idea

we tend to turn left and we have no idea why

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It’s a matter of a moment. You’re walking down the sidewalk, thinking about your things, maybe you look at your phone, and suddenly there’s something in front of you. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bollard, a person, a kiosk or a baby stroller. You have to avoid it, you have to do it now. Now. And, probably, you are going to the left. And it seems that you decided it, but that decision was already made long before that walk down the street. A few days ago, a research team led by the University of Navarra has shown that, when wandering freely, pedestrians tend to turn counterclockwise and that this tendency is robust, cross-cultural, and of individual origin (not a pattern that emerges from group interaction). Turn left. The team demonstrated that the tendency to turn left occurred in 32 of the 33 experiments they carried out. The only exception was in a study in Japan where the result was 50 to 50. According to the authorsbias appears “almost immediately” in around 80% of people; when tested walking alone, 75% still deviate to the left. Furthermore, it is something individual: it does not matter whether the person walks alone or in the middle of a crowd. The bias appears exactly the same. And this is what’s interesting because, basically, it turns upside down what we think we know about “pedestrian dynamics.” And why is this happening? That’s the big question. Researchers rule out many things. It is not a product of manual laterality (being right or left-handed), foot laterality or ocular dominance. There are also no differences between sexes or between cultures. It doesn’t matter what the venue is like (whether it’s an open-air esplanade or a tiny patio full of walls), it doesn’t matter what avoidance maneuvers pedestrians use and, of course, it doesn’t matter what social norms they learn. Furthermore, if we ask pedestrians where they think they should move, most of them they say the opposite of what they end up doing. What researchers do not do is propose a closed mechanism to explain it. In other words, we don’t know. And what is it for? The most important implications for the design of spaces. As the authors explainairports, stations, museums, shopping centers or squares could be designed in favor of the counterclockwise bias. Obviously, not everyone always turns left. What the authors are saying is that, statistically, the probability of turning to the right is lower. The logic is simple: if we take that into account, the dynamics of public spaces can be more fluid. We already know that in evacuations or highly regulated environments, other mechanisms can override counterclockwise bias. But the idea is not that, it is to use the bias in favor. Image | Timon Studler In Xataka | There’s a reason why working out for an hour a day at the gym doesn’t give you results. And that reason is evolution

1,900 years ago the Romans knew that going barefoot in a public bathroom was a bad idea, so they wore bathroom flip-flops.

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The image above these lines illustrating the article belongs to the reconstruction of the Roman public baths in Bath, about 550 kilometers from one of the most prolific Roman sites: Vindolanda, also in Britain and next to Hadrian’s Wall. That’s where just found a fairly common item nowadays when we go to public bathrooms: bathing clogs, a kind of primitive bathing flip-flops. Of course, these are almost 2,000 years old. The Roman bathing slippers. The discovery dates back to between 140 and 180 AD. C. and is possibly the world’s oldest example of a shower shoe. The sole is a wooden platform with a leather strap on top to support the foot. Come on, a traditional flip flop, what the Romans called sculponeae. As explains Elizabeth Greene, an archaeologist at the University of Western Ontario, more than 5,000 Roman shoes have been found in Vindolanda and about 50 of them are bathing clogs. Most have platforms between 2.5 and 5 centimeters high and while some were smooth, others had geometric decorations or shapes. That they found so many clogs in that search implies that it was not something random, but rather the order of the day. And it makes sense: the Romans used these platform clogs to protect themselves from bathroom floors, slippery from steam and water, and hot from the heating system. hypocaust. Why is it important. Because Vindolanda It is UNESCO World Heritage and one of the most important Roman sites in Europe. The main reason why Vindolanda is a real treasure trove for archeology is that the organic remains of items such as clogs (made of wood and leather) have been moderately well preserved thanks to the layers of oxygen-free mud. On the other hand, it shows that preventive hygiene is not a modern invention: these primitive flip-flops constitute documented proof of the practice that dates back about 1,900 years, which is directly related to preventive medicine and the functional design of footwear. Context. The Roman baths were meeting places: whoever went there undressed and went from a cold room to a warm room to finally reach a hot room. When leaving, he finished with a cold water bath. To heat the rooms there was an underground oven that functioned as underfloor heating. Considering the estimated date of the clog, it falls within the period of the emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, when Vindolanda was an active military fort on the northern border of Britain. Who wore those bathroom clogs?. As a military fort that it was, what was abundant there were Roman soldiers and their families. However, the CEO of The Vindolanda Trust poses in the official podcast of the site a revealing question: why is there so little evidence that children used the bathrooms? (they have not found child-sized clogs), which suggests that access may have been conditioned by age, status or other social norms. It is known that at one time there were mixed baths, but it is most likely that men and women with children bathed at different times. The oldest bathroom flip flops ever known. It is true that there are much older samples of sandals, such as those of King Tutankhamun, from about 3,300 years ago; or those of the Etruscans of the 6th century BC But as nuance Elizabeth Semmelhack, director of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, none of these were intended for use in bathrooms. In fact, the National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) public in 2025 the discovery of two wooden soles of the sculponae type in Izernore (France), slightly earlier than those at Vindolanda, although the official source does not specifically associate them with use in bathrooms. It is in the specific application that makes the difference. In Xataka | The Romans found a macabre and sophisticated way to use perfume: breaking pigeons’ necks (made of glass) In Xataka | Almost 2,000 years ago a Celtiberian soldier visited the most remote frontier of the Roman Empire. Then he returned to Soria with a souvenir Cover | Diliff

