impossible

The Balearic Islands welcome an invasive plant that until now was impossible in its waters

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In October 2023, a group of divers were fully immersed in the Bay of La Palma when they found something that should not be there: a tropical marine plant rooted in the bed, where we usually find either sandy bottoms or Posidonia meadows. The notice from the Balearic Center for Applied Biology was confirmed through dives by the CSIC-UIB and CEAB-CSIC teams and the discovery was published in Mediterranean Marine Science. The presentations. The name of tropical marine plant is Halophila stipulacea and it is a seagrass and not an algae (unlike algae, it has roots, stems and leaves), much smaller than the native Posidonia Oceanica, with which it now shares spaces. And although it has appeared about 3 kilometers from the port of Palma, on a sandy bottom, it is foreign: its origin comes from the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, although as a good tropical came to the Caribbean. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 was its one-way ticket to the Mediterranean, however in these 150 years its expansion was only recorded in the eastern area, never as far west as the Balearic Islands. It is already a total colonization. Context. The waters of the Mediterranean Sea are warming more than the global average: between 1982 and 2019, its surface temperature increased by 1.3 °C compared to a global average of 0.6 °C, according to MedECC data. In summer, the temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea recorded in the Balearic Islands They are around 30 °C. This point is important because it marks a milestone: the conditions of the Mediterranean are changing. That is, Halophila may have reached this far west before, but it did not have favorable conditions to survive and now it does. As explains Andrés Arona, first author of the study and Imedea researcher, is “a clear indication of the ‘tropicalization’ of the Mediterranean.” Why is it important. To begin with, because Halophila Stipulacea acts as a biological thermometer of real change in the Mediterranean. A tropicalization that opens the doors to some species and closes them to otherslike Posidonia or corals. But it also matters because the worrying precedent of the Caribbeanwhere its rapid colonization of large areas reduced biodiversity, altering the ecosystem. Something that is already happening in the eastern Mediterranean. Potential environmental impact. Given its presence in degraded sandy bottoms, its effect is ambivalent: it can increase structural complexity, although it can also displace the fauna typical of these bottoms. The greatest risk, however, would be if it came to compete with native phanerogams such as Posidonia oceanicasomething it has already done with other species in the Caribbean, where it colonized large areas in less than 20 years. The difference between both plants is not trivial. in words from Imedea researcher, Fiona Tomàs, “Posidonia is like a sequoia, Halophila is much smaller”: Posidonia generates a structural complexity that supports breeding habitats for hundreds of species and accumulates carbon in another order of magnitude. Halophila It does not generate anywhere near that architecture or that carbon storage. A change in species dominance would profoundly alter the ecosystem. What can be done. The good news is that this detection has been early and the sooner the warning comes, the more room there is to take action. The not so good thing is that it is a plant with its seeds and that the most definitive thing would be for the Mediterranean to reverse its tropicalization, but that means stopping the global warming. Little joke. In Xataka | The Ebro is filling with brown prawns, an invasive species that we are going to find more and more on our plates. In Xataka | The US has such a big problem with Asian carp in its rivers that it has decided something extreme: electrocute them Cover | Benjamin Guichard and Mariya Oliynyk

Mexico has placed impossible tariffs on Chinese cars. What they didn’t imagine was that the cars were already there.

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Export to buckets. That was China’s goal in 2025 towards Mexico. Alerted by the enormous tariffs that the country was going to impose, as it has been, Chinese manufacturers have done everything possible to be faster than the Government. Now, exporting a car to Mexico from China is unfeasible. But the Chinese cars arrived months ago. taxes. Was a 20% tariff on Chinese cars too little? Mexico believes so and that is why, since January 2026, it has been applying a new 50% tariff on imports of products arriving from countries with which it does not have trade agreements. Come on, what Chinese cars now have to pay 50% tariffs to enter Mexico. The measure, explained in Motorpasión Mexico has a bit of a protectionist flavor compared to China or India (the latter country has Mexico as the third country to which it sends the most cars). But, above all, It has a lot of nods to the United Stateswith whom Mexico has a special trade agreement that has been at risk since Donald Trump returned to the White House. when you go. I will tell an anecdote from the writing of Xataka. In our Slack we have a reaction from Chenoa to point out to someone that we were already contemplating writing on a topic that he now proposes to us again. You know: “when you go…”. And that is what has happened to Mexico with China. Manufacturers, alarmed by the possibility of tariffs being raised in their country of origin (as has finally happened) began to send all the cars they could to Mexico. The result: 625,187 cars exported to Mexico in one year. They have done “a Chenoa” to Mexico. one in three. To understand the magnitude of exports, according to data from the China Passenger Car AssociationMexico is the country to which China exported the most cars in 2025. These more than 625,000 vehicles surpassed those purchased by Russia (582,738 units), which has serious difficulties in obtaining vehicles from abroad. The United Arab Emirates, with 571,937 cars imported from China, was the third country that received the most cars. The figure is enormous. And in Mexico around 1.5 million cars are bought a year. That is, if in 2026 each and every one of the cars exported by China were sold, in 2025 we would be talking about one in every three sales in the country being from Chinese manufacturers. How many are available? Those exports, of course, leave a pool of cheap cars in stock so the impact of Chinese cars on the market will continue to be felt for some time. It must be taken into account that it is calculated that China had already taken 15% market share. The storage of these cars, everything indicates, guarantees that Chinese brands continue selling at the same rate throughout the year. They point out in Motorpasión Mexico In 2025, it is estimated that Mexicans will buy just over 400,000 cars of Chinese origin. The only question is how many of them belong to the more than 630,000 cars imported last year and how much is the stock since a part of them must have been imported into the country in 2024. Photo | aboodi vesakaran and BYD In Xataka | Japan has been charging a 0% tariff on foreign cars for half a century. It will be very difficult for you to find one on the street.

