impressive

The impressive thing about BYD’s new 1,500 kW chargers is not that they are ultra-fast, it is that they work at -30 ° C

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When less than a year ago we tried the BYD 1MW charger designed for heavy vehicles and capable of providing energy to travel 400 kilometers in five minutes (although with small print), we remember from the words of Stella Li: equals “the experience of filling a tank of gasoline.” But BYD has upped his bet with the second generation of its Blade battery, which brings two notable advances under its belt: greater energy density and an unprecedented charging speed. The goal of Build Your Dreams is for you to be able to charge an electric car while you have a quick coffee. Context. BYD is the firm that in 2025 ousted Tesla as the brand that sells the most pure electric cars. Their arguments are incontestable: the most competitive prices and control of their entire manufacturing chain. Because Build Your Dreams manufactures its batteries, semiconductors and motors, which makes it the Apple of the automotive industry, an advantage in cost, expertise and customization that no Western rival can match today. The key piece of that domain is its Blade batteries. Unlike conventional Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt batteries, it uses Lithium-iron-phosphate: less energy dense but safer. And it eliminates intermediate modules, inserting the cells directly into the pack, which reduces components and makes better use of space. In short: cheaper, safer and more compact. The first generation supported fast charging from 30% to 80% in 25 minutes at 120 kW DC. The middle generation with Super e-Platform reached 1,000 kW. The new technology. What BYD has announced are two systems developed in parallel and better understood together: the battery and the infrastructure. Blade 2.0 maintains its LFP chemistry but arrives with a redesigned cell architecture to gain 5% more energy density. The real leap is thermal management: it has solved fast charging in cold climates, so that it is capable of managing its very fast charging even at temperatures of -30 °C. The flash stations. They operate at 1000 volts, setting a new threshold for ultra-fast charging in the industry, and reach up to 1,500 kW per gun. To get an idea, right now in Europe the top chargers charge at 400-500 kW and are a rarity for poles and cars. These stations bring a new T-shaped design and a comfortable layout for larger fleets. They have announced 20,000 points of this type in 2026, most integrated within existing charging networks. Why is it important. Because if there are two arguments against the electric car, they are a lower range than its combustion counterpart and charging time. Anything longer than filling the tank is seen as a stone in the shoe. BYD’s figures compete with refueling, although logically they depend on whether we are using a compatible charger and car. And within the particularity of electric car charging, the cold is the staunch enemy of fast charging, a problem to take into account and which is not at all trivial in markets such as northern Europe or Canada. If the figures are confirmed in real conditions, it is a turning point. Video of BYD charging at –30 °C. Via: Twitter In figures. The improvements of Blade 2.0 and its Flash stations: Charge from 10% to 70% in just 5 minutes. Charge from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes. Charge from 20% to 97% in 12 minutes at -30°C. Maximum power per gun: 1,500 kW at 1000 V. 20,000 charging points in 2026 (China). Extra bonus: launch of the EV with more autonomy, the Denza Z9 GT (2026): 1,036 km under the CLTC cycle. How have they done it. As explained Wang ChuanfuCEO of BYD, these high charging speeds would inevitably overload the electrical grid, so their solution involves energy storage batteries. The company plans to partner with existing charging networks under a “station within a station” model. The flash stations do not connect directly to the high-voltage electrical grid, but charge themselves using existing conventional fast charging networks (120 kW) so that the batteries act as a buffer, which speeds up deployment and reduces the cost of a new electrical installation. Regarding the improvement of battery performance, improvements in cells with greater energy density and advanced thermal management enable ultra-fast charging even when cold, minimizing battery degradation. Yes, but. Although the figures offered by BYD are impressive, especially in cold climates, we are waiting to confirm them in live tests in real environments. In addition, you must also read the fine print: BYD measures from 10% to 97%, not from 0% to 100%, it eats up part of that slow start at the bottom and reaches almost to the end, where it falls again. On the other hand, Flash stations and cars point to a closed ecosystem (at least initially), we will have to see how the scalability of the system is and if they reach Western markets. Finally, charging 1,500 kW sounds like bells for the impatient, but doing it regularly means subjecting the cells to significant thermal and electrochemical stress. In Xataka | The BYD Atto 3 EVO is confirmation that China works at a different pace: more battery and the same price correcting its big problem In Xataka | If we ask the CEO of BYD why BYD is losing steam abroad, his answer will be extremely simple. Cover | Xataka

This is the impressive interactive map to see the Earth in 4K live from space and monitor satellites