It’s a very bad idea

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It’s sad, but we have normalized receiving scam attempts everywhere. An SMS from the Post Office tells you that it has not been able to deliver a package to you, on Instagram they tell you that you have won an iPhoneyour email spam box is saturated and now scams even arrive in the home mailbox. You may have been tempted to respond and troll the scammer a little, but it’s best not to. Why it is not a good idea to respond. It doesn’t matter if it’s just to make fun of you, answering sends a very clear message to whoever is on the other end: this phone number is active and its owner wants to talk. This means that more similar messages continue to reach you and also that your data continues to circulate on the dark web. Furthermore, security experts cited by the Wall Street Journal They warn that, if you have a very long conversation, you may end up giving out some details without realizing it, such as the country and city where you live, your age or details about your family. Scambaiting. It is what is known as the practice of intentionally interacting with scammers, generally pretending to be a naive victim to waste their time and give you a laugh. There are entire subreddits dedicated to this type of anecdotes, with users who maintain conversations for several weeks and share them with the community. There are even creators whose content focuses exclusively on the scambaitinglike the Scammer Payback YouTube channelin which the protagonist invents elaborate characters and the craziest situations. He has even collaborated with the authorities to dismantle scam networks. What should be done. The best is not participate in any way With these types of messages, do not even respond to ask them to stop contacting you. Rosario Fuentes, cybersecurity expert at TrendLife, says in WSJ that her golden rule is “ignore, block and report.” Of course, it goes without saying that you should never click on any link, even if it appears to be from your bank or a courier service. We have already seen too many times how the sender can be falsified, it is what is known as SMS spoofing and it also happens on phone calls. Tempting, but risky. It can be very tempting to make fun of someone who is trying to steal from you, but it is no joke. Whoever is on the other end has your contact information and can use it against you. have been given telephone harassment cases intense and even death threats. The scambaiters professionals warn It is not a good idea to do it if you do not have experience, and if you do it you have to take many precautions. The first thing is to create a false identity and, if you are going to make calls, use an alternative phone number or ideally VoIP services. If you are speaking from a computer, they recommend using a virtual machine to prevent them from accessing your system and of course a VPN. Don’t do it on social networks either. Finally, a personal anecdote. One day I received a message on Instagram from a man who claimed to be interested in being my sugar daddy All he asked me was to send him photos of my feet and he would pay me a fortune (I don’t remember how much, but it was a lot). It occurred to me to humor him, not for long, but just enough to laugh a little and share a couple of screenshots in my stories. Well, the scammer reported me to Instagram and they ended up penalizing me for “offering sexual services.” I tried to appeal to Meta, but it was of no use. Image | Xataka with Gemini In Xataka | Spain is still not able to eliminate spam calls. So the Government has a new plan: flog them

The US has had an idea to reassure Europe. Instead of soldiers, he is going to bring his nuclear weapons very close to Russia

