spaces intended for ice fishing, cross-country skiing and collective snow gamesas well as an additional stage that will complement the cultural activities of the already usual Dream Stage. The proposal does not focus solely on showing structures, but on facilitating their use within a planned and temporary environment. Before erecting ice structures, Harbin already celebrated winter through local practices. Hand-carved ice lanterns began to be used in the city in the middle of the last century and gave rise to the first Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, held on January 5, 1985. indicate official pages. The jump to the current format came in 1999, when Harbin Ice-Snow World was created as an independent venue, with specific access and design. Since then, the evolution has been constant: more surface area, greater volume of materials, presence of machinery and planned construction processes. The park, under construction in November 2025 Harbin has turned winter into a source of economic activity. According to data released by Xinhuathe city received 90.36 million visitors during the last season, with estimated income of 137.22 billion yuan (almost 17 million euros), an increase of 16.6% compared to the previous year. Ice-Snow World does not explain these figures on its own, but it acts as one of the main focuses of attraction and as an element that concentrates tourist services, accommodation, restaurants and transportation during the weeks in which it remains open. The construction mobilizes technical profiles, operators and specialists in structure and lighting, while the opening requires personnel for visitor service, security, maintenance and tourist support. Many of these roles are temporary, but require prior coordination and planning. When comparing Harbin to other major winter events, such as the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan or Quebec Winter Carnival in Canadathe difference is not only in size, but in structure. Sapporo distributes its sculptures in various urban spaces and Quebec combines culture, parades and outdoor activities, but neither of them functions as a theme park concentrated in a single venue, as occurs in Harbin. Harbin uses hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of ice and snow, according to official data, and builds walkable structures that are part of the route and not just the landscape. It is not so much a festival as a temporary recreational facility. Harbin Ice-Snow World has been integrated into the city’s tourism calendar as a seasonal facility. It is built every year, it opens for a few weeks and It is dismantled when temperatures no longer guarantee stability. This temporary nature does not prevent its planning: the prior storage of ice, the mobilization of workers and the associated services indicate that it is an organized activity and not simply a one-off event. The park functions as a generator of temporary employment, concentrates the winter tourism offer and channels activities that are subsequently complemented by the interior ice and snow enclosure, designed to operate all year round as an extension of the exterior park. There is no pretension of permanence, but of repetition adjusted to the climatic conditions. This repetition has allowed the consolidation of technical, logistical and tourist processes linked to winter as a seasonal economic resource. Images | The Harbin International Ice and Snow festival | Harbin Government In Xataka | Someone wants to build a 144 meter high skyscraper in the middle of the port of Malaga. The reason: luxury tourism

Researchers find a piece of ice from six million years ago. What is really valuable is the air trapped inside

by

A team of scientists has achieved something extraordinary in the frozen Allan Hills, east of Antarctica: extracting 6-million-year-old ice samples, the oldest ever directly dated. Trapped inside are air bubbles that date back to Earth’s Miocene atmosphere, when our planet was much warmer and sea level considerably higher than today. A time capsule in the form of ice. The discovery, published in the journal PNAS on October 28 and led by Sarah Shackleton of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and John Higgins of Princeton University, more than doubles the age of the oldest known ice so far, which dated to about 2.7 million years ago. “Ice cores are like time machines that allow scientists to take a look at what our planet was like in the past,” explains Shackleton. “The Allan Hills cores help us travel much further back than we thought possible.” How they found it. Between 2019 and 2023, the Center for the Exploration of Older Ice (COLDEX) team drilled between 100 and 200 meters deep into the ice sheet in the Allan Hills region, located about 2,000 meters above sea level. Just like they count From the Middle Space, this area is especially valuable because the topography of the terrain and ice flow patterns allow extremely old ice to be preserved closer to the surface, unlike the Antarctic interior where it would be necessary to drill more than 2,000 meters to reach similar ages. Dating. The researchers They determined the age of the ice measuring the radioactive decay of argon isotopes present in trapped air bubbles. This method allows ice to be dated directly, without the need to examine the rocks or soil around it. The result: 6 million years, a time when the Earth was home to now extinct creatures such as saber-toothed tigers, arctic rhinos and the first mammoths. Cooling. Analysis of oxygen isotopes in the cores revealed that the Allan Hills region has cooled approximately 12 ºC during the last 6 million years. It is the first direct evidence that quantifies how much the Antarctic climate has cooled since that ancient warm period. Ed Brook, director of COLDEX and paleoclimatologist at Oregon State University, stands out that “the team has built a library of what we call ‘climate snapshots’ about six times older than any previously reported ice core data.” Why does it matter? While Antarctica and the Earth as a whole have progressively cooled for millennia, humans are now rapidly increasing global temperatures by release large amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Studying these bubbles of ancient air will allow scientists to reconstruct past greenhouse gas concentrations and ocean heat levels, which could give us clues to what natural factors have contributed to the climate. climate change throughout the entire history of our planet. Surviving extreme conditions. “We are still discovering the exact conditions that allow such ancient ice to survive so close to the surface,” points out Shackleton. “Along with the topography, it’s likely a mix of strong winds and intense cold. The wind blows fresh snow and the cold slows the ice almost to a stop. That makes Allan Hills one of the best places in the world to find shallow old ice, and one of the toughest to spend a season in the field,” he continued. Next steps. The COLDEX team plans to return to Allan Hills in the coming months to carry out more drilling. They hope to recover even older samples and produce a more detailed record of Earth’s ancient atmosphere. “Given the spectacularly old ice we have discovered in Allan Hills, we have also designed a new comprehensive long-term study of this region to try to extend the records even further in time, which we hope to carry out between 2026 and 2031,” concludes Brook. Images | COLDEX In Xataka | What are sixth generation fires: the megafires that create their own weather

