illusion

If China invades Taiwan, Taiwan will not notice because a drone has been disguised as an optical illusion for months

by

In modern aviation, each aircraft carries a unique “digital license plate” that identifies it to the world in real time. It makes perfect sense. It is a system designed to provide transparency and security, but it also demonstrates a most disturbing paradox: what appears on a screen is not always what is really flying. China has just put it into practice. A bird, a fighter or a drone. A Reuters investigation has revealed that, since last August, at least 23 flights over the South China Sea have been registered under the callsign YILO4200, associated with a long-range Chinese military drone, although the signals it emitted told a different story. It happens that on civil radars it appeared as a sanctioned Belarusian freighter, also as a British Typhoon fighterlike a North Korean plane or even like a Western executive jet. These were not specific errors or programming errors. Was a deliberate impersonation of air identities by manipulating 24-bit transponder codes that identify position, course and speed. “We have never seen anything like this.” The middle counted that open intelligence analysts and those responsible for aerial tracking platforms agreed on something unusual: this pattern was unprecedented. It was not the classic drone flying “in the dark” without emitting a signal. It was just the opposite. He flew showing a false identity, changing it even in the middle of the journey, testing in real time to what extent he could “dirty” the aerial chart. “We had never seen anything like this,” summarized one of the experts who analyzed the data. It didn’t seem like an accident or a technical anomaly. It seemed like a conscious attempt at operational deception. The ultimate optical illusion. The drone, identified as a Wing Loong 2 With a 20-meter wingspan, it took off from Hainan and traced star- or hourglass-shaped patterns for hours over sensitive areas, including naval routes and areas frequented by submarines. In one of the missions the identity of a Typhoon of the RAF with that of three other aircraft in just twenty minutes before virtually “landing” like the Belarusian plane. On another occasion he posed as that same freighter while the real aircraft was simultaneously taking off in Europe. It was a full-fledged aerial optical illusion sustained for months. Taiwan as a backdrop. Not only that. Apparently, the trajectories were not random. Many were projected towards the Bashi channelcritical point between Taiwan and the Philippinesand when superimposed on a map of the island they crossed areas of military interest around Taipei and its southern coast. In fact, they also brushed against American and Japanese bases in Okinawa and the Ryukyu. It wasn’t just about surveillance. The pattern therefore suggests a digital rehearsal to a bigger stagea test of how to generate confusion in the early stages of a crisis in the Strait. Confusion in decisive milliseconds. They remembered in research that, in highly automated conflicts, milliseconds can separate detection from firing. Introducing noise, false identities and contradictory echoes can delay critical decisions and overwhelm chains of command. Although masking would hardly completely fool advanced military radars, it can sow doubts, hide intelligence missions, or fuel disinformation operations. The key is not so much to disappear. Is seem like something else. If China invades, the warning could be a fiction. Ultimately, the most disturbing idea is not only that a drone has been eight months in disguise in front of Taiwan’s radars. It is rather that that capacity has been tested with patience, repetition and apparent impunity. If you will, if China finally decides to go beyond in Taiwannot even the island itself is going to realize at the first moment what it is seeing on its screens. Because from now on, what appears might not be what actually flies. And that is the true revolution of the movement: a possible invasion that begins, not with missiles, but with a false identity flashing on the radar. An “ally” that comes close and that in reality is not so much. Image | 中文（臺灣）：​中華民國總統府, Mztourist – In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: China has concentrated thousands of fishing boats off Japan, and its idea is not to fish In Xataka | China has just mounted the largest cannon in its history on the bow of a ship. And that can only point in one direction

The X-59 has flown and the illusion of the commercial supersonic aircraft returns