The Chinese side has a weapon that is impossible for the European side.

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Talk about technological and commercial war leads us to look at United States and China. They are the two who star in the great conflict between vetoes and a race for technological independence. But between the Netherlands and China there is a bunch of look at me and don’t touch me. In the eye of the storm is Nexperia, a Chinese semiconductor company, but based in the Netherlands. After a public breakup and a civil war between the two headquarters, Nexperia China has just threatened something very big: they are capable of manufacturing wafers 12 inches… and the unit in Europe no. And it is something that adds to that technological sovereignty that China pursues. Summary of the sauce. Before getting into the matter, it is worth reviewing because history has gone from 0 to 100 in just a few months. Nexperia is a manufacturer that originated from the split of the Dutch company NXP Semiconductors. They are, as their name indicates, a semiconductor company, the material with which the chips that all our devices contain are created. China has been wanting to consolidate its semiconductor industry for years, even before Trump’s veto, and bought Nexperia in 2017 for $2.75 billion. The headquarters were in the Netherlands, but the owner was a Chinese consortium backed by the country’s government. In October 2025, the surprise arrived: Netherlands confiscated Nexperia by surpriseallowing the country full control of its operations. Aim? Protect Europe’s chips. Consequence? Very risky move in relations with China that were already deteriorating. The next move was breakup of the Chinese part of Nexperia with the European onethe stoppage of chip shipping which threatened world automobile production for a time and totally broken communications between both parties. It is not that the company was divided into two separate entities: it was that it was one body with two brains. And they didn’t speak. Be careful what a mess. With this said, we return to the present. Although relations were still very tense, they seemed to have eased somewhat until, a few days ago, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce warned that tensions between Nexperia Netherlands and Nexperia China were flourishing again. It seems that the Dutch side had disabled the professional accounts of all your employees in China (we are talking about key work systems such as Office 365 and similar) and China said “yes? Well, I’m not sending you materials to make wafers.” From China, this action was classified as unforgivable as it “seriously disrupted the company’s normal production and operations.” And the threat came: “if a new crisis arises in global semiconductor production and supply chains, the Netherlands will be to blame.” This is something that would affect, above all, to the automotive industryand we already have enough with the RAM crisis. Shortly after, on March 6, Nexperia China reported that many operations had already resumed and Nexperia Netherlands, without denying the action, questioned whether it had really been as serious for the Chinese side as they were making it out to be. 12 inch wafers. The Dutch side was very well positioned in wafer manufacturing and was supplying them to Nexperia China before they stopped talking to each other. Since then, the Chinese side has secured suppliers and improved its technology on its own. And they are not doing badly. In a statement published by Nexperia China, the company stated have started small-scale production of 12-inch wafers. In them, it “prints” the same components that are also manufactured in the Dutch part, but with a nuance: the Chinese wafers are larger. The larger the wafer, the more you can “print” on it and the easier it is to develop large-scale production. This means more chips at lower prices due to economies of scale. According to the Chinese side, Nexperia Netherlands cannot manufacture 12-inch wafers in European facilities, so they now have the advantage. a wafer And in detail. The larger the wafer, the more it can be “printed” and the more chips can come off a single wafer. Local supply. This has two implications. On the one hand, what we talked about: economies of scale and the ability for automakers to buy from China instead of the Netherlands. On the other hand, the demonstration that they can manage on their own with other suppliers. Now, it esteem that the Shanghai plant has a production capacity of 30,000 wafers per month compared to Nexperia’s 83,000 in Hamburg, but of course, if they have found the key to producing larger wafers, in the end fewer wafers can yield more. And beyond all, it is a demonstration of the extent to which the two sides are going their separate ways and, in recent communicationsnone of them have any intention of fixing things. And, in the end, it is one more example of something bigger: it is currently impossible to separate global technology from geopolitics. Images | Steve JurvetsonJohn McMaster In Xataka | Spain is betting its future in the semiconductor industry on a single card: gallium chips