The Earth is headed for a new ice age, according to a Science study. And it is precisely because of global warming

by

Science is largely in agreement when it suggests that the Earth’s temperature it increases more and moreand logic could lead us to think that the world is going to become in a real desert like the one in Almería. But to everyone’s surprise, what can happen is a great ice agethat is, everything ends up covered in ice. And although it may seem illogical, science wanted to give light about this topic. They have been new models from the University of Bremen and the University of California Riverside, published in Sciencewho have located right there one of the great unexpected dangers of terrestrial geochemistry: under certain conditions, excess heat can activate “biological accelerators” that then cool the planet beyond its original state. Even to reach an ice age. Beyond the rocks. Something that may be unknown to many is that the Earth has a temperature control system like the thermostat in our home. The most accepted was regulation by the slow wear of silicate rocks. However, geological records show episodes in which this natural “thermostat” fails: the Earth freezes from pole to pole, as during the Precambrian glaciations. What is missing from the equation? The new study points to the decisive influence of marine biology and nutrient cycles, especially phosphorus and oxygen. An unexpected loop. When CO₂ emissions and global temperatures rise, the arrival of phosphorus into the oceans also increases, fertilizing the proliferation of algae. These remove CO₂ thanks to photosynthesis in the water, and when they die, they transport that carbon to marine sediments, where it can be trapped for millions of years. As if it were a dumping ground for carbon dioxide on the seabed.. But the key to the loop is oxygen: the explosion of algal productivity consumes the oxygen in the water, meaning that almost no living being can live here. Under these conditions, phosphorus stops being buried and instead of being eliminated it is recycled from the sediment. This fuels new “super blooms” and closes a vicious cycle: ‘More nutrients → more algae → less oxygen → more nutrient recycling → extreme cooling’. The result is that the biological thermostat goes crazy, sequestering carbon at a frenetic pace that the rocks’ slow thermostat cannot compensate for. The new model. The new model integrate these quick feedbacksadding sedimentary chemistry, the phosphorus cycle and the oxygenation state to the traditional silicate weathering models. Surprisingly, when predicting the effect of the “great human experiment” of releasing CO₂, he finds that the system does not always smoothly return to the previous statebut it can overcompensate and take the planet to colder times, in deep glaciations, for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years.​​ This only occurs when the atmosphere is less rich in oxygen, something common in Earth’s past, which may explain why ice ages coincide with intermediate periods of planetary oxygenation. Today, that same loop would make the “reward” much smoother, although there would still be the risk of long-term cooldown. If we continue burning fossils. In this way, other scientific studies already suggest that large inputs of phosphorus, whether due to massive mining or increased weathering induced by climate change, can increase the risk of anoxia and abrupt cooling events, although this scenario would take centuries or millennia to develop. This is why the acceleration of the phosphorus cycle together with the increase in CO₂ concentrations is conditioning us to the climate changes that we will see in a few million years. And although the Earth system may have the mission of stabilizing, the reality is that this system cannot always be trusted. Images | Denise Schuld In Xataka | We have just identified the oldest glaciers in the world. Where: under South Africa’s big gold mines