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In 1983, tens of thousands of women surrounded a British air base to protest the deployment of American nuclear missiles. That mobilization, known in time as Greenham Commonbecame one of the major antinuclear symbols of the Cold War and showed the extent to which the location of these weapons could alter European politics. Less soldiers, more “nuclear”. Europe has been trying to figure out what it really means for months the strategic turn of the United States. The reduction of troops, the withdrawal of some military systems and the increasing priority given to the Indo-Pacific have fueled fears that Washington is progressively moving away from the continent. However, conversations within NATO point to a very different response than expected. Instead of reinforcing the conventional presence, the United States would be willing to expand the deployment of nuclear capabilities in Europe to demonstrate that its commitment to the defense of the continent remains intact. The idea is simple but powerful: if there are fewer American uniforms on the ground, the nuclear umbrella must remain visible and credibleeven “closer.” The closer the interest is to Russia. There is no doubt, the allies most interested in this possibility are precisely those who observe Russia from the first line. Poland has been leading for years the list of candidates to host US nuclear capabilities and some Baltic countries have also shown interest in participating in future deterrence formulas. The invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s continued references to its nuclear arsenal have profoundly changed the perception of security in Eastern Europe. I remembered the financial times that, for these countries, hosting aircraft capable of using US nuclear weapons would have enormous political and military value, since it would turn any threat against them into an issue directly linked to Washington’s strategic credibility. The legacy of the Cold War. The proposal does not involve creating a new system, but rather expanding a mechanism that has existed for decades. Currently Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Türkiye and the United Kingdom participate in the program nuclear delivery of NATO, through which they store American nuclear weapons under exclusive control of Washington and train their air forces to operate within that scheme. This model was born during the Cold War to guarantee that European allies could participate in the Alliance’s nuclear strategy without having to develop their own atomic weapons. More than half a century later, the formula is once again gaining prominence in a continent that watches with concern the deterioration of the relationship with Moscow. Europe seeks to replace some capabilities, but not others. European capitals have assumed that they will have to spend more in defense and rebuild conventional capabilities that for decades were delegated to the United States. From anti-missile systems to strategic transportation to military intelligence, much of the current conversation revolves around how to fill those gaps. However, there is one area that many governments they consider it impossible to replace in the short term: the American nuclear deterrent. Although France and the United Kingdom have their own arsenals, Washington’s umbrella continues to be perceived as the central element of the European security architecture and as the ultimate guarantee against any military escalation. The signal that Washington wants to send. They told in the Times that for now there is no final decision and the conversations remain highly confidential. Still, the mere fact that the possibility is on the table reveals how Western strategy toward Russia is changing. For years the US military presence in Europe was measured in bases, brigades and deployed troops. Now the discussion increasingly revolves around another type of message. While Washington concentrates resources in Asia and requires its allies to assume a greater share of the defensive effortthe signal it seeks to convey is that nuclear protection remains intact. In a way, the new formula to reassure Europe is not to bring more soldiers closer to the Russian borders, but to bring closer what for decades has served as a last guarantee of security: American nuclear weapons. Image | Air Force, SJOERD HILCKMANN In Xataka | Spain’s great fear is not an invasion: it is a slow hybrid war with Morocco against its two most vulnerable cities In Xataka | To become technologically “independent” from the US, the European Union already has a plan: four desperate measures

Someone thought it was a good idea to bring a Bluetooth device called “Bomb” onto a plane. What had to happen happened