In Spain, getting a house has become an impossible mission. There are those who are receiving them as a donation in exchange for taking care of dogs

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It happened in Madrid. ‘Subject A’ barely has contact with his children but feels enormous affection for his dogs, so he decides to reach an agreement with ‘subject B’: he will donate his home in usufruct if he agrees to take care of his pets. If ‘Subject B’ complies, no problem. If the animals end up unattended, you risk having the donation revoked. That of ‘A’ and ‘B’ is just one case commented a few days ago to The Newspaper (EPE) by a lawyer with an office in the capital, but it reflects a larger phenomenon: the increase in donationsincluding conditional ones. And it makes sense. What has happened? that in full housing crisiswith rental prices and m2 climbing to levels that remember to those of the brick ‘boom’, each time is more common meet donation signatures in notarial offices. Money is donated. And homes are donated. It’s nothing new. The trend has been going on for some time now. some time and it is part of a broader phenomenon that we have been talking about for some time, the ‘Great transfer’. What is striking is that just revealed EPE: not only do donations in general skyrocket, so do ‘conditional’ donations, those in which the agreement is subject to a series of previously agreed upon requirements. Donations with conditions? Exactly. Tax authorities defines them as agreements by which the donation is conditioned to certain requirements. “For it to be valid, the donee must be able to execute the condition or it must be an event with a high probability of occurring,” clarify the Treasury, which thus differentiates it from other types such as ‘pure’ or ‘remunerative donation’. Its dynamic is therefore simple: donor and donee reach an agreement on which the donation is conditional. It is fulfilled, perfect. If not fulfilled, the good returns to the donor. That is the logic, although in practice there are certain nuances. For example, the donation does not always have to take place at the same time. The donated property can be delivered when the agreement is signed or left in suspense waiting for the agreed conditions to be met. What do people agree? EPE has spoken with several offices in the Community of Madrid and has come across agreements of all kinds. For example, a grandmother who donates her house to her granddaughter in exchange for her finishing her degree and studying a master’s degree, donations to caregivers or (probably the most striking of all) transfers that are conditional on the care of animals. “There are cases in which the house is donated with the condition that the recipient takes care of their pet for as long as it is alive,” clarifies Manuel Hernándezby Vilches Abogados. “This guarantees (the donor) that if they die, their pet will be taken care of. It can also be done by inheritance, with a conditional legacy.” Is it just theory? No. As an example, Hernández cites the case with which this report began: a man from Madrid decided to donate his home to a friend in exchange for her taking care of his three dogs. “She had little connection with her children and was very fond of animals, so she donated her house in usufruct to a younger friend, if she would take care of her dogs. If this condition was not met, the revocation procedure could be initiated,” says the expert. The phenomenon is increasingly common and part of the “humanization” of pets. Is that easy? In practice, the agreements have fine print. It I remembered recently in COPE the lawyer Carolina Florez de Quiñones, who recognizes this type of conditional transfers, just like those directed to caregivers of the elderly; but he warns: “No one can leave alive what he cannot leave dead.” What does that mean? That the will of the person who donates is one of the key factors to take into account, but not the only one. Another is forced heirs. A living donation that damages your ‘legitimate status’ may end up being considered ‘unhelpful’. Are there more formulas? Yes. Another formula that has become popular is the donation of housing in bare propertywhich basically consists of transferring ownership of an asset without the rights of use and enjoyment. If we are talking about an apartment, that means that the donor can pass it on to his children, grandchildren, nephews or whoever he considers, but without giving up the usufruct of the home for the rest of his life. That is, the donor continues to enjoy the apartment as if nothing had changed, which implies that he or she can live in it or even rent it. Have they increased that much? The donations, definitely. In October the General Council of Notaries (CGN) published a report which shows that between 2017 and 2024 housing donations skyrocketed by almost 68%: from 32,623 they went to 54,735. During the first half of 2025 alone, it counted 27,000 donations. At the same time, notaries recorded an increase in inherited homes. The backdrop is the rising cost of housing and the difficulties of access for young people, which partly explains why grandparents, parents, uncles… come to the ‘rescue’ of the new generations, facilitating their access to the market. What do the notaries say? “The data show a clear increase in donations and inheritances of homes from older people to the following generations,” confirms the CGN. In case there were any doubts about its growing weight, the group also remembers that the number of inherited and donated homes in 2024 would be equivalent, overall, at 64% of purchase and sale operations. Not only housing is donated. Money is also transferred from the pockets of grandparents or parents to grandchildren/children to make it easier for them to get a mortgage. The question remains as to how many of these donations come with conditions. Images | Pam Mene (Unsplash), Yen Vu (Unsplash) and General Council of Notaries In Xataka | There are rich people so bored with their … Read more