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Cartographically speaking, our planet is fascinating: its evolution over time, what it’s really like taking into account the precision of physics and of course, per se: the mountain ranges, the irregularities of the coasts, the tectonic plates… all of that looks great from space. And be careful, because the space that surrounds the Earth It is full of satellites: only Starlink ones around 15,000 units. But satellites allow us to have a fabulous view of the earth. And in fact, some of the main space projects that monitor the Earth have their recordings open, without going any further, what the International Space Station “sees” either NASA events They are available to anyone. The problem is that not everyone knows it, nor do the tools shine for having a clear and intuitive interface. So to someone who loves astronomy it occurred to him to create it to follow from satellites to shooting stars or racing cars. SatellitesArg Although you can see the Earth from space live and in 4K without doing anything, it is worth setting your location for a more personalized and precise experience of everything it offers. From here, there are several ways to select a satellite to follow, some as intuitive as tapping on “Satellites” and selecting from the list (there are some as popular as Starlink or BlueWalker 3) to see, for example, the ISS live camera. However, you can also save them to your favorites. Another interesting option is “Visible Passage”, which is what happens when a satellite crosses the sky illuminated by the Sun while it is night in your location. To do this, simply select a specific satellite, open it on the map and click “Visible path”. Within “Best steps” those satellites that will be highest and brightest in the coming days are shown. Likewise, there are filters to, for example, see only the steps at dawn or dusk. The “Radar” option is used to locate a specific satellite, something especially interesting if done from a mobilesince with the help of the compass you can hunt it at some point in the sky. You can also view those that are nearby, use augmented reality to superimpose the trajectory using your phone’s camera. Although you can see in real time, you can also go back to monitor past trajectories and have access to astronomical events, the phases of the moon and even have a map of the stars in the sky. But even if you don’t take advantage of all those functions, the option to see the Earth in real time in 4K by tapping on “ISS Live Camera” It is simply spectacular. In Xataka | This map shows what the Earth will be like in 250 million years. If it comes true, Spain will be very lucky In Xataka | The Earth has moons that we don’t know about: exploring them is key to revealing the secrets of our solar system

NASA has just shared some impressive images of the Helix Nebula like we have never seen it before.

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If there were a nebula popularity contest, that of the Propeller It would be at the top: it is one of the brightest and closest to Earth, located about 650 light years from the Solar System, in the constellation of Aquarius. However, the fact that it was discovered more than two centuries ago and its resemblance to the “Eye of Sauron” have made it one of the most photographed in history. Over the years the Hubble space telescope has captured some of the most iconic images of the Helix Nebula, like the one you can see just below these lines, but the new images that NASA has just published of the James Webb They are simply on another level. If you like astronomy and want to renew your desktop background, here are some great candidates. One of the most iconic images of the Helix Nebula, made by Hubble. POT The reason is not so much because of the nebula itself, it is that the difference in sensitivity and sharpness is abysmal compared to the veteran Hubble and the retired Spitzer, as you can see in this video. The key is the size of their “eye” (the mirror) and the type of light they detect. Thus, while Hubble observes mainly in the visible and ultraviolet, with a 2.4-meter mirror, Spitzer was a pioneer of the infrared with a much smaller mirror, 0.85 meters, which limited its resolution. The James Webb combines the best of both approaches: with a 6.5-meter mirror and extraordinary infrared sensitivity, it achieves unprecedented resolution in that range of the spectrum and is capable of passing through interstellar dust. In image quality it plays in another league. The Webb Space Telescope photographs the Helix Nebula in spectacular detail The correct term to refer to this nebula is “planetary nebula”, which does not clarify very well what we have in front of us: they are not formed from planets, but from stars like the Sun. When their life is running out, these stars emit large amounts of gas in an envelope that expands in a grandiose but “brief” phenomenon (in cosmo, not terrestrial units). It is, in a nutshell, like glimpse the possible final destiny of the Sun and our planetary system. This new image highlights comet-like knots, strong stellar winds, and layers of gas released by a dying star as it interacts with its environment. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) The image obtained with Webb’s NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) that you see just above shows a kind of pillars that look like comets with elongated tails, tracing the circumference of the internal region of an expanding gas envelope, explains NASA. The image shows “scorching winds of hot, fast-moving gas from the dying star colliding with slower, cooler layers of dust and gas ejected earlier in its life, sculpting the nebula’s extraordinary structure.” Webb’s near-infrared vision highlights these knots against the ethereal image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and thanks to the higher resolution, the focus is much sharper than ever. Additionally, this infrared vision makes it possible to clearly visualize the transition between the hotter and colder gas as the envelope expands. The Helix Nebula from the Visible and Infrared Telescope for Astronomy located on Earth (left) in front of Webb’s field of view (right). Image: ESO, VISTA, NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Emerson (ESO); Acknowledgment: CASU Outside the Webb’s frame, you can see the white dwarf in the center of the nebula (its nucleus), which emits very strong radiation. This energy works like a kind of flashlight that illuminates the surrounding gas in different chromatic layers depending on the temperature: the blue area is the closest and hottest, the coldest is red at the edge, where the gas mixes with dust. In the middle, the intermediate area in yellow, where atoms begin to join together to form molecules. The most striking thing on a technical level is that to date, Spitzer images only hinted at the formation of these molecules, but the resolution of the Webb allows us to see precisely those dark and protected “pockets” between the bright orange and red tones: it is where complex molecules are being manufactured. This interaction is essential insofar as it constitutes the raw material from which some day new planets could form in other star systems. In Xataka | NASA has published 96 fantastic posters of the universe that you can download for free in HD In Xataka | The first images from NASA’s new satellite offer us a completely different view of the oceans Images | POT