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Imagine that you are sitting in that modern torture chamber that we call “economy class” on a transcontinental plane when, after an hour in the air of the eight-hour trip from New Jersey to Mallorca, the aircraft turns around to land at the point of origin because the bomb threat protocols are activated. Now stop imagining because that is precisely what happened this past May 30 when the United Flight Boeing 767 that covered the Newark – Palma de Mallorca route thad to turn around with 12 crew members and 190 passengers of which one was the owner of a Bluetooth device with a peculiar name. “Bomb”. The “Bluetooth bomb” He United Flight 236 It should be just another conventional flight, but those who took the one last Saturday experienced an unusual adventure. When the ship was flying over the Atlantic and in a period Between 60 and 90 minutes after takeoff, someone noticed a disturbing detail: searching for Bluetooth networks, They found a device called “BOMB”. If someone was carrying a bomb with a Bluetooth connection, I highly doubt it would be visible to everyone and, on top of that, it would be called “Bomb”, but it was enough for the situation to explode. The crew, using the public address system, repeatedly asked that the Bluetooth devices be turned off, even threatening with turning around, but after seeing that there were still some lights left and that the “bomb” was among them, the maneuvers began. In coordination with the company’s operations center in Chicago, it was decided that it was best to declare a state of bomb emergency and return to Newark. The plane landed as if nothing had happened, but on the ground there was a significant police and security deployment that forced the passengers to vacate the ship, leaving their hand luggage behind. Image | Flightradar24 As part of the procedure, it was now the security forces that were going to be in charge of inspecting that luggage again. It has not really emerged what the device was, but what is clear is that there was no real explosive device. United has not given detailsbut different media indicate that a 16-year-old passenger had a device named with that name. Some say it’s a Fitbit, others say it’s a Bluetooth speaker. No details have been given about the consequences. that the passenger will have to face and everything has remained an anecdotal situation and a story that those 212 people will tell at some point. Now, there are interesting readings. The first is that there are devices for which you can change the name of the Bluetooth connection. For example, we can call our cell phone whatever we want, just like Wi-Fi networks, but there are others that are not easy to change the name of. A speaker or headphones usually have the name they come from the factory, unless they have an app that explicitly allows you to change the identifier. This is important because there are speakers like the Bombbox from JBL and, above all, the Hama Bomb 3.0 that have ‘BOMB’ in the name. Obviously, it doesn’t just say that and there are numbers and the brand, so it would be easy to deduce that it is a totally different device than a bomb. Also, if this were the case, the device would be turned off and not searching for Bluetooth all the time, so what makes the most sense is that it is a mobile phone with that ‘nickname’ for Bluetooth. That said, when the crew asked to disconnect the Bluetooth, if the person had headphones on they might not even notice and, if they did, it was a message that could be interpreted as “put the phone on.” airplane modeThere are cell phones that, when they activate airplane mode, deactivate all wireless communications, but there are also those that only deactivate Wi-Fi, the mobile network and leave Bluetooth to allow connection with headphones. This is for trying to find an explanation for a bizarre story like few others that had a happy ending for the passengers, being able to board a new flight the morning of the next day, but which could be very serious for the funny or clueless owner of the device. Because it is one thing to take longer to take off, but having a plane turn around, relocate all the passengers and the company pay compensation… is not cheap. AND I’m sure someone at United Flight isn’t happy at all.nor were those who were on that flight and who had zero information about what was happening, even having to go to reddit to find out about the movie and report the company’s compensation: a $15 bonus to spend on food. Moral: take a look at what your devices are called. In Xataka | Airplanes have circular windows for a reason. It took two plane crashes to find out.

‘Star Citizen’ has managed to reach $1 billion in financing. We have no idea when it will be released

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There are video games that fall behind, video games that change course, and video games that seem to live in a category of their own. ‘Star Citizen‘ clearly belongs to the latter. What we have seen for more than a decade is not only the development of an ambitious space simulator, but a phenomenon that is difficult to fit into the usual molds of the industry: thousands and thousands of players financing a promise that continues to grow without there being yet a closed date for its full commercial launch. A figure that is difficult to ignore. The official website of Roberts Space Industries places funding ‘Star Citizen’ at $1,011,412,026, with 6,560,271 Star Citizens registered at the time of capture contributed. We are not talking about an estimate or a figure reconstructed from outside, but rather the public accountant of the project itself. This data allows us to better understand the magnitude of the phenomenon: a community that has not only closely followed each progress, but has also financially supported one of the most ambitious and prolonged bets in modern video games. Fourteen years of waiting. The origin of the project helps to understand why this case has become so unique. ‘Star Citizen’ began to take shape in 2012when Chris Roberts, known for ‘Wing Commander’, co-founded Cloud Imperium Games with Sandi Roberts and decided to finance development directly with the community. The game was originally aimed at 2014a reference that today serves to measure the distance between that first ambition and the current state of the project. Open development as fuel. The study has not maintained interest only with an initial promise, but by showing the process almost live. We have seen a development accompanied by weekly broadcasts, blogs, roadmaps and early access to the alpha, a way of working that has made the community a visible part of the project. Sandi Roberts also points to that link when she talks about AMAs on Reddit, forums and ‘Bar Citizens’ events, gatherings organized by fans themselves. It’s not finished, but it’s not empty either.. It is convenient to separate two ideas that are often mixed. ‘Star Citizen’ does not yet have a full commercial version, but those who support the project You can now play an alpha with available content on PC. In its current state, the project allows for bounty hunting, mining, large-scale industrial transportation, medical rescue, and ship recovery. Ships, promises and thousands of dollars. The financing model also has a particularly striking side. Many of the highest-value contributions are tied to ships associated with the game, with options that can start at $15 and others that run into the thousands. The most recent example is the Anvil Odina ship worth more than $5,000. Also, there is an important nuance: it is a “concept pledge”, so it is not yet available in the game. The final stretch remains undated. In parallel to ‘Star Citizen’, Cloud Imperium is also working on ‘Squadron 42‘, a single-player campaign set in the same universe and with a cast that includes several figures. ANDn statements to VarietyChris Roberts assured that the team is in the final phases, although without a fixed schedule. Therein lies the big unknown: the project has reached an enormous scale, but we still don’t know when version 1.0 will arrive. Images | Roberts Space Industries In Xataka | If you had any hope of buying a Steam Deck OLED at a good price, the RAM crisis has something to tell you