by

Today, civil supersonic flight is a distant memory, a feat that left more questions than certainties after the end of the concorde. The industry focused on efficiency and autonomy, and the dream of crossing continents faster was shelved, in part because the sonic boom noise made it a limited and controversial privilege. Today that dream appears again, not with grandiose promises, but with a very specific objective: to demonstrate that you can fly faster than sound without shaking those on the ground. That return is no longer an intention expressed in documents or a static prototype. On October 28, 2025, the X-59 left the ground for the first time since PalmdaleCalifornia, and landed shortly after at NASA’s Armstrong Center in Edwards. The output was deliberately contained, intended to validate systems and basic behavior in flight. After landing, Lockheed Martin assured that “the X-59 performed exactly as planned,” a sign that the project is entering the phase in which tests replace mockups and promises. The project that aspires to change half a century of air rules The X-59 is a technological demonstrator developed by NASA together with Lockheed Martin to try to solve the biggest obstacle to civil supersonic flight: noise. Instead of the boom that has limited these aircraft for decades, its design seeks produce a much softer “hit”. Its long and stylized fuselage, the cabin located in the middle of the fuselage and a 4K external vision system instead of a front window They are essential pieces of that objective. It does not aspire to be a commercial aircraft, but rather to generate the data that could allow it one day. The first flight was cautious by design. NASA had anticipated that the initial outing would focus on testing systems integration, stability and communications, without yet entering high speeds or extreme altitudes. According to planning, it was a circuit at low altitude and low speed to validate the essentials: that the aircraft responds, that the telemetry flows and that the controls behave as expected. Supersonic will come later, when the program advances to the next phase of testing. The aircraft was officially presented in January 2024 at the Skunk Works facilities The road to that first flight has been long. NASA launched the project in 2016 and initially set takeoff for 2020, a deadline that was moved after facing technical challenges identified in 2023. The aircraft was officially presented in January 2024 at the Skunk Works facilities and, throughout 2025, completed engine tests, integration checks and running rehearsals. On July 10 of that year, Test pilot Nils Larson performed the first low-speed taxi, a sign that the ground phase was coming to an end. From this point, the program enters progressive mode. First, additional verification flights will be completed and then the speed and altitude will be increased until reaching the planned supersonic regime, with a ceiling of Mach 1.4 according to the official roadmap. NASA and Lockheed Martin will collect aerodynamic and acoustic data during this stage at the Edwards base. Later, the plane will fly over inhabited areas to evaluate the public’s reaction, a key piece to convey results to regulators. Beyond technology, the supersonic challenge involves regulation. In the United States, passenger flights at more than Mach 1 over land They have been banned since 1973when Congress imposed the measure due to the acoustic impact. Other countries apply similar restrictions. The Quesst program attempts to provide scientific evidence that allows these rules to be reconsidered, not based on hypotheses, but on verifiable measurements. If NASA can demonstrate that the noise of the X-59 is tolerable, civil aviation could recover some of the ground lost after Concorde. It is advisable not to confuse the X-59 with a prototype of a future passenger plane. It is, above all, a test bed. It will not transport civilians nor will it go on sale: its function is to generate evidence on the feasibility of silent supersonic flight. NASA intends for acoustic and social data to serve as a reference to adjust regulation. From there, if the industry considers that the scenario is favorable, commercial designs inspired by this experiment could emerge, but that horizon is still far away. From now on, each flight will provide information that will allow us to know if the X-59 bet has a future beyond investigation. The key will not be in the maximum speed, but in the sound footprint and the social response generated by the essays about real communities. Only then will regulators decide whether it is time to review rules that have remained largely unchanged since the 1970s. The project does not promise a new Concorde, but it does promise the possibility of opening a route that until now seemed closed. Images | Lockheed Martin (1, 2) In Xataka | The Comac C919 symbolizes China’s aerial dream: the trade war threatens to clip its wings in mid-takeoff