These are not simple collector’s figurines. They are impressive robots worth more than 1,600 euros, and I have tried them

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I’m going to tell you an anecdote. A few weeks ago I received a press release in the mail, one of the hundreds and hundreds that come in a day. This note said something like Robosen arriving in Spain with the Soundwave G1, and of course, my geeky mind clicked. Soundwave is the right hand of Megatron, the bad guy from ‘Transformer’, and I thought “well, another company that makes collector’s figurines.” The thing is that I went to their website and I went completely crazy. I was hoping to find a figure like some I have from ‘One Piece’ and company, but no. What I saw were some animatronics of more than 1,600 euros that take away the hiccups. Not just because of the level of detail, but because of how they move, talk and interact. Then I looked at the spec sheet, saw what they have inside, and thought “why not?” Spoiler: it is not just a figure | Image: Xataka So I wrote to Robosen to ask for the Soundwave, try it and tell Xataka how it is. Hopes? Zero. Not because of them, but because I understand that sending a 1,600 euro robot by courier in the middle of Christmas is something you want, which is something you want, you don’t want it. Well, not one, not two. But three. Robosen gave me not only Soundwave, but Megatron and a limited edition Buzz Lightyear. Like a little child, I spent Christmas trying them and teaching them to every living being that entered the house. Because yes, they are one of those products that you don’t have the opportunity to try every day and that are capable of making you say “wow!”. I’ll tell you how it is. There are figures and FIGURES The Buzz Box is a resounding yes | Image: Xataka The animatronics come packaged with exquisite taste. A product of this type and price must convey premium aroma right out of the box and Robosen has certainly nailed it. Special mention deserves the Buzz Lightyear box, which is the same as the original ‘Toy Story’ box. What I want to get at is that everything comes very well packaged, with its rigid foam and closures to prevent falls during transport. No complaints. “I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons!” Megatron | Image: Xataka I think the easiest thing is to show the robots one by one, so let’s start with the most impressive one: Megatron. This beast, whose price amounts to 1,612.33 euros At the time I write these lines, he was the one that convinced me to order the robots and try them out. It is inspired, like Soundwave, by the design of 80s cartoons and the attention to detail is spectacular. Megatron in his tank form | Image: Xataka Image | Xataka Image | Xataka Megatron, as every Transformer fan will know, takes the form of a tank, and here it could not be any less. The animatronic features 112 LED lights with red and purple accents, wheels inspired by real tanks, and a shiny metallic finish. That’s on the outside, but Inside it has 118 microchips and 36 high-precision servomotors that make it not only move, because it moves, but also transform. I think a video does it more justice than photos. In both tank mode and robot mode we can interact with the device, either by voice or through the mobile application. These are the only three “buts” that I can say not only to Megatron, but to all the others I have tried: Voice commands only work in English and are predefined. If you don’t know English or your pronunciation is average, it is quite likely that the robots will not understand the command. The application is unique for each robot. It is not like the Xiaomi app, to which you can connect all the company’s devices, but Megatron has its app, Buzz Lightyear has his, etc. You cannot navigate the app if you do not have the robot connected. Image | Xataka For the rest, and removing that, the interaction with the robot is great. You can move it, talk to it to make it say phrases, start little theaters like the one you can see below these lines and, if someone is encouraged and has the patience and, above all, the art that I don’t have for it, program actions to share them with the rest of the world. I had to lower him to the floor because he moves a lot during the scene and the platform reaches as far as it goes. The robot’s movement is extremely precise. The engines make some noise, but nothing out of the ordinary. The voice is heard loud and clear and, when the movement is fast, the effect is very, very successful. By the way, programming can be done either on a PC, or by putting the robot in a position and recording the posture in the app. That’s easy to do. Image | Xataka Natural movement, that is, walking forward or backward, is brutal. Slow, but very, very precise and stable. The first time you move it it seems like real magic. That a robot this size remains this stable while standing and moving is impressive. In tank mode, movement is much more fluid. Those nostalgic for ‘Transformers’ will surely like to know that the phrases have not been generated with AI, but have been recorded by original voice actor, Frank Welkerwho also voiced Soundwave. There are more than 270 original voice lines and you can generally interact with the robot with more than 50 voice commands. Megatron | Image: Xataka Something that has me completely fascinated is that the robot feels alive. If you leave it on stand-by you will see it “breathe” and make small gestures and movements to give a more realistic impression. This is regardless of whether it is in tank mode or robot mode, and yes, in case you were wondering, yes, … Read more