science explains why it is the worst possible idea

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Chances are, if you’re faced with a jellyfish sting right on the beach, someone in your group of friends will quickly suggest an eschatological solution: piss on the sting. This advice is, without a doubt, one of the most widespread home remedies in popular culture and on internet forums. Much of the blame lies with one of the most successful comedies in the history of television. In 1997, the series Friends aired the episode titled “the one with the jellyfish.” In an unforgettable scene, Monica is stung by a jellyfish and Joey quickly suggests that someone pee on her leg, claiming that he saw it on a Discovery Channel documentary and that ammonia would numb the pain. Faced with Joey’s “stage fright,” it is Chandler who finally performs the unpleasant task, leaving the trio deeply traumatized by the experience. The anecdote made millions laugh, but it also burned a supposed medical cure into the collective imagination. Fact or fiction on the seashore? Despite its television fame, science is blunt: Urinating on a jellyfish sting is an absolute myth and doesn’t work. Far from alleviating the bather’s suffering, this bodily fluid can drastically worsen the situation and increase the victim’s pain level. Various scientific studies and medical specialists completely rule out this practice. In fact, the prestigious publication Scientific American He already took care of denying this false remedy in 2007, warning of its dangers. The anatomy of a mistake. To understand why Joey’s advice is so dangerous, you first have to understand how does this animal attack. Jellyfish have thousands of specialized cells in their tentacles called cnidocytes or nematocysts. These structures work like tiny harpoons loaded with venom that, upon sensing a mechanical stimulus (such as the touch of a leg) or a chemical change, are fired in fractions of a second, injecting their toxins. The logic behind the myth is based on the fact that urine It contains compounds such as ammonia and urea, which could theoretically neutralize pain. However, human urine is composed mostly of water, so the amounts of ammonia are ridiculous and insufficient to stop stinging cells. Because it’s not a good idea. Urine is a freshwater-based liquid, and that sudden change in salinity causes the “harpoons” still attached to the skin to activate, injecting even more poison into the bloodstream. Additionally, the force and speed of the urine stream acts as a physical stimulant that agitates the residual tentacles. As jellyfish biologist Lisa Gershwin explainsthe poison is neutralized with acids, but the acidity of human urine is variable; If the pH is alkaline, it will cause 100% of the stinging cells to fire, turning this remedy into a dangerous “urinary roulette”. So what should we do? If urine is discarded, how should we act in the sand? Experts and medical institutions recommend following this first aid protocol: Wash with salt water: The area should be rinsed immediately with sea water or saline solution. Fresh water should never be used, as the change in osmotic pressure will burst the remaining stinging cells. Removing the tentacles: Remove visible remains using fine tweezers or the edge of a plastic credit card. It should never be rubbed with bare hands or rubbed with a towel or sand. Apply temperature: To relieve pain, it is very effective to immerse the area in hot water for about 20 minutes. You can also apply cold using ice, but always wrapped in a towel or plastic, never directly on the skin. Use of vinegar (with caution): The acetic acid in vinegar helps neutralize the tentacles of certain species, such as the dreaded sea wasp (Cubozoa) or the compass jellyfish. However, it is totally contraindicated in bites from the Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis), as it will make the reaction worse. Immediate medical attention: If things get complicated and symptoms appear beyond simple stinging, such as difficulty breathing, pressure in the chest, nausea, vomiting or muscle cramps, then you should seek medical help or go to the emergency room as soon as possible. The idea was a joke that looked good on screen. Pop culture is a wonderful tool for entertainment, but shows like Friends They should not be used as clinical survival manuals. When faced with a jellyfish sting, science asks us to forget beach myths, stay calm and trust in sea water, tweezers and heat. As Dr. Elias Hyams humorously summarizesa urologist at Brown University, warning about the ineffectiveness of this false home remedy: “It is always better to urinate in a bathroom than on a friend on the beach.” Image | Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash Xataka | The silent condemnation of “visual snow”: 3% of the world’s population sees the world with interference

