increasingly

If the question is how to avoid heat stroke in summer, in Japan they have an increasingly popular answer: thermal bracelets

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It happened ago just over a year. Montserrat Aguilar had completed her day as a cleaning service worker in Barcelona when, already at home, collapsed and died. He had spent hours sweeping the streets of Raval in the sun on a day when temperatures in Barcelona exceeded 35ºC. Although at the beginning of 2026 the family I was still waiting based on the results of the final autopsy, his death unleashed a intense (and bitter) debate about the conditions faced by workers who, like her, walk the streets during heat waves. This year in Barcelona they wanted to cure their health with technology well known in Japan: bracelets capable of anticipating heat strokes. What has happened? that in full extreme heat wavewith the thermometer exceeding 40ºC In Barcelona, ​​the Barcelona City Council has decided to reinforce the security of the operators who provide public services on the street using technology. A few weeks ago he distributed 1,400 bracelets thermal among the staff responsible for keeping the city clean, providing public lighting and taking care of the garden areas. Is it the only measure? No. The Newspaper precise other measures with which Barcelona wants to prevent extreme temperatures from taking their toll on those who work on the street. For example, adapting the workday of gardeners in summer, advancing the start and end times to avoid the most dangerous periods, or adopting special protocols, designed for the dog days. Is it enough? No. Sensors and protocols are welcome, but unions insist they are not enough. “Non-exposure is the best prevention,” claims Carlos del Barrio, from CCOO, in The Newspaper. Workers’ representatives recall that “no measure is sufficient on its own” and demand greater investment to, among other things, add air conditioning to cars. Without going any further, the Commissions remember that a relevant part of the fleet is still not acclimatized and there are even vehicles (such as irrigation vehicles) that have the engine located right under the seat, something not very desirable in August. How do the bracelets work? They basically fit the operator’s wrist and control their temperature. When they detect that it rises too high and approaches dangerous levels, it emits a signal (vibrates and lights up) so you can take action. In Barcelona has it happened before. When this happens and the thermal bracelet issues its warning, the operator must stop, find a shady place, drink water and inform his supervisor. The bracelet itself will inform you with a light signal (green, in this case) when you are ready to continue. In the specific case of Barcelona, ​​Parks and Gardens has invested almost 60,000 euros in sensors from the company Metalco, devices designed to warn the user “two levels before” of heat stroke. “It is set to activate the alarm when the deep temperature reaches approximately 38ºC.” That is the general guideline. In practice, the sensor must take into account the conditions of each user. The Department of the Interior has also opted for a similar solution, with devices for the Mossos and firefighters. Is it something new? Thermal bracelets have been used for a long time. And they are certainly not exclusive to Catalonia or Spain. As I remembered a few days ago The Confidential There is a Japanese company that has been dedicated to them for a few years now: Biodata Bankcreated in 2018 and with headquarters in Tokyo. Its catalog includes Canaria+, a bracelet designed to detect “subtle changes in thermal stress” and that helps the wearer control their rest, hydration and food. When the sensor detects that the body is having difficulty dissipating heat, it issues a warning with light, sound and vibration. The moment it thinks the risk has disappeared, it reports again with a green light. “We felt it was necessary to have a system in place and take action before a person collapsed,” explains the company’s CEO, Takeshi Anzai. Regarding his bracelet, he clarifies that “the algorithm adapts” to whoever uses it, although it starts from four levels. The first is free of danger, with the temperature below 37ºC. The second rises to a maximum of 38.3ºC and reveals a “latent risk.” With the third (37.7-39ºC, depending on the person) the alerts go off. The last, the most critical, ranges from 38.7 to 40ºC. Is it only used in Spain? At all. In fact Japan is another good example. Last year the World Economic Forum actually dedicated an extensive report to the “lessons” that the country offers to overcome extreme heat waves and among its resources included wrist sensors designed to detect sudden increases in body temperature and, thus, prevent heat stroke. One of the organizations that has opted for them there is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which has distributed thermal bracelets among elderly people with reduced mobility, teachers and students who go to public schools and certain workers who have to work outdoors. “In Japan last year the number of people urgently transported due to heat stroke exceeded 100,000. In cities like Tokyo, the demand for ambulances became so high that authorities issued alerts asking the population to make appropriate use of emergencies,” remember Anzai. Images | Barcelona City Council 1 and 2 and Biodata Bank In Xataka | The French are so desperate about the heat wave that they have started painting the outside of their houses with chalk

We have been cooling homes for decades with increasingly expensive machines. The Persian method has not consumed a single watt for 2,500 years

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For decades, air conditioning has been the great response to heat. The more the temperatures rose, the more powerful the machine we installed was. However, more than 2,500 years ago, in a city in the Iranian desert, someone proposed an idea completely different: Maybe the problem was not how to cool a house, but how to build it so that it never got too hot. The heat has a new enemy. The planet is going through an escalation of unprecedented temperatures and the buildings are starting to pay the bill. Glass facades turn offices and homes into veritable greenhouses, concrete accumulates heat for hours and cities radiate energy at night. absorbed during the day. The consequence is an increasing dependence on air conditioning. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, cooling systems already consume about 20% of all the world’s electricity, a figure that will continue to grow as heat waves become more frequent. The Persian redesign. In the heart of the Iranian plateau is Yazda city where summer temperatures easily exceed 40 ºC and where survival was never a question of comfort, but engineering. There appeared one of the most sophisticated passive cooling systems ever conceived: he badgirknown as a wind catcher. His approach was radically different from the current one. Instead of combating the heat once it had entered the house, the architecture itself took care of it. to capture the fresh airexpel the heat and maintain a habitable interior without consuming electricity. Yazd The “Persian method”: a way of thinking. At first glance, a badgir It looks like a tall, decorative chimney jutting out from the rooftops. In reality, it is a carefully calculated system to take advantage of two natural phenomena. On the one hand, it captures the air currents that circulate several meters above the ground and channels them towards the interior. On the other hand, even when the wind hardly blows, it acts as a solar chimney: Hot air rises through the tower and, as it escapes, creates a depression that draws cooler air into the building. In many homes, this flow also passed over underground water tanks or connected channels. to the qanatsfurther increasing the cooling effect. A bâdgir in Yazd A city designed for the climate. The truly extraordinary thing about Yazd is that the badgir It did not work in isolation. It was part of an architectural ecosystem where each element fulfilled a function. The thick adobe walls slowly absorbed the heat. The inner courtyards they created microclimates protected from the sun. The qanats They transported groundwater from the mountains and helped cool the air. There were even the yakhchalenormous structures capable of manufacturing and preserving ice for