In 2013 London announced its most impressive skyscraper. Back then, no one could imagine the danger that their crystals had.

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There are many stories of skyscrapers with very different endings than those on the plans, some terriblebut in the city of London one is still remembered for its closeness and chaos generated. The history of the so-called like walkie talkie (20 Fenchurch Street) is that of a building that was born wrapped in promises of modernity and ended up exhibiting one of the most unusual and dangerous design flaws in contemporary architecture. An experiment turned into risk. In the summer of 2013, when its glass façade was almost finished, London discovered to its shock that the skyscraper it had so much promoted had a big problem: acted like a gigantic parabolic lens, concentrating sunlight on a narrow strip of Eastcheap capable of melting plastic, deform metal and produce temperatures higher than those of a domestic oven. It was no joke. Parked cars, like the story that went viral Martin Lindsay’s Jaguarsuffered palpable damage, everyday objects began to melt, passersby spoke of softened shoe soles or feeling burns on their skin. You have to give it a name. The phenomenon was such that it ended up being baptized like death rayand it was not an exaggeration: the reflections generated up to 72 degrees Celsius on the street, creating a real danger for anyone passing by. The press documented the episode with fascination and alarmimmediately turning it into a media attraction that placed the building at the center of unprecedented scrutiny. The Walkie-Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street) A failure announced. Far from being an unforeseeable accident, Walkie Talkie It had been conceived with a concave curvature that any student of elementary physics would have pointed out as capable of concentrating light. Its architect, Rafael Viñoly, recognized shortly after the building had initially been designed with horizontal slats to avoid precisely that effect, but they were removed for budgetary reasons. Viñoly admitted also that the team did not have the appropriate tools to model the phenomenon accurately, limiting itself to approximate calculations who predicted a lower risk. The reality was very different, aggravated by the increase in solar radiation in London in recent years. In fact, the problem It was not unprecedented for the architect: already in Las Vegas his Vdara hotel had been accused to concentrate light until they burn the bathers. The skyscraper under construction And more. But in London the error acquired a incomparable public dimensionbecause it affected not a private complex but one of the busiest streets in the City. The urgent installation of a temporary mesh and the subsequent placement of slats on the facade They solved the problem, but they did not avoid the perception that it was a systemic failure, the result of a design process that had privileged aesthetics and costs over urban safety. The Sky Garden Emblem of a city in transformation. Even before the death ray episode, the Walkie Talkie was subject of criticism. Its silhouette, disproportionate and widened upward to maximize profitable views, stood like a sort of “sore thumb” outside the financial cluster, generating a visual impact that the own urban report had described as “significant damage.” However, the real controversy came after its famous Sky Garden: presented as a public contribution comparable to a vertical park. open to all, it ended up being more of a panoramic restaurant complex with controlled access and mandatory reservations. For many Londoners, it represented a symbol of the privatization drift of urban spaces: a supposed “public garden” that responded more to the logic of corporate luxury than to that of the common good. The complaints were so intense that the City even raised a structural reform of space to bring it closer to what was initially promised. A razzie. In 2015, amidst the accumulation of controversies, the building received the Carbuncle Cup for ugliest building of the year in the United Kingdom, a satirical recognition that underlined the extent to which it had become object of rejection collective. Even Sky News tried to fry an egg under his facade and his name mutated into a meme: Scorchie walkie. Over time, its image became associated not only with an aesthetic problem, but with a chain of opaque decisions and urban planning concessions that many consider a paradigmatic example of how not to manage the integration of a skyscraper into the historical fabric of London. The work of the Imperial The rebirth. Despite its rugged origins, Walkie Talkie has undergone a surprising public rehabilitation. In 2025, twelve years after the incident, visitors are lining up to enjoy from the Sky Gardennow fully integrated into the city’s tourist circuit. But beneath that normalization lies a story that could have been tragic. Later studies from Imperial College showed that, in a different meteorological scenario, the death ray could have cause serious injuryfires in nearby homes and even permanent damage to the skin and eyes. Only the chance combination of clouds and the orientation of the beam (which did not fall at its maximum point at street level) prevented major consequences. A reminder. The architecture was a warning about the critical role of climate modeling, professional responsibility, and the need to subject bolder architectural forms to much more rigorous evaluations. If today the majority of tourists who sgo to the Sky Garden They ignore that the building was about to become an icon of the disaster, it is because the city acted quickly and because luck intervened at the right time. In any case, the technical memory persists: Walkie Talkie remains a reminder that, in a dense, vertical metropolis, a miscalculation can become a massive riskand that contemporary architecture (when its interaction with the environment is neglected) can produce both wonders and invisible dangers. An uncomfortable legacy. In retrospect, the Walkie Talkie has ended up occupying a peculiar place in London’s recent history: it is simultaneously a tourist success, a design failurea case study in urban security and an example of the tensions between public interest and the imperatives of the real estate market. Its trajectory shows that a … Read more