US supermarkets want to use digital price tags. Great idea for them, terrible for customers.

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Supermarket price tags want to live his particular revolution. The traditional ones, which normally show the price on a sheet of paper, cardboard or plastic, are in danger, because companies in the sector have a great idea: replace them with electronic ink digital screens that can be updated from a central server in a matter of seconds. It seems like a great idea, but consumers are clear that what it is is a nightmare for their pockets. The advancement of ESL/DSL labels. The technology that wants to replace traditional labels is the so-called Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) or Digital Shelf Labels (DSL), which are nothing more than electronic ink screens that can be managed instantly from a central server. Walmart, the largest retail chain in the world, is leading this transition and aims implement them in 100% of its establishments in the US before the end of 2026. The argument. This company explains that the measure seeks to reduce operating costs, and that any modification will always require validation by a human agent. Amanda Bailey, who leads a team at a Walmart store in West Chester (Ohio, USA) estimated that the time spent changing prices on products in the store had been reduced by 75% thanks to DSL, and with that time they can serve customers better. Consumers, against. A recent survey from the consulting firm GBAO Strategies reveals that consumers do not share Walmart’s optimism. According to the participants’ data, 65% are convinced that supermarkets will use this technology to make shopping carts more expensive. Only 3% believe that it will serve to make it cheaper. The idea is not bad. ESL tags are ultra-low power devices that connect to the premises’ Wi-Fi or Bluetooth infrastructure. Theoretically, the idea is very reasonable, because in addition to reducing price management times, it eliminates cashier errors, reduces paper waste, and allows offers from the physical store to be instantly synchronized with those on the website. But be careful. However, these labels also open the door to disturbing scenarios, such as the application of dynamic pricing. Cold drinks can suddenly cost more if it’s very hot outside, or from price adjustments based on inventory. There is even talk of more sophisticated AI algorithms and already patented by Walmart capable of managing a customer profile in real time to adjust the price of the product based on what the data ensures that they are willing to pay. Surveillance pricing. The industry talks about personalized prices, but consumer associations have dubbed the phenomenon “surveillance pricing” )”surveillance prices”, in a literal translation). The concept is simple, forceful and disturbing: the supermarket monitors the user’s purchase history and their geolocation through the mobile app in addition to other parameters such as the level of aisle traffic to squeeze its profit margin. If there is an electronic tag, I’m leaving. The rejection of these labels is clear in the aforementioned survey: 68% of them fear that these “surveillance prices” will increase the cost of living. 58% indicated that they would avoid buying in stores that implement this type of digital price tags. 67% demand a law that completely prohibits this technology. The reaction is not strange: in April inflation rose to 3.8% in the US (annualized data) while salaries only rose 3.6%. It is the first time that salaries have failed to keep up with inflation, according to CBS News. In Spain the situation is paradoxical. In December 2025 the salaries agreed in the agreement they had grown 3.49% compared to the previous year, while the average inflation until that month was 2.7% (very moderate due to low electricity and fuel). That seems like good news, but 1) two out of every three workers They do not have a salary review clause and 2) the price of food has become more expensive by 37% in the last five years and things are getting worse. The ghost of Uber, Wendy’s and Ticketmaster. We already know this story, because in the past they have already arisen various controversies with dynamic prices. Image | E Ink In Xataka | If you want to anticipate how your shopping basket will rise, you just have to look at what is happening to toilet paper.