8 kilometers of ice have been lost in two months and researchers only agree on one thing: it is something to worry about

by

Predict their future the antarctic glaciers It is undoubtedly a great challenge for science, but the most important thing above all is to know How will it affect global sea level?. The worst of all is that the latest news we have at our disposal is not at all positive, since the Hektoria glacier It has retreated 8 km in just two months, which is an unprecedented speed in the modern era. Where we start from. Normally, the retreat of glaciers It is measured in hundreds of meters per year. It is one of the clearest metrics we have to be able to ‘measure’ global warming, and that is why now what a team from the University of Colorado Boulder has just recorded on the Hektoria glacier, on the eastern peninsula of Antarctica, plays in a completely different league. The measurement. In just two months during 2023, the Hektoria lost almost half of its mass. In total, 8 kilometers of ice disappeared. A speed of collapse that has never been seen in modern history and that, according to the authors of the study, is more typical of the end of the last ice age. Something that doesn’t add up in this case. Hektoria is relatively small by Antarctic standards (about 300 km², less than the city of Malaga), but its collapse was so sudden that it left researchers stunned. A coincidence. Ironically, the research team wasn’t even studying Hektoria. They were analyzing satellite and remote sensing data for another project when Ochwat realized that the glacier had essentially disappeared from the images. The measurements. This is where technology comes into play. The team had to combine data from multiple satellites to understand what had happened and, above all, how quickly he did it. “If we only had one image every three months, we couldn’t say that the glacier lost two and a half kilometers in two days,” explains Ochwat. In this case, by combining images from different satellites you can fill in the time gaps and confirm with evidence in hand how quickly the ice has been melting. But the key was not only in the images. They also used seismic instruments that have the ability to detect a series of “glacial earthquakes” that occurred exactly during the period of rapid melting. And these earthquakes are not measured for the sake of it, but to confirm something crucial: the glacier was anchored to the bedrock (and not floating) just before breaking. This is fundamental both for science and for the entire planet, since ice that is floating (such as an ice shelf) does not raise sea level when it melts, any more than an ice cube does in a glass of water. But ice that rests on land (or anchored to a seabed) and falls into the sea does contribute to the global rise in sea level by increasing its volume. Your Achilles heel. The collapse was not due to simple superficial melting. The cause was topographic, since many Antarctic glaciers rest on deep canyons or underwater mountains. The Hektoria, however, had the misfortune of resting on an “ice plain”: an area of ​​bedrock that was exceptionally flat and below sea level. This flat topography caused a gigantic section of the glacier to begin floating all at once, rather than gradually. The moment the glacier lost its anchorage to the ground (its “line of support”), it was exposed to the forces of the ocean, and therefore everything began to advance very quickly. The process was brutal, since it all began with the warmest ocean water that seeped underneath and began to open cracks from the bottom of the glacier upwards. At the same time, the glacier already had cracks on the surface. Eventually, the lower and upper cracks met and the glacier literally disintegrated. A warning for future glaciers. The Hektoria case is a first-rate warning. Scientists know that there are numerous glaciers in Antarctica that also rest on these types of ice plains. Until now, it was thought that their collapses would be centuries-long processes. Hektoria shows that they can be months, which should set us off due to the implications it would have on sea level. And while the collapse of a small glacier like Hektoria won’t dramatically change global sea level, it alone does demonstrate that a rapid collapse mechanism, until now theoretical or believed to be typical of past geological eras, is perfectly possible today. If this same mechanism is activated in much larger glaciers, sea level rise could accelerate very considerably and much sooner than expected. Images | Cassie Matias In Xataka | When glaciers melt, bodies appear: archaeologists are recovering them in a time trial