Verdeliss’s latest challenge reminds us that impossible challenges are huge business

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Before we get into the matter, let me ask you an indiscreet question: What did you do between seven in the afternoon on Wednesday and the same time on Thursday? Most likely several things, including eating, sleeping, and stretching your legs. Of all of them Estefanía Unzu, better known by her alias ‘Verdeliss’he only did the last one. And in an unorthodox way. During 24 hours the influencer He dedicated himself to running on a treadmill installed behind a shop window in Madrid. It is the umpteenth proof of two trends that they walk run hand in hand: business and the fever generated by impossible challenges, a field that Verdeliss know well. What has happened? If in the last few hours you have stopped by the Decathlon store in Nuevos Ministerios (Orense Street, Madrid) it is quite likely that you have been surprised. On Wednesday the 25th at 7:01 p.m. in its window you could see a treadmill with a runner taking strides. At 2:00 a.m. the image was identical. And at 6:59 p.m. on Thursday the 26th, the same thing happened. The surprising thing is that during all that time (the 24 hours from 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday) the person who ran on the treadmill was always the same: Verdeliss. His balance: 24 hours of walking and more than 250 km. Why did he do it? Advertising. The challenge is part of the campaign orchestrated by Decathlon to promote the sneakers Kipride Maxof Kiprunthe brand with which the French chain aspires to expand its space in the growing business athletics and amateur running. In fact, the company has been in charge of giving visibility to the Verdeliss challenge on its networks, with videos, photos, interviews with passers-by and of course to the influencer herselfwho before starting to run assured that his objective is to test his limits. The underlying purpose: to take advantage of the challenge to give notoriety to the new Decathlin sneakers and provide them with a place in a hypercompetitive market, in which large multinationals such as Adidas or Nike work in different price ranges and frequently launch promotions. Kiprin introduced the Kipride Max ago just a monthpromote them as daily training shoes “designed to offer the brand’s most cushioned and comfortable ride.” Why Verdeliss? Because of his public profile. Runners there are many. Influencers, too. Estefanía Unizo Ripoll (‘Verdeliss’) has however managed to gain notable fame. And it has done so with two ingredients: an unconventional profile and a commitment to extreme challenges like Decathlon. The influencer Navarre has 40 years, eight children and combines his love for extreme sports with his businesswoman facet and media figure (he reached go through Big Brother). Since he joined YouTube in 2008, his profile has also changed: from basically publishing family content he has turned towards extreme sports. If his name sounds familiar to you even if you don’t follow current events running maybe it’s because in 2025 he went for it World Marathon Challengea test that consists of seven marathons in seven days and different continents. And that is just one of the challenges he has conquered. Another is the national championship 100 km on the road. Why is it important? Because Decathlon’s challenge not only tells us about it. It also tells us a lot about the fever (and business) generated around impossible challenges. People like to explore (or see how others explore) physical limits, whether climbing skyscrapersjumping from heart attack distances either swimming and running enormous distances with hardly any breaks. Behind many of these initiatives there are sponsorships (also campaigns with a more or less solidarity approach) and above all a huge media exposure for those who star in them. Verdeliss, for example, adds some 1.6 million of followers on Instagram and others 2.1 million on YouTube. The organization of extreme events also opens a business avenue: without going any further, participating in the World Marathon Challenge requires paying tens of thousands of euros. With yesterday’s campaign, Decathlon manages to position itself in a hypercompetitive market and the influencer (beyond the promotional agreement itself) feeds her image as an athlete capable of conquering extraordinary challenges, traveling 255 km in 24 hours. In the background there is another debate: to what extent facing challenges like this pushes the body to its limits. In the past Unzu herself has recognized having done “savages” and who does not seek to be “exemplary.” In fact, he even warns his followers: “Don’t do this in your house.” Images |Decathlon (IG) and Verdeliss In Xataka | The Winter Olympics leave Italy with a debt of 7.8 million dollars. Not to organize them, to win them

Catching an offender on a scooter on foot is impossible. So the Valencia police are going to chase them on scooters