Japan is desperate to revive its birth rate, so an idea is spreading across the country: free daycare

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For a long time in Japan there has been a more delicate issue than unemployment, tourist overcrowdingthe relationship with China either the weakness of the yen: babies. Or rather, the lack of babies. Despite his multiple (and costly) attempts to revive the birth rate, the country has been seeing for years how its demographic chronicle is filled with catastrophic headlines. The last one arrived last Marchwhen the Government confirmed that in 2025 births fell in the country for the tenth consecutive year to mark a new low historical. Faced with such a panorama, an idea is gradually gaining strength in the country: daycare open bar in a desperate attempt to encourage the population to have children. One figure: $142,000. a few months ago Mainichi Shimbunone of Japan’s leading newspapers, echoed from a curious survey by the National Center for Child Health and Development: how much it costs to raise a child in the country. According to their calculations, taking care of a boy or girl (at least the first one) up to the age of 18 costs $141,700, a figure that is close to $170,000 if extra expenses are included. If we go down to detail, at least in 2024 the raising of preschool children was between 5,800 and 7,200 dollars annual. That figure, added to other factors, such as cultural changes, difficulties in reconciling professional and family life or one’s own aging dynamics the nation has been plunged into, leading more and more Japanese to choose not to become parents. In 2025 they signed up only 705,809 birthsalmost 15,200 less than in 2024. Lightening the load. In view of these data and with the country immersed in a “silent emergency”Japanese society has been looking for ways to make parenthood more bearable for some time. A change in the labor model has been put on the table (betting on the four-day weekly), the ban of overtime in the office or ‘pro-birth’ programs millionaireswith government support per child comparable to Sweden. Some initiatives come from companies, others from regional governments or the central Executive, but they all basically seek the same thing: to make parenting more bearable and activate birth rates once and for all. One of the measures that has sounded the loudest in recent years is free preschool education. That is, allowing families to leave their little ones in daycare. without any cost. Not all experts share that economic aid policies are going to get Japanese demographics out of the hole (they point to much more structural reasons, such as changes at a social level); but they certainly show the importance that the authorities give to the issue. October 2019. One of the most important steps in that direction was taken by in 2019 the Government of Japan. As details The Children and Family Agency (CFA), since October of that year, attendance at kindergartens, nurseries and children’s centers is free for children between three and five years old. The program also includes the same facility for children under three, but as long as their homes comply certain conditions. Since then, other institutions have moved to fully cover that group, that of children between zero and two years old. “No time to waste”. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has stood out in this effort. In 2023 It also began offering free childcare to children under two years of age. The only requirement, in a clear effort to encourage births, is that they have an older brother. In other words, the measure was limited to the second child onwards. In 2024, however, that coverage already knew little and the governor of the region, Yuriko Koike, advertisement that free birth would be extended to all children under two years of age (including first-born children) starting in September 2025. The idea, Koike stressed at the time, was to “continue promoting efforts to combat the low birth rate without sparing resources.” “There is no time to waste.” At the beginning of last fall BCNR echoed that the measure had already begun to be implemented in the Japanese capital. Setting an example. The most curious thing is that Tokyo has not been the only city that has decided to make it easier for families who want to expand. In early 2026, Urayasu, a town in Chiba Prefecture, advertisement also their plans to offer free daycare starting in April for children up to two years old. The idea was the same: to alleviate the financial burden of parents and, in the process, give a boost to the local birth rate. Your goal, according to Mainichiis to cover 55 schools in the city with an investment of almost four million dollars in 2026 and benefit 1,900 children. Is there more? Yes. With the birth rate indicators not rising and collapsing at a speed that even exceeds the worst forecasts of the experts, Japan has redoubled its bet. In April Kyodo revealed that the country has implemented a public system that allows children between six months and three years old to be left in daycare for ten hours a month. The initiative is important because several reasons. To begin with, it provides extra help to families with younger children, preschool age, regardless of whether or not they live in municipalities with similar programs. On this occasion, however, the Japanese authorities have wanted to go further: the measure does not take into account the employment situation of the parents, which also covers children of couples with an unemployed member, who until now faced certain limitations. Images | Design for Health by Ann Forsyth (Flickr) and Note Thanun (Unsplash) In Xataka | In a Japan in the midst of a birth crisis, an idea is gaining traction: late-night cafes for crying babies