110 years later we finally know what sank the ‘endurance’ in the Antarctic. The culprit was not the ice: it was much worse

by

He Endurancethe legendary ship of Ernest Shackletonbecame a symbol of resistance and heroism after its sinking in the icy waters of the Weddell Sea in 1915. There began the myth, because during more than a centuryits end was wrapped in a halo of mystery, attributed to the lethal coup of the ice against its rudder. Now, science He has revealed That the truth was more complex and, in a way, disturbing: the ship was never prepared to survive. The myth and the truth. As we said, for more than a century, 110 years to be exact, Ernest Shackleton’s heroic story and his antarctic ice crew was accompanied by the conviction that the endurance was the wooden ship more robust of his timevictim of a fatal blow of the ice against his helm. However, Recent research They have dismantled that narrative. The thorough analysis of the wreck discovered in 2022 reveals that the ship I was convicted From the beginning: it was not a single impact that sank it, but the accumulation of compressive forces that crushed their weak structure and, very important in the final story, Shackleton I probably knew When he left for Weddell. The expedition trapped. Endurance sailed in 1914 with the ambitious plan of cross the Antarctica on footbut at the beginning of 1915 he was caught in a solid ice. For ten months the crew resisted on board until the pressures began to deform the ship. The covers were combined, the helmet vibrated with a crash and the newspapers of the sailors picked up the sound of the creak of the wood under huge forces. On October 27, 1915 Shackleton ordered to leave the shipand weeks later the helmet ended up sinking after a succession of pressure onslaught that started masts and opened the structure in two. Idealized cross sections of the first Antarctic ships. The endurance was of the type (a); The type Deutschland (B) Fortress with mud feet. Far from being the invulnerable ship of the legend, the endurance was born as a ship of Polar and Hunting Tourism of bears and morsas in the Arctic. Its design lacked the critical reinforcements to survive trapped in an icy sea: it had no diagonal beams that kept the bands of the helmet or racks that supported the machine room, its most fragile area. Over there, According to witnesses As the scientist Reginald James or Captain Frank Worsley, the iron plates combined and the soils bulging while the ice pressed incessantly. The Rudder and the keel departed, but they were not the cause but the consequence of that structural weakness. Pecio discovered in 2022 Shackleton knew it. It is one of the keys that light has seen now. The most revealing thing is that Shackleton I did not ignore Those defects. He had participated in rescues from other ships shattered by ice and advised the German Wilhelm Filchner reinforce with diagonal beams Your Deutschlandthat thus managed to survive eight months trapped. Even in a letter to his wife he admitted that the endurance was not as solid as The Nimrodthe ship of your previous expedition. Even so, He acquired it Without modifications, moved by the urgency of undertaking a colossal project in the midst of their debts, their personal failures and competition with other explorers for reaching Antarctic glory. The re -written history. He New study of Jukka Tuhkuri Disassemble the myth of the invulnerability of the endurance, showing that it was an inappropriate ship faced with a relentless environment. However, this finding does not decrease the figure of Shackleton, but it frames it With more realism: A leader who risked aware that the adventure could cost the ship, but that miraculously saved his entire crew. At a time when polar exploration was a jump of faith towards the unknown, the wreck of the endurance was not only the end of a ship, but the proof that even the stronger wood yields Before ice pressurewhile human will manages to survive where the technique fails. Shared destination. The truth is that the Endurance drama It was not an isolated episode. Decades earlier, in 1876, twelve American whales They sank in front of Alaska for lacking the necessary reinforcements against compressed ice, dragging with him the livelihood of hundreds of families. Something similar happened in 1903 with The Antarctica Swedish ship trapped and shattered in the Weddell Sea. And, in contrast, the case of Deutschland It demonstrates how simple modifications could make the difference between sinking and survival. If you want also, all these episodes draw a pattern: polar ice does not forgive improvisations or risk economies. Shackleton, with his leadership instinct, achieved what other captains They did not achieve: save all his men, although at the expense of expose them to sacrifice of a ship that had never had to face the brutality of the white continent. Image | Picryl, PicrylFalklands Maritime Heritage Trust In Xataka | More than a hundred years later, we have found the remains of Shackleton’s ‘endurance’ sunk in the Antarctic In Xataka | We have been trying to rescue the shipwrecked with the oldest computer in the world for 120 years. We just took a huge step