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Yes, electric scooter users have to respect traffic rules. In fact, in recent years specific regulations have been created for them. But there is a problem: “catching” an offender on a scooter is almost impossible. And that is why in Valencia they have gotten to work creating a new unit. One who rides a scooter. on scooter. “We are convinced that this unit is going to be a success and will be a benchmark. There are already town councils from all over Spain that have asked us and want to know how it works,” The words are from María José Catalámayor of Valencia, at the presentation of the city’s new municipal police unit. The objective will be to ensure that users of scooters and other personal mobility vehicles circulate in compliance with traffic regulations on the city’s bike lanes. Their powers range from fining those who circulate incorrectly to those who do so with tricked out scooters or under the influence of alcohol. The scooter in Valencia. The information presented by the Valencia City Council specifies that the city has 200 kilometers of bicycle lanes and that between 2019 and 2023 the use of this means of transport skyrocketed, growing by 186% in those years. Creating a specific group with 12 officers to control traffic while patrolling on scooters is the latest decision by a city that is trying to bring non-compliant users into line. In 2024 they already presented their own machine to control which scooters complied or did not comply with the regulations in a kind of mobile MOT. According to data from the City Council collected by elDiario.esaccidents involving scooters have skyrocketed. In 2019, 346 incidents were recorded where they were present but in 2025 they will already reach 1,192. That is, at least three incidents daily throughout the year. Escapism. The press release that the Valencia City Council has published to confirm this information makes it clear what one of the problems they are facing in the city is: The use of the VMP allows a patrol integrated into the urban mobility network, with greater capacity for direct observation and precise detection of infractions such as inappropriate speed, improper circulation or dangerous maneuvers. Its small size and great maneuverability facilitate rapid approach to conflict points and inspection of the state of the lane, signage and safety elements. In interventions with offending users, VMPs offer the necessary agility to safely reach and detain those who try to evade police action. This unit efficiently and sustainably reinforces the police presence in spaces where traditional citizen security vehicles show operational limitations. And the agility and speed with which an electric scooter moves makes it very difficult for an agent to stop it unless, at that very moment, it is riding a bicycle. Even by car, a patrol can have problems if, for example, an offender steps onto a sidewalk or travels on a segregated bike lane. good money. It must be taken into account that, although you do not need a driving license of any kind as is the case with a bicycle, using an electric scooter requires compliance with basic traffic rules. For example: The user must wear a helmet Only one person can circulate per scooter Driving on sidewalks and pedestrian crossings is prohibited. Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is prohibited Mobile phone use prohibited It is prohibited to wear headphones It must be taken into account that some of the above infractions are classified as serious or very serious within the Traffic Law and, therefore, a user who drives under the influence of alcohol cannot have points removed from his or her driving license but can be fined 500 euros. More watched. In recent years we have seen how electric scooter users are beginning to be more vigilant. It must be taken into account that we are talking about a device that, almost by default, can circulate at a maximum speed of 25 km/h, which is obliged to move on asphalt and bike lanes but which on many occasions we find them on the sidewalk. This has led the DGT to create a record of all scooters soldwith a type of license plate that must be present on the chassis of the vehicle to demonstrate that it complies with the legal technical characteristics. In addition, users will have to have civil liability insurance for their use. Photo | Valencia City Council In Xataka | Arrested for driving an electric scooter capable of going 111 km/h: more than four times the permitted speed