It is the illusion that the industry needed

by

There were unbelievers who claimed that the expectation around ‘Silksong‘, the hopeful sequel to’ Hollow Knight ‘, was more a meme than a real craving for the players community. The launch has been in charge of shutting up Bocas: the hurricane of ‘Silksong’ has blown with such force that it has not only brought records of concurrent players, but has momentarily left out of service to stores more than prepared to withstand avalanches of people. Perhaps they are just the first moments of glory that Silksong intends to provide. Digital collapse. The fury for ‘Silksong’ on its exit day was such a caliber that collapsed the main digital platforms In their first hours for sale: Steam, Nintendo Eshop, PlayStation Store and Xbox Store suffered falls and errors, preventing thousands of users from completing the purchase or download of the game. Even services such as Game Pass recorded saturation, reflecting an unprecedented demand for an indie title. In fact, this demand level can be measured with AAA games belonging to successful franchises, rather than with independent partners. Concurrent records. ‘Silksong ‘also burst all Prior records of simultaneous players In Steam, exceeding 535,000 concurrent players in just 15 minutes after the premiere and touching the 600,000 just hours later. If we compare with your precedentthe first ‘Hollow Knight’ took years to reach a peak of 73,000 simultaneous players. These figures place ‘Silksong’ as one of the most powerful premieres in Steam’s recent history, exceeding AAA releases such as ‘GTA V’, ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ or ‘Elden Ring: Nighttreign’ on its first day. It was seen coming. This expectation had already resonated for months, or even years. Recently, ‘Silksong’ had become the most desired game in Steam, with almost 5 million users, pointing it on their desire list. It was an amount greater than that of Grabonds Blockbusters like ‘Battlefield 6’. You cannot say that we have caught us by surprise: as our life -estate companions say, We know perfectly what we come with ‘Silksong‘. We are going to find a perfectly polished metroidvania, with exquisite mechanics and a graphic finish on the line of its precedent. And yet, players have formed never seen in an indie title. There are reasons. And the main one is the price, we are not going to fool ourselves. The less than 20 euros that Team Cherry asks is a commercial maneuver (not all indies – or want – to allow such a low price), it is clear, but also, Cas we count a few days ago, A sleeve cut to the industry. In times when even a company mainstream With good reputation as Nintendo gives the impression of swelling more prices of the account, the price of ‘Silksong’ is almost a love letter to the environment, above commercial interests. And he claims indie ethics, the only sector of the industry where plays are not covered with a halo of cynicism. Save the mystery. Although the first and frantic contact shots are beginning to appear on the Internet so as not to lose the thread of today, ‘Silksong’ has also wanted (again, not everyone can afford it, but the expectation generated has left the waist to Team Cherry for something like that) that we all enjoy the game at the same time. There have not been previews for press, there have been no codes for media that lead to unwanted leaks. ‘Silksong’ is in the ‘Hollow Knight’ line, we already knew that but has dozens of secrets to discover, and without a doubt that has also increased the expectations and desire of the players. A mixture of maneuvers calculated to the millimeter and honest vocation to like and surprise, completely oblivious to the great mastodon of the industry. ‘Silksong’ deserves the success it is having and more: we did not see so much honest and simple illusion for a launch in recent years, so again we believe in video games. And that is priceless. In Xataka | This game has been scheduled by only one person, and there is already talk of him as one of the great shooters of the year

Tesla had opted a good part of his year to a Tesla Model and below 40,000 euros. Right now is an illusion

by

The year 2025 has not started for Elon Musk’s company as expected. In fact, it has begun in all the ways that could not be expected if you are in charge of a car company. At the fall in the price of shares one has to add more or less continuous attacks to the company itself with boycots of all kinds (some violent and very dangerous) and a Decrease in really alarming sales. Although it is about to see to what extent sales have been weighed down by the hangover to modernize the production lines to get the new Tesla Model and Juniper (which also came out in its most expensive version) and it is foreseeable that they grow over time, the truth is that the thermometer In countries where more electric cars are sold He has jumped the alarms. In France and Germanythe sales of his Tesla Model and have been very poor. And that is a problem for the company since in both cases we talk about countries where activists have been more belligerents against Tesla and where Elon Musk’s political approach with the extreme right has been more criticized. Part of the strategy to refloat sales was to put on the market a small and cheaper tesla. It has all the meaning of the world since SUVs are still the best selling models and the company needs an alternative that moves below 40,000 euros, with competition squeezing strongly. This tesla model and will be called, according to The Wall Street JournalTesla Model Q. The newspaper assured in December 2024 that the company’s plans went to launch this model in the coming months. Of course, it would not be the $ 25,000 car that Elon Musk has promised, this option would be more than $ 37,000. However, Reuters It ensures that these plans have been delayed and that it will not be until 2026 when we see this model and on a small scale. Better for 2026 The news agency pointed out a few weeks ago that this Tesla Model and small would occur in the United States but that there were also plans to produce it in Europe and China, so it is expected that the assembly lines could be both products at the same time and, therefore, share a good part of the components. Then, in March, Reuters He pointed out that internal sources of Tesla estimated the cost savings of production of this new electric car at 20%. It is not known if that cost reduction would be associated, for example, to a smaller battery. What the agency’s journalists assure is that the new Tesla Model Q or Tesla Model and in more affordable format would be little affected by tariffs. They point out that Tesla has been promoting the internal supply of their pieces in the United States for two years and, therefore, it would have less components affected by the new commercial barriers applied by Donald Trump that tax with 25% the import of cars but also of the pieces arrived from outside although the car is manufactured on US soil. However, and although they expected to produce 250,000 vehicles in their plants in the United States, Tesla has delayed the plans to 2026 but it is not clear what are the reasons that have led to making this decision. Keep in mind that at the end of last year the information of The Wall Street Journal He already referred to an internal document of the company shared with Deutsch Bank, so The vehicle should be very advanced In its development. It is not the first time that the company delays plans related to its lowest cost cars. For years he has been talking (and promising) that we would see a tesla of $ 25,000 but Elon Musk rejected this route during the presentation of the Tesla Cybercab And, even, this possibility of “Absurd idea”. The company’s owner has prioritized autonomous driving, ensuring that this source of income will be key to Tesla in the coming years. However, the competition is tightening and already has cars like the KIA EV3 or the Renault Mégane E-Tech (among others), vehicles that would fight with that future Tesla Model q or Tesla Model and in miniature for price and size and that are already sold for less than 40,000 euros. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | “Cheaper than a BMW 330i”: the owner of a Tesla Model 3 reveals how much has spent five years with her electric car