What are lightning bolts and how are they formed, the impressive electrical discharges that scare and fascinate in equal measure?

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The good news is that the chance of being struck by lightning this year is less than one in a million. Even better news is that 90% of people struck by lightning survive. Even so, it is always advisable to avoid risks when we are talking about atmospheric phenomena as violent as these. Lightning strikes cause both fear and fascination, a fascination that sometimes leads us to ask questions about the nature of these immense electrical columns. What is lightning Lightning is an electrical discharge (each lightning can generate several discharges), generally of very high power, that occur in clouds. These are meteorological phenomena that, although they have its origin in the atmospheresometimes they reach the surface of the Earth. We usually associate lightning with storms and cyclones, but these discharges can occur in other contexts, for example during volcanic eruptions, during fires of a certain intensity or when nuclear weapons are detonated. How lightning is formed Lightning usually occurs in stormy conditions and, the truth is that we do not fully know how. We know that under certain conditions, clouds can go accumulating electrical charges both positive and negative. In these cases, the air acts as an insulator between areas of positive or negative accumulation, as well as between these areas and the Earth. At a certain point, the accumulation of these charges exceeds a threshold that causes this insulating capacity of the air to give way. So all that accumulation of charges generates an electric current capable of traveling long distances (even several hundred kilometers). The discharge allows the electrical charge to balance, but the charges can accumulate again until the next lightning strike. What remains a mystery to us is the beginning of this process, how positive or negative charges accumulate in certain regions. The main hypothesis suggests that the origin of this accumulation is in tiny hail particles (also called graupel) that grow as they encounter supercold water droplets (in a liquid state but with temperatures below freezing). In thunderstorms, these icy particles would frequently collide, colliding with other icy particles. These collisions would cause the charges of the different particles to gain charge of one sign or another. Difference between lightning, thunder and lightning Electrical shocks are usually invisible to the human eye and they also do not generate noise, but this is not the case with lightning. Lightning generates not only a flash of intense light, but also a significant roar. We call the zigzag luminous path of lightning lightning. As it passes through the atmosphere, the electrical discharge causes the air to heat up to exceed temperatures of 27,000º Ceslius, a temperature higher than that observed on the surface of the Sun. This causes the air to become incandescent, generating lightning. Such rapid and intense heating of the air has another effect, making it “explode” outwards. This rapid movement of air is responsible for the second element that makes up lightning, sound or, in other words, the thunder. Light and sound move through the atmosphere at very different speeds. This is what makes us see lightning even seconds before its sound reaches our eardrums. This gap gives rise to an old trick to measure the distance at which the storm is from us. If we count the seconds of lag between light and sound and divide the result by three, we can estimate the distance in kilometers at which the lightning occurred. Types of lightning Cloud flashes and cloud-to-cloud Among conventional rays we can distinguish various types depending on the location of the points they join. The first of the groups that we can distinguish is that of the cloudy flashes. Most lightning strikes never reach the ground, in fact it is common for them not to even escape the cloud in which they occur. These rays are also often called intra-cloud rays. Within the category of lightning that never reaches the ground, there are some whose path partially escapes the cloud and even some that start in one cloud and reach another different cloud. Cloud-to-surface We distinguish these cloudy flashes and rays from those that do manage to reach the Earth’s surface. These types of discharges occur from the top down, at least when they happen naturally. The rays that join cloud and surface can be both negative and positive depending on where the respective negative and positive charges are located. Negative rays are the most common rays (they represent around 95% of impacts). In these rays, the clouds accumulate a negative charge and the Earth has a positive charge. When lightning opens the channel, the negative charge moves from the cloud to the ground, hence the name. The positive rays They are less frequent but at the same time more powerful. The reason is that these originate in higher areas of the cloud, so they must travel further. This in turn means that they accumulate more energy before discharging. Other unique events However, there is a different category that we call transient light events, or TLE (transient luminous events). These phenomena are much less frequent, more difficult to observe and, as a consequence, much more mysterious. How powerful is lightning? The strength of lightning can vary considerably depending on atmospheric conditions and the Earth’s surface. As explained According to the United States National Weather Service, a “typical” lightning strike can discharge about 30,000 amperes with 300 million volts. However, we pointed out before that a positive ray can transport much more energy. According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the organization on which the American meteorological service depends, these types of discharges can be an order of magnitude higher, discharging 300,000 amperes with 1,000 million volts. Many will wonder Why don’t we take advantage of this energy? and the answer is that, today, there are too many difficulties to make this technology a reality. First, we must keep in mind that lightning is a transitory phenomenon that can occur in different places: to obtain its energy we would have … Read more