Scientists have folded salty ice and discovered that it behaves like an electric generator

by

When we think of ice and salt, it is normal to imagine a road in the middle of winter: the accumulated snow on the asphalt, the trucks spreading salt in a hurry and the neighbors trying not to slip on the icy sidewalks. It is a typical scene in the north or in the mountain areas, where winter turns the landscape into postcard, but also a daily challenge for those who have to move between cut roads or pedestrian crossings turned into traps. What we usually see how a simple help against ice on roads, can actually hide an energy potential. A team from the University of Xi’an Jiaotong, in collaboration with ICN2 and Stony Brook University, has managed to try it in the laboratory. A discovery with “taste” to salt. A pinch of salt for a material to deform, produce electricity. This phenomenon has a name and is called flexoelectricity. It had already been observed in moving glaciers or in ice plates under pressure, but never with results as powerful as those achieved in this study. According to the studythe team frozen water with different concentrations of common salt (NaCl) and created ice blocks in several ways: cones, beams and plates. Then they applied flexion tests – check the ice on two supports and exert pressure from above – and measured the electricity generated. The result was surprising: salty ice generated up to 1,000 times more electric charge than pure ice. The key ingredient. But how can salt enhance something as inert as ice? The answer is in the salted water microchannels that are trapped between the crystals. As the ICN2 press release detailssalt prevents ice from freezing. When folding, water and salt ions move from compressed areas to the stretched, generating an electric charge flow, what scientists call a “Current streaming”(Drag current). In practical terms, the effect is so strong that experimental devices reached values ​​comparable to the best piezoelectric materials used today in the industry, According to research. Depend on ice. At first glance, this technology could have applications in extreme environments, such as scientific stations in polar regions, where installing conventional energy infrastructures is very difficult. The finding contrasts with reality. Since 2000, glaciers have lost 273,000 million tons of water annually, According to ESA. That is equivalent to the consumption of the entire world population for three decades. The setback is already translates into a loss of 5% of the global ice volume, with visible consequences: increased sea level and less availability of fresh water in rivers such as Ebro. Thus, to talk about ice as an energy resource raises an uncomfortable paradox: depending on something that melts increasingly faster. That’s not all. Beyond the environmental dilemmas, the study itself recognizes that there is still much to solve. As they point out in Techxploresalty ice devices suffer mechanical fatigue: after many flexion cycles, their ability to generate energy can fall to 80%. In addition, much of energy is lost in the form of heat, which makes efficiency still lower than that of commercial piezoelectric devices. The look is wide. Even so, the finding opens a fascinating door. “Its advantages – abundance, sustainability and low cost – make it a promising candidate for clean technologies,” Underline the ICN2. And researchers believe that the model is not limited to ice: it could be applied to other porous solids containing fluids inside. The paradox, however, persists: while science explores how to take advantage of the hidden energy on ice, climate change melts at an alarming pace. Perhaps this discovery not only serves to think about new technologies, but also to remember the value of a resource that is disappearing. Image | Photo by POT ON Unspash and Freepik Xataka | A Microsoft Data Center in Mexico collided with the reality of the electricity network. Your solution: use gas generators

So much ice has melted in Greenland that the plankton has grown 40%. It is not good news

by

The Antarctica and Greenland have become two of the Climate change thermometers. The Ice loss in Greenland It is something that has been monitored for years because not only influences sea level: also in the Sinking of the seabed. It is estimated that Greenland’s glaciers have reached a point of no returnand its implications go beyond sea level. In fact, a recent NASA study He points out that there is a beneficiary of the thaw: the phytoplankton. And it is not good news. Short. A few months ago we commented that Greenland was getting greener. The estimates point out that, during the last 30 years, the region has lost 1.6% of its ice, which may seem little, but it is something equivalent to the Galicia area. The air temperature is about 3 higher Celsius degrees in the period between 2007-2012 than in 1979-2000, and That thaw It is causing a huge increase in fresh water. How much? According to the investigation of San José State University and NASA, of up to 266 million tons per year that are discharged into the sea, especially under the Jakobshavn glacier, the greatest in Greenland. It is the equivalent of 1,200 cubic meters of fresh water that are poured into the sea every second. As is fresh water, it is less dense and lighter than the salty, and what it does is like a whirlpool, dragging nutrients from the seabed to the surface. The study. These nutrients are mainly iron and nitrates, and it is phenomenal to phytoplankton. It is, however, an anomaly, and the researchers wondered to what extent that rapid growth of the plankton could affect the ecosystem. In it studypublished in Nature, detail how with the help of a model developed in the JPL and the MIT and using superoringers to accelerate the calculations, simulated the interaction between the water of the thaw, the nutrients and the phytoplankton. The greatest areas is where an increase in chlorophyll has been seen in recent years They have discovered that the growth of the body in the studied area increases between 15% and 40% in summer, at which time the maximum point of the thaw is given, thanks to those nutrients that the fresh water current sends to the surface. In total, NASA has observed That, between 1998 and 2018, the growth of phytoplankton in argic waters had increased by 57%. Consequences. On the one hand, that increase in phytoplankton can be positive for marine life, since it improves the basis of the ecosystem to be able to feed more animals, and also phytoplankton Atmospheric co -capture (that is not bad for us) To do photosynthesis. However, there is a paste: changes in temperature, chemical composition and water salinity can alter ecosystems. In the study they have not launched predictions about what will happen, but it is evident that it is a substantial modification of the marine properties of that specific area. Its conclusion is that those Changes in the Food Chain They can modify the composition of marine species, from bacteria to fish, affecting both the equilibrium of the ecosystem and fishing activities, which are a key engine for Greenland. Because phytoplankton is tiny, but it is the food of Kril and other small herbivores that, in turn, are the larger animal food baselike fish and whales. Only in Greenland? This study was carried out in a very specific area, that of the Jakobshavn glacier, but the results have similar implications for the more than 250 marine glaciers in the region and, possibly, for other glaciers that end in the sea in other regions of the world. Researchers comment that this simulation method is adaptable to other systems and that, therefore, it is likely that other areas where glaciers are pouring water into the sea They are also living, to a greater or lesser degree, a similar phenomenon, modifying ecosystems and affecting both fauna and fishing activities that are carried out in the area. Therefore, the thaw of glaciers is no longer that it affects only at sea level, but has the potential for alter the ecological balance of the regions in which it occurs. As they say, we were few and the grandmother gave birth. Images | POT In Xataka | 400,000 years ago all Greenland ice melted. The map he drew is not flattering