1,050 HP, design by Jony Ive and a very different idea of ​​an electric car

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Ferrari could do many things with his first electricbut it could hardly be allowed to go unnoticed. The Luce arrives after years of waiting and with an obvious symbolic charge: we are not just talking about changing gasoline for a battery, but about checking how far Maranello is willing to move the limits of its own tradition. The brand has revealed it in Rome today, May 25, 2026, a date chosen for its link with Ferrari’s first victory in 1947, when the 125 S won the Grand Prix di Rome. Before getting into the details, it is worth remembering where this model comes from. Ferrari presented at the Capital Markets Day 2022 a multi-energy strategy based on technological neutrality, a way of saying that electrification will coexist with other architectures within the brand. The Luce is the first fully electric result of that roadmap, but it is not proposed as a replacement for combustion or hybrid Ferraris. An electric Ferrari designed to change more than just the engine The first thing that catches your attention when seeing the Luce is its format. Ferrari had already crossed the four-door line with the Purosangue, but here it takes another step: for the first time it offers five seats in a series production car. The explanation lies in its specific electrical architecture, which allows the battery to be integrated under the floor and the rear seats, freeing up the cabin and eliminating the central tunnel. Ferrari maintains that this configuration would not have been possible with its traditional transaxle schemes, with a front-mid engine and rear gearbox. The other big change is in who has shaped the car. Ferrari entrusted the design of the Luce to LoveFrom, the creative collective founded by Jony Ive with Marc Newson in 2019, and the first name does not need much introduction for anyone following the recent history of technological design. It is an unusual decision for a brand with its own design center directed by Flavio Manzoni. According to Ferrari, this external look allowed us to introduce a new language that is not limited to the bodywork, but also reaches the interior and the interface. This approach is especially noticeable in the silhouette. Ferrari defines one of the main features of the Luce as a “glass house” with a clean, almost shell-like shape, which extends below the belt line to the ends of the car. Around it appear front and rear aerodynamic wings that appear to float above the main volume, as well as transparent light panels integrated into the surfaces. And then there are the halo-type rear lights, which Ferrari links to the 360 ​​Modena and the 458 Italia: seeing them for the first time it is difficult not to feel a certain nostalgia in the midst of such a different design. One of the most recognizable decisions of the project appears in the cabin. Ferrari and LoveFrom have not followed the most obvious path in many current electric cars, where almost everything ends up inside a screen. The Luce combines physical aluminum controls, buttons, dials, switches and OLED screens developed by Samsung Display for this model, with the main information concentrated in front of the driver. The idea, according to Ferrari, is to unite the mechanical and the digital without one thing erasing the other. And that, in a car whose creative direction has gone through LoveFrom, is much more interesting than just another giant screen. The numbers, however, are inevitable. Ferrari declares a maximum power of 1,050 HP in Launch Control mode, four electric motors, one per wheel, and a 122 kWh battery with 800 V architecture. On paper, the Luce accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, reaches 0 to 200 km/h in 6.8 seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 310 km/h. The estimated range is around 530 kilometers, although here it is worth maintaining the nuance: Ferrari indicates that this figure is still under homologation. In an electric Ferrari, sound is not a minor detail. The brand says it has worked five years and 40,000 kilometers of specific tests to develop a system that, according to Ferrari, does not generate a synthetic sound, but rather amplifies the real mechanical vibrations of the electric axles. That signal is processed in real time and changes depending on the e-Manettino mode and the use of the cams. In parallel, the four motors, the active suspension and the rear axle steering ensure that the Luce is not only fast in a straight line, but also capable of managing with great precision what happens at each wheel. And now it’s time to talk about more numbers. Reuters places its price above 500,000 euros, while the Ferrari page in Spain already allows it to be configured, although it still does not show the price or allow it to be purchased directly: the next step is to send the information to a dealer. The reasonable doubt, as always in a car so loaded with promises, remains for when we can see it on the road and not only in the figures offered by the company. Images | Ferrari In Xataka | If the EU’s strategy was to suffocate Chinese cars with tariffs, the 2026 figures leave a very clear conclusion

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