Japan destroys the data transmission record again with 1.02 petabits per second. The impressive has been the distance

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Japan has established A new record World Cup in data transmission per fiber optic, sending information to 1.02 Petabits per second through 1,808 kilometers away. The achievement, achieved by a joint team of Electric Industries Summit and the National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) From Japan, it marks a new milestone in long -distance optical communications. And best of all: it has been achieved with fiber optics compatible with any device. The key technological jump. The advance does not reside solely in speed, but in the distance traveled maintaining a standard cable diameter. The previous records in speed Pure had reached 1.7 Petabits per second, but only covered 63.7 kilometers. This new brand multiplies by 28 the distance without increasing the thickness of the cable, bringing technology to real commercial applications. Image: Ispreview How it works. The system uses an optical fiber of 19 nuclei integrated in a cable with standard coating diameter of 0.125 millimeters, the same as the current fibers. Instead of a single beam of light, the fiber transports 19 parallel signals taking advantage of both the C and L bands of the optical spectrum. Electric Sumitomo optimized the structure and disposition of the nuclei to minimize losses, while NICT developed amplifiers capable of simultaneously enhancing the signals of all nuclei. Dimension of achievement. To contextualize the magnitude: 1 Petabit is equivalent to 1,000 terabits or 1 million gigabits per second. Compared to The average broadband speed in Spain (which is usually around 250 Mbps), this record is approximately 4 million times faster. At this theoretically, 10 million 8K video channels could be transmitted simultaneously. Or download the entire Netflix library in seconds. Practical implications. The record establishes a new standard within the framework of “capacity-duty” (1.86 exabits per second-kilometer) using standard diameter fiber. This means that future networks could exponentially multiply their ability without changing the existing physical infrastructure. Intercontinental submarine cableslike those that connect Europe with America, they could benefit from this technology, although at greater distances (more than 5,000 kilometers) the speeds would be lower but still impressive. The way to commercialization. Although these advances will not immediately reach domestic connections, they do mark the future of long -distance communications. The team now works on improving the efficiency of amplifiers and signal processing to bring technology closer to its real implementation. Global Internet traffic grows, but it’s nice to know that the optical fiber and the form of the cables we use today, they are still enough to evolve in this field. Cover image | Kirill Sh In Xataka | Mobile’s internet is going wrong: what can you do when you don’t have a connection