There are people freezing mandarins and clementines to eat them later as a “ice cream”

by

In one of the many viral videos that can be making a Scroll Fast in social networks, a young woman a frozen cucumber is passed by the face with the solemnity of who applies a luxury mask. It seems absurd, but the clip accumulates thousands of “like.” It is not an isolated case: in networks, frozen foods have become homemade cosmetics, visual snacks and even summer rituals. This year, a new trend makes its way with force: freezing fruits, and especially Clementines. The goal is not to keep them for later, but enjoy them in their most refreshing and surprising version. A citrus explosion. The phenomenon, baptized by some like the “Frozen Clementine Hack”, became popular after the video by creator Hannah Rose, who already exceeds 10 million views on Instagram. The procedure is simple: freezing clementines, passing them under hot water for a few seconds and cutting them in half. The result is small frozen segments that easily detach from the skin, ready to eat as if they were natural jelly. As They have detailed in a Food & Wine reportattractiveness goes beyond flavor: crunchy texture, the sound when bite and the star pattern that appears when cutting the fruit contributes to a complete sensory experience, ideal for sharing in networks. Is it another posture sample? Beyond the visual impact, the truth is that there is a logic behind this viral gesture. Fruit fruits is not new, but some lend themselves better than others. Clementines, for example, have less free water than other fruits, which reduces the risk of large ice crystals that break its structure. According to My partner explained in this media“The more water a food has, the more its structure is altered when freezing.” Hence, the defrosted lettuce is soft and watery, while small and firm fruits such as mandarins, or starch vegetables such as peas, support the process much better. Is it healthy? In principle, freezing clementines is perfectly safe and healthy, provided that minimal precautions are followed. The ideal is to consume them directly frozen or fresh from the cold, avoiding leaving them at room temperature too long. At a nutritional level, most important compounds – fibra, minerals, proteins and fat -soluble vitamins – remain stable in the freezer. Yes indeed, As we have explained in this mediumsome hydrosoluble vitamins such as C can decrease during the defrosting process. In other words: it is not a miraculous way of consuming fruit, but it does not have relevant inconveniences. And if that helps more people eat fruit in summer, maybe I have already fulfilled its purpose. Opening the door to other fruits. As they have pointed out In Food & Winefrozen grapes, for example, They have been a typical snack for some time In summer. The mango in Frozen cubes It is ideal for soft milkshakes or ice cream. And the watermelon, although it is not recommended to defrost to eat raw, it works well if it is consumed directly crushed as graniza. The summer fruit. What began as one more curiosity in Tiktok has ended up consolidating itself as a summer habit with some scientific support. Beyond the filter and the sound effect, freezing fruit – especially the one that tolerates it well – can be an accessible and attractive way of maintaining healthy habits even In full heat wave. Image | Instagram and Unspash Xataka | Solving the big question that always arises when we freeze food: whether it loses nutrients or not