The problem is how to prove something that is not impossible

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The capture of Nicolás Maduro by the US special forces has generated one of those stories that, due to its form and timing, seem designed to colonize the collective imagination even before a verifiable version of the events can be established. The rumor: Washington has been able to use its own secret weapon from a Marvel movie. It’s not impossible, and that’s the catch. The perfect rumor. We are not talking about something completely new, because this theory already sounded strongly with Washington and Cuba as protagonists years ago. The return of the “sonic weapon” now appears as a perfect story to explain a humiliating defeat. Also to elevate the operation to the category of a technological demonstration: a group of special forces captures Maduro and, according to a guard, leaves the defenders bleeding, dizzy and lying on the ground unable to get up. It is a type of narration that automatically has gone viral because it does not require nuances: it converts a confusing fight in a clear scene of absolute superiority and ends with a deterrent conclusion (“no one should confront the United States”), which is exactly the phrase that an intimidation campaign would want to put in the mouth of the enemy. From TikTok to institutional speaker. The origin of everything is quite flimsy: it appears in a TikTok videoa testimony impossible to verify (an alleged member of the Venezuelan security forces as a witness), then translated and later amplified by commentators with the clear intention of dramatizing it and making it viral. Then something happens that changes everything: the White House spokesperson share it and promote it as required reading. Without confirming anything, this gesture gives it authority and creates the most certain ambiguity: it is not official, but it is no longer a simple hoax, and in that gray area it fuels conversation, fear and propaganda. The Pentagon and SOUTHCOM take shelter in operational securitywhich leaves the ideal void for the myth to grow without the need for evidence. @franklinvarela09 loser of January 23 recognizing the surrender of Diosdado Cabello eschunlo friend s #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – Varela News What we know about the assault. He described operational framework was already, in itself, that of a high-risk mission with specialized means: nighttime heliborne insertion, armed support helicopters, shooting, American injuries and a high number of casualties on the defending side, including foreign military allies of the regime. With surprise, local air superiority, electronic warfare, cyber support, and precise fire, a defensive collapse can occur without the need for mysterious “lightning strikes.” That is why the rumor that has gone viral is not essential to explain the result: it is, in any case, an embellishment that transforms a complex tactical victory into a fable of technological domination. But there is something else. Technology that exists. What really means that the rumor does not die instantly and that many specialized media have remembered, is that it relies on a real background: Washington takes decades researching non-kinetic capabilities and “less lethal” to incapacitate without killing, from the called Active Denial System (millimeter microwaves that cause severe pain) to long-range acoustic devices LRAD type scope and dazzling lasers to deny vision. It has also been explored combine sensory effects (pain, disorientation, temporary blindness, confusion) to break an adversary’s coordination without resorting to immediate lethal fire. There is no doubt that programs exist of this type does not prove that they were used in Caracas, but it does provide veracity: “it may exist” is enough for the story to survive. A briefing slide from about a decade ago describing the “Non-Lethal Weapons Demonstrators” available to the US military at the time, including the Active Denial System and Acoustic Call-type systems “Sonic” as a label. They remembered in Forbes that sound as a weapon has physical limits and is riddled with historical exaggerations: it is easy to promise “paralysis” or “panic” over frequencies, but much more difficult to demonstrate consistent effects beyond hearing damage or disorientation from extreme volume. Furthermore, the TWZ analysts explained that a witness under stress can describe as a “sound wave” any devastating sensory experience: close explosions, flashbangs, overpressure, daze, and trauma. The language of the victim in this scenario does not identify the mechanism, it only transmits an experience, and that difference is crucial when the story travels through networks as if it were a technical report. An ADS prototype loaded into the back of a heavy truck EPIC, the hypothesis. Forbes too emphasized in a more “coherent” alternative with certain symptoms: EPICa concept that would use radiofrequency pulses to interfere with the inner ear and balance, causing extreme vertigo, inability to stand, and visual disorientation. The idea would be tactical and attractive because, unlike sound, radio waves cross obstacles and may feel like pressure or “popping” in the head as it affects the vestibular system. The problem is that there is no public evidence that this program went beyond early phases nor that it exists as an operational capacity, so here it functions more as a credible anchor than as proof. Havana Syndrome. It we count a few years ago. The debate over anomalous health incidents associated with the so-called Havana Syndrome prepared the ground: there was already a conversation about possible invisible mechanisms (acoustic, radioelectric or other) capable of producing real symptoms without an obvious explosion. The official evaluations have oscillated between skepticism about foreign authorship and the caution of not ruling out that a small number of cases could fit with known scientific principles used for harassment or incapacitation. In this scenario, any “invisible weapon” story is feasible because it leads one to think that the strange is not impossible, just classified. The most plausible explanation. If the strongest hypothesis is to be chosen, it is likely to be a combination of actual combat, explosions, distraction devices, smoke, shock and disorganization, amplified by testimony that has every incentive to exaggerate and convert defeat into technological inevitability. Details like “vomiting blood” or … Read more

there is a type of attack that is impossible to block

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The browser is no longer just a window to the Internet and is becoming a tool that also operates within the web. In the case of Agent Mode in ChatGPT AtlasOpenAI explains that its agent views pages and can perform actions, clicks, and keystrokes within the browser, just as a person would. The promise is clear, to help in everyday flows with the same context and the same data. The consequence is also, the more power we concentrate in an agent, the more attractive he becomes to whoever seeks to manipulate him. What is a prompt injection. In simple terms, a prompt injection is a technique that seeks to sneak malicious instructions into apparently normal content so that an artificial intelligence system interprets them as legitimate orders. IBM describes it as a type of cyber attack against language models in which malicious inputs are camouflaged as valid prompts to manipulate the behavior of the system. The objective can range from forcing inappropriate responses to causing information leaks or diverting a task, without the need to exploit classic software vulnerabilities. The root of the problem is less “magical” than it seems and more structural. Many language model applications combine developer instructions and user input as natural language text strings, without rigid separation by data type. The model decides what to prioritize based on learned patterns and the context of the text itself, not because there is an infallible boundary between “order” and “content.” If an external instruction is formulated convincingly, it may gain weight even though it should not. When the context becomes unfathomable. The risk is amplified when the agent does not process a single message, but rather goes through very different sources within the same order. OpenAI warns of a practically unlimited surface, emails and attachments, calendar invitations, shared documents, forums, social networks and arbitrary web pages. In that journey, the agent may encounter unreliable instructions mixed with legitimate content. The user doesn’t always see every step, but the system does consume it, and that’s where manipulation can creep in. The disturbing thing is that this can fit into ordinary workflows without raising any obvious alarm. The AI ​​signature describes an example where an attacker “seeds” an inbox with a malicious email, and later, when the user requests a harmless task, the agent reads that message during normal execution. In one case, the result is intentionally extreme, the agent ends up sending a resignation email instead of composing an automatic response. All this thanks to an external attack. Why there is no perfect shielding. In cybersecurity there is a widely assumed idea, no system is completely secure, and OpenAI frames prompt injection as a persistent problem. In his text he formulates it like this: “We hope that attackers continue to adapt. The injection of prompts, such as scams and social engineering on the web, will hardly be completely resolved.” The objective, therefore, is not to promise invulnerability, but to raise the cost of the attack and reduce the impact when something fails. In this context, those led by Sam Altman explain that it has deployed a security update for the Atlas agent motivated by a new class of attacks discovered through network teaming automated internal. The company says the delivery includes an adversarially trained agent model and strengthened safeguards around the system, intended to improve its resistance to unwanted instructions during navigation. What we do still matters. OpenAI recommends using the offline agent when you don’t need to access sites with an account, and calmly review confirmation requests for sensitive actions, such as sending an email or completing a purchase. He also advises giving explicit and limited instructions, avoiding overly broad assignments that force the agent to go through large volumes of content. It does not eliminate risk, but it reduces opportunities for manipulation and helps existing controls work as designed. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | How often should we change ALL our passwords according to three cybersecurity experts