The impressive impact of the rains, seen from space

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After a particularly dry years in which Spain was being put face to Sahara branch With zones severely affected for drought and A disastrous 2024this 2025 seems to have broken the streak. After a spring Exceptionally rainywith many Reservoirs showing good healthalthough The ghost of drought Still there, there is also optimism. 2024 He left exhausted fields In good part of the country. But 2025, at least for now, has given them a break. And that is something that we can see with a comparison in satellite view about Spanish reservoirs and fields. Bewilderment. This year’s spring is being a puzzle. The Azores anticyclone, a dorsal from central Europe and a continuous transfer of low pressures systems has contributed to A really strange situation With storms, some very intense, hail and rains. March has been one of the Rainy Since 1961, when records began to be taken. It is only behind 2018 and 2013, with rainfall in a generalized way, widely exceeding average values. In May too We have seen unusual storms And the big question is what will imply that for traditionally dry summers in many parts of the Peninsula. Certainties. What we know is that there are areas where this shadow of drought seems to have dissipated. There are points in which the authorities already They are raising drought restrictions And transvases are also prepared equivalent to twice the annual consumption throughout an autonomous community –The Tajo-Segura-. And an area in which it seems that optimism reigns is in eastern Catalonia. The region suffered a devastating drought between 2021 and 2024 that forced measures not to end the reservoirs. There were no certainties that it would have entered a ‘Megasquía‘, but of course the situation was worrying. What we can be sure is that, in view of satellite, vegetation, rivers, lakes and reservoirs have gained ground this year. Green outbreaks. Different Catalan regions are very evident examples. In the suquera dam we see not only green in general, but also that the dam and the river has regained lost ground. In Lleida, beyond the rotation of crops, more of the same. There are many other examples throughout the geography related to reservoirs and green areas around its surroundings. Obviating crops, irrigation and with rotation in some cases, in the images in which there are natural green areas we can see what they are … well, more green. In the case of Almendra reservoir in Salamancaalthough the reservoir occupies less space this year, the green areas are somewhat more ‘bright’. Valencia after the Dana. On October 29, the water razed localities of the East of Castilla-La Mancha-Letur- and, above all, Valencian territory and part of the Alicante. In the satellite comparison, we can see that green has taken over the panoramic view from space, but with an important counterpart. As they point in The Valencian mercantilethat green of the cultivation fields may be due to greater exuberance, but not of the crops, but of the “weeds” that flourish in abandoned terrain. The effect of the Dana on the Albufera is also notable, which received Much of the weight of dragged waste from the localities to the south of Valencia. Unequal. In spite of everything, the enthusiasm for rains in general has not reached A concrete area of ​​the country: the Southeast. Alicante this Above last year’s data, but without reaching the average of the last decade, Murcia has Orange/red reserves and Almería is another of the red lanterns. While Andalusia has registered Fantastic data, Almeria reserves are found around 11%. In satellite images we see that they have some green sprouts, but in general the capacity of their reservoirs is not at the level that it should and we see that this problem of Almería with water has become a situation chronicle. Now, although spring has been generous, summer will have the last word about whether we abandon the drought … or not. What is clear is that Satellite images are very different To what was captured in May two years ago, where green gave all the prominence to the Marrol. Images | Sentinel-2 Copernicus In Xataka | “Thank you so much, reservoirs.net”: Spanish men are developing a peculiar obsession with swamps

The Curiosity Rover has been climbing a mountain of Mars for 12 years. I just sent an impressive video from above

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He Increased Rover Curiosity He has sent to Earth a new Marte video that is simply a jewel: an immersive panoramic view of 30 seconds that transports us directly to the slopes of Mount Sharp. Look at it full screen because this is the closest thing to a walk on the red planet that we will have until Elon Musk puts the starship flights at the balance price. A family world. At first glance, the images captured by NASA’s rover last February could remind us of a desert landscape in Chile or the southwest United States. But do not deceive your eyes: that “saw” that is seen in the distance is actually the edge of the gigantic Gale crater, formed by the impact of an asteroid billions of years ago. Curiosity, a rolling laboratory to the size of a mini cooperation, was then ascending on the slopes of Mount Sharp, an imposing mountain of almost 5 kilometers of height sculpted by the time inside the crater itself. Since its arrival in 2012, the Curiosity Rover has traveled about 32 kilometers on the dusty Martian land, exploring the Gale Crater without rest. What we are seeing. The area where these images were taken, formally known as “sulfate carrier unit”, is full of saline minerals. Scientists believe that these minerals are the legacy of streams and ponds that dried eones, before Mars went from being a world potentially similar to Earth to the ice cream desert we know today. NASA invites us to get carried away by imagination: “You can imagine the silent and dim wind, or perhaps even the waves of a disappeared lake have long licking an old shore.” Rumbo to new mysteries. Although it has been on Mars for almost 13 years, the Curiosity expedition does not stop here. Left behind the Gediz Vallis channel, where about a year ago accidentally discovered elementary sulfur (A disconcerting finding, since on Earth it is usually associated with volcanic gases or bacterial activity). And now he is now heading towards a region with some intriguing geological formations called “Boxwork”. These structures, seen from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter orbiter, seem like a kind of spider web, with ridges extending for several kilometers that will probably need warm groundwater to form. And where there is water, it is already known, there is potential to find past life clues. The researchers wonder If you are “Boxwork” They could have housed old unicellular microorganisms and have sent the Curiosity Rover to find out. The Curiosity Rover seen from above for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe Another point of view. While Curiosity covers these long journeys on the Martian surface, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Follow it from above. On February 28, the Hirise Chamber of the ship captured the first orbital image of the rover in full displacement by the red planet In the image, Curiosity appears as a dark mota in front of a long trace of fingerprints that extend about 320 meters. Curiosity’s footprints can remain visible for months before the Martian wind erases them. Images | POT In Xataka | Curiosity continues to send us videos about Mars. Thanks to him we have discovered something weird: his clouds