In full birth crisis, the ice cream industry has found a new reef in Spain: dogs

by

No, it’s not yours. For a long time in the parks of Spain (and in the streets, squares, shopping centers and thus a long etcetera of places) it is easier to find pets than with babies. Some calculations They point out that in our country there are already six companion animals for each child under four years. Hence the sector dedicated to your care be growing and tante new business roads, such as Cruises canines or the elaboration of ice cream and “Cafes” Suitable for dogs. In Barcelona there are already a few examples. Pet ice cream? That’s how it is. And we don’t talk about ice cream for pets suitable for pets, but ice cream specifically elaborated For dogs and cats, thinking about the foods that tolerate and advertise as such. One of the most recent examples leaves it Zampa Gelatothat He just launched In Barcelona Tarrinas that are announced with A slogan that leaves a few doubts about his approach: “The ice cream one hundred percent natural that makes your pet happy and veterinarian.” In its catalog it includes watermelon options and red fruits, apple, pear and kiwi or coconut, pineapple and banana, elaborate ice cream, says, based on pasteurized yogurt without lactose without lactose, lyophilized and mineral fruits. “It is not another product within a range, it is our specialization. Zampa Gelato focuses exclusively on developing healthy pets for pets,” They claim From the firm. Is it an isolated case? Not at all. The pet ice cream market is perhaps still far from the centered in humans, but there are more examples. Bibì e Bibò ice cream shops, with a presence in Madrid, have created a Special line “100% suitable for dogs” that elaborates, among other ingredientswith several fruits, ill -free yogurt without lactose and dispensing with added sugars. The newspaper of Catalonia Precise also that one of the partners who has embarked on the launch of Zampa in Barcelona is in turn part of the team behind Il Gelato Dell´amorea “Mixed ice cream shop” which boasts of having ice cream for both humans and their four -legged companions. They are just a couple of examples, but there is more. Now A couple years Barcelona’s Badiani ice cream shop also elaborated a GELATO For dogs. They called him Dog Gelato and in 2023 the magazine Elle I presented it as a sweet refreshing with 96.65% less lactose than the rest of its ice cream and basically made with whipped cream, egg yolk, plant fibers, water, fructose and whole milk and low dust in lactose. In 2024, to give him More visibilityBadiani launched a campaign that offered customers a portrait with their pets. But … why? Basically because there are interested owners and especially willing to pay for those services. “Given the growth and demand of premises Pet-Friendly We did a small market study, “said Nebot recently to The newspaper. “The acceptance by the clients was fulminant. The idea is to go out for something with your pet and that is not under the table sucking an ice or waiting for the last piece of cookie of your ice cream.” As a reference last year Il Gelato Dell´amore sold More than a thousand tarrines Canines in August. Are there only ice cream? No. ice cream are just one more example (perhaps the most summery) of the growing range of pet products and services. The list is wide and includes articles that we so far believed exclusive for humans, such as “coffees”, “cocktails”, “snacks” or even “champagne benjamines”. All this with proper quotes because these are products designed for dogs that play with recognizable formats in the market for their owners. The Ciudad Ciudad has just left another good example. Not long ago opened its doors there Voilà Concept Storean exclusive cafeteria for dogs and that includes in its letter “dogguccinos”, “dogtails”, meat lollipops, donuts (“Woof-Waffle”) or empanadillas and special cakes. The canine capuchino is made, for example, with cream without lactose and puppy milk and TOPPINGS They are used are pork, chicken or fish. In the establishment there are also pet accessories. What shows us? Beyond the concrete articles or businesses, the previous examples tell us about two clear trends: the changes of a society in which it is increasingly common to meet pets than with children and the business that is promoting. In February The country did A poll Between veterinarians and it came out that at the end of 2024 in Spain there were 1.6 million cats and 9.3 million dogs. A sum that far exceeds eight million minors. The first two are data that must be handled with some caution, but still give an idea of ​​the growing weight that pets have in the country’s homes. And it’s not something that happens Only in Spain. With that backdrop in recent years they have launched Nursery, Spas, hairdressers, Hotels And even Cruises For dogs. That impulse explains that in 2017 the pet care sector invoices in the EU 36.5 billion of euros, with clear forecasts Growth. Images | Callum Blacoe (UNSPLASH) and Christian Bowen (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | The broken bones of a dog from 16,000 years ago tell an important story: it was already our pet

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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