The nougat promised them happiness in their search for impossible flavors. Until almonds and eggs skyrocketed in price

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If you like to celebrate Christmas with nougat, bad news: this year it will be your turn scratch your pocket more. Quite a bit more, in fact. It doesn’t matter if you prefer soft or hard bars, you love chocolate, you have a favorite manufacturer or you don’t mind trying the white label of your supermarket. You will almost certainly have to pay more. This is concluded by several studies of Facua and the OCUwhich show that Christmas sweets are not immune to the ups and downs of the market. Although it is not the general trend, in their reports they warn of some specific cases in which prices have skyrocketed. above 50%threatening to sour one of the great pleasures of the holidays. The sweet, less sweet. There is no Christmas without nougat, but this year it will be much more expensive to bring it to the table. It reflects it clearly a recent report of the OCU that warns that, on average, the classic almond nougat has become more expensive by 16%. To be more precise, the organization detected an increase of 15.8% in the price of hard tablets and 16.1% in soft tablets. The variants that dispense with added sugars also increased (although to a lesser extent), in which honey or sugar is replaced by sweeteners: in those cases the price has increased, although somewhat less, by 13.6%. One piece of information: €23/kg. The calculations start from an OCU studywhich has dedicated itself to analyzing the prices of more than a hundred nougats. The study focused specifically on the most classic varieties, the almonds, both Alicante (hard) and Jijona (soft). Then their technicians dedicated themselves to purchasing the prices of each tablet with the records they stored from 2024. With the new prices, the average kilo of nougat is in €23/kgalthough if we talk about “brand nougat” that indicator rises to €33/kg. Same photo, different details. Although the report shows a general increase in price, the rise has not been equally intense in all tablets. It influences (a lot) what brand we talk about. The best ones are white label nougat, those sold under the distributor’s labels. In that case the increase has been close to 9.4%. It is a considerable increase, but it pales when compared to the 24.3% increase in the average price of manufacturer brand nougat. Within this category, notable differences are also seen depending on the company and product. Can it go further? Yeah. According to the OCUthe nougats from El Almendro’s “Own Harvest” line cost 37% more than in 2024. The cake, however, goes to El Lobo, which has products in its catalog that cost 57% more today. The organization recognizes in any case that this percentage has an explanation: in its 2024 analysis it appeared as the cheapest, which explains why it has experienced such a pronounced price update. “These increases have turned the price of traditional branded nougat into a luxury item. Manufacturer’s nougat now costs €33/kg on average, compared to €15/kg for supermarket white label nougat,” they explain from the consumer organization. The average value of almond nougat is around €23/kg. Far beyond nougat. The OCU has not been the only one that has taken out the calculator to study how much more we will have to pay for sweets these holidays. FACUA has carried out a similar exercise, which in November I already warned that Christmas desserts had become 15.4% more expensive in large distribution chains. That was at least the average, and the organization was able to detect specific cases with exorbitant “peaks of rise”, of up to 65.3%. The study It analyzed 185 items, including nougat, but also chocolates, mantecados and Polvorones available in several supermarket chains, such as Mercadona, Dia, Hipercor, Alcampo, Eroski and Carrefour. “Only three have gone down”. “Of the total prices analyzed in the months of October 2024 and 2025, only three have decreased compared to last year and eight remain the same. The rest, 174 out of 185, are more expensive,” FACUA warnswhich warns of increases in Hipercor, Alcampo, Carrefour, Eroski, Dia and Mercadona. The clearest case was detected in a Supreme Quality toasted yolk nougat El Corte Inglés Selection from Hipercor: from 2.39 euros in 2024 it went to 3.95 euros, which represents an increase of just over 65%. In general, the organization detected an average increase in the price of sweets of 22.6% since October 2023. Searching for the causes. That nougat is experiencing such a steep price rise is no coincidence. Although there are several factors that come into play, to the OCU and CaixaBank There is one that stands out: the drift in the price of one of its main raw materials, almonds. In fact, the OCU recalls that in higher category tablets it represents more than 60% of the weight, which explains why fluctuations in its price are felt in the rates. Has it risen that much? “Its price has increased significantly: from 90-95 euros per 100 kg of shelled almonds between January and August 2024 to about 120 euros in 2025, with peaks of 138 euros in June,” argues the organizationwhich ensures that varieties such as Marcona, Largueta and Comuna have seen their prices rise from 15 to 25%. It’s not no surprise if we take into account that the almond has reached values ​​not seen since 2019. CaixaBank remember that frosts and droughts have marked the harvest of recent campaigns, affecting prices. If in the 2024-2025 season farmers received an average of 5.6 euros per kilo of communal almonds (the cheapest), in previous seasons that same value hovered around 4.09 or 2.95 euros per kilo. The change in weather conditions has improved the prospects for the campaign that began in September, but this effect has not yet been noticeable in the 2025/26 Christmas nougat campaign. Almonds… and something else. To be fair, almonds are not the only ingredient that has become more expensive in the last year. He has done it too (and not … Read more