North Korea has just launched its impressive frigate with a vertical missile system. He has sunk

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Satellite images, those imposing air views from space, have allowed us to see our planet from Another perspective. These snapshots make screenshots To analyze how it affects the passage of time, for example, to the environmentbut also for reveal other secrets. An example of this we saw recently, when in North Korea it appeared An imposing construction that left little doubt. That half -finished frigate has appeared in society. And it has not lasted much afloat. A naval failure. It happened few hours ago. The launch ceremony of the second most advanced frigate in North Korea, held in the port of Chongjin with the presence of Kim Jong Un, ended in disaster when The ship overturned sideways after a technical failure during its side launch. Satellite images Subsequent show the nave tilted next to the spring, partially sunk and covered with blue canvases to hide the incident. The incident, qualified by Kim himself as A “criminal act” As a result of an “absolute negligence”, it was publicly recognized unusually rapidly by state media, in an attempt to anticipate the inevitable dissemination of satellite images. Official research points to a Bogies failure (The cars that support the helmet during the slip) that caused an asymmetric detachment and the consequent structural imbalance. Kim has demanded a Urgent restoration Before the plenary meeting of the central committee of the party in June, although experts doubt that this is possible given the magnitude of the damages. A sunk symbol. The sinister frigate belongs to the same class as The Choi Hyonlaunched In April From the western port of Nampo, and it is, with its 5,000 tons Dear, the largest North Korean war ship to date. Designed not only for coastal defense but also for strategic projection operations, the Choi Hyon class stands out for its 74 launch cells Missile vertical (VLS), which could house from ballistic missiles to supersonic cruise or advanced anti -aircraft defenses. They counted in The New York Times That the construction speed of these frigates, unprecedented in the country, suggests a somewhat hurried and politically motivated campaign, more focused on propaganda than in naval operability. In fact, during the armed tests of the Choi Hyon He suspected that still lacked complete propulsion systems, which reinforces the idea that key phases of development have been ignored with such With the terms of the regime. The lateral launch. Apparently, the method used (the lateral launch, unusual in North Korea) required a precise distribution of weight along the helmet, as well as a specialized infrastructure. According to him CSIS analysis (Center for Strategic & International Studies), the ruling could be due to the poor condition or poor installation of the rails of the side slide, aggravated by the fact that the Hambuk shipyard, selected to build this second frigate, It lacks experience in large tonnage ships. Traditionally, this shipyard has limited itself to minor vessels, such as chargueros or patrols, which raises doubts about its suitability for a program of such a magnitude. Plus: The simultaneous use of cranes and barges, detected days before launch, could have contributed to collapse structural. Political impact and consequences. A failure of this caliber always has consequences, but in a space like North Korea perhaps more. Beyond the technical error, the incident represents a considerable setback for the naval aspirations of Kim Jong Un, who seeks Transform the Navy Popular Korean (KPN) in a water force capable of strategic offensive operations. Failure not only puts that narrative in check, but It exposes vulnerability of a program that mixes excessive ambition with insufficient industrial capabilities. In fact, Kim has promised severe punishments To those responsible, which could translate into personal repercussions for engineers and officers of the shipyard. Although it has not yet been determined if the ship is a total loss, its recovery seems unlikely in the short termand any delay directly undermines the political schedule of the regime. Little operational effort. As we said and underlined In the Washington Postthis frigate program, rather than building a really capable naval force, seems oriented to reinforce the image of North Korea as self -sufficient military power before its population (and the world). Kim’s presence in the tests, the deployment of experimental missiles and the media fanfare that surrounded the Choi Hyon class indicate that the goal was more prestigious than tactical. However, the simple existence of these platforms, potentially armed with nuclear missiles, represents a latent threat that, of course, should not be underestimated. Under that context, the failure of the launch in Chongjin is not only a technical setback: it is a symbolic blow to the heart of Pyongyang’s strategic story. Image | Maxar Technologies, Csis In Xataka | North Korea has built a resort so great that it now faces another problem: find tourists to fill it In Xataka | Russia has confirmed one of the great unknowns of war in Ukraine: North Korea accompanies them and not only with troops

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