The electric car has sold more than ever this February without Moves plan. It is an illusion that will end soon

by

We already have enrollments last February. In Spain, 90,327 cars were recorded, 11% of cars more than in the same period of 2024. Growth is striking but it is not as much as electric cars enrollments, which grow 60.4% and continue to chain good sales figures compared to what we had so far. According to data from the National Association of Vehicle Sellers and Repairing (Ganvam) and the Business Association for the Development and Impulse of Electric Mobility (Aedive)in last February they enrolled 6,260 electric cars. It is one 60.4% rise Regarding the same period of the year 2025. and in the accumulated of January and February, Spain adds 11,419 vehicles enrolled, which represents an increase of 54.9%. But, wasn’t it a market stopped without the aid to the electric car? Were not essential state subsidies to sell these vehicles? How can it be that we have not been helpful for weeks and at the same time more electric cars are sold than ever? Well, because the electric cars that are reflected in these data are not being sold. Or, at least, this is not exactly like that. Some data that arrive late To understand well what is happening, the difference between car sales and registration must be clear. It may seem the same but it is not exactly like that. The sale of cars is the transaction that makes a brand or concessionaire with an individual or a company. That sale You can go hand in hand with a registration That same month but you can also count the sale in January and not arrive registration until March. If the bought car is responsible for a factory or, simply, it has already been manufactured but is on its way to the concessionaire, it is very likely that the customer has to wait a few weeks or months for the car to be delivered. At that time the registration is recorded and it is when it is counted in the listings that are usually used to be clear about the “bought” vehicles in Spain even if it is not exactly like that. Another good example is what happens at the end of the year. Car sales and enrollments usually have similar numbers but it is possible that registration exceed sales. This is because in the months of November and December, companies often tighten the accelerator with automation. They serve to slightly make up the numbers or comply with the quotas assigned for each country within the company’s commercial strategy at the continental level (European Union) or world. You just have to see how Tesla substantially increases records of deliveries in the last month of each quarter and the end of the year. Those automatrications They have not been sold and then you have to give them exit. The manufacturer appears better in the photo and allows him to have an available stock of vehicles that can be delivered at any time to the customer who wishes. Of course, the car will drop in price and the profit margin achieved by the manufacturer will be lower. In addition, there is a risk of creating a stock too large, devaluing the product. This is what It happened to Stellantis in the United StatesFor example. Therefore, if the car is not delivered in the same month of the purchase, we have a delay in the data that we are collecting. The hangover in the electric car This is the same that is happening with the electric car. Last January 23, Electric car aid fell. Since then, those who have approached the dealers to be interested in the purchase of a new vehicle will have found a higher price to the one who could expect. Since the fall was formalized, the government has launched messages that will reactivate aidrumored that They will be delivered at the time of purchase And, shortly after, rumoring that the procedure will be the same as until now although it will be reduce waiting times To collect help. In summary, A lot of noise But no concrete measure approved. The lack of these aid has triggered the fear that electric car sales would stop dry but enrollment figures, as we see, do not reflect it. So what can be happening? There are several possibilities. In the first place, electric cars are arriving at the market that were commissioned a few months ago, when the MOVES III PLAN that he delivered to 7,000 euros of help to the purchase and a maximum of 3,000 euros with its relief in the income statement. What we have in hand are enrollments, therefore, from electric cars that were bought under the umbrella of the Moves III Plan. Another discharge possibility is that the manufacturer returned the purchase signal to whom he had commissioned an electric car and those cars have preferred to automatically. Until now, the aids were also contemplated for semi -new vehicles, so the manufacturer may have automatulated the conscious car that it will lose some money but that the future buyer can continue opting for the subsidy if a future Moves plan is renewed in the same terms. Finally, it remains to wait (if a new line of aid is not approved) to know the real impact of the situation. Experience in other European countries He tells us that, without aid, the electric car stops dry. The impact on the potential sales that could have been made from January 23, in which the fall of subsidies was confirmed, we will not know it if time goes by and we continue without a plan. From Ganvam have this same reading and the information that manufacturers have transferred to us when we have had contact with them is the same. They assure us that, taking temperature with the thermometer they have with His own dealersinterest in electrical models has stopped dry since it is known that there are no aid for them. Therefore, orders have slowed down and if a line … Read more

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.