Taking a train to go to work in Barcelona or Girona has become an impossible mission

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Finding an AVANT train ticket to move around Catalonia has become quite a risky mission. Thousands of people who travel daily from Girona and Lleida to Barcelona face the impossibility of finding this type of ticket less than two weeks in advance. The high demand has overwhelmed the supply of places on high-speed services, forcing users to plan their trips weeks in advance or risk being left without transportation. The problem in figures. Demand for AVANT services has skyrocketed in recent years. According to Renfe data that share elDiario, in 2024 the Figueres-Barcelona line transported 1.52 million passengers, 43% more than in 2022. From Lleida, the increase was even more pronounced: 488,000 travelers in 2024, 65% more than two years before. This exponential growth has exceeded the capacity of the current infrastructure, creating a bottleneck that especially affects peak demand times. Why are AVANTs collapsed? The phenomenon has several causes. The main one is 50% bonus in the price of the passes implemented in 2022, which has turned these trains into an accessible alternative to the private vehicle. Added to this is the deterioration of the Rodalies and Media Distancia service, plagued by incidents and delayswhich has pushed many users towards high speed. Travel times are also a more attractive factor: 40 minutes from Girona to Barcelona compared to an hour and a half by conventional train, or an hour and a quarter from Lleida compared to more than three hours by Rodalies. The odyssey of getting a ticket. Daniel Blay, who usually takes the Girona-Barcelona train, account to elDiario that “on Monday of each week I try to reserve all the tickets for the following week, because if not you will run out.” For some critical schedules, such as the 7:25 train from Girona, there are no places available “within ten days or two weeks.” From Lleida, the situation is similar. Kevin Bruque, spokesperson for the Avant Catalunya Users platform, explained to the media that “you only find 15 days in advance to get a ticket if you are lucky.” Delays exacerbate chaos. In addition to the shortage of places, users report a significant increase in delays. More than 550 users have a Telegram group for the Girona line, coordinated by Blay, in which they already They have documented 292 delays longer than four minutes only in November 2025. Many of these delays occur on return journeys in the afternoon, when trains accumulate delays from long-distance services from Seville, Valencia or Madrid, according to the media. To solve this problem, many travelers demand shuttle trains that do not depend on connections with other routes, they assured from elDiario. The official response is insufficient. Renfe recognizes that the offer has grown from 1.4 million seats annually in 2022 to 2.4 million in 2024, but users maintain that frequencies have not been added during peak hours, where they are most needed. The operator attributes the delays to the improvement works on the Catalan railway network, especially in the future Sagrera station. However, passengers consider that these explanations do not solve the underlying problem: the need for more trains and more seats. More solutions. Among the urgent measures proposed by several of the traveler platforms, the 50% bonus should be maintained beyond 2025, since its disappearance would make the cost unaffordable for many workers and students. On the other hand, they demand an increase in frequencies and available seats. CCOO has proposed reusing Avlo service trains that are out of use to double the capacity of AVANT, an initiative that the Generalitat has included in its railway strategy under the name Catav, according to share the ARA Newspaper. In the case of Lleida, users also claim to be able to access the empty seats on the Madrid-Barcelona AVE trains that stop in their city, something that is currently only possible on four frequencies. What happens now? The Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque, advertisement last week that the Government is working with the Ministry of Transport to improve AVANT services in Girona and Lleida. CCOO confirms that the ministry has agreed to study the proposal to reuse Avlo trains. It remains to be seen if the proposals end up reaching a solution that clarifies all this chaos. Cover image | Zarateman (Wikipedia) In Xataka | Renfe has three AVRIL trains lost and an even more serious problem: it still does not know when it will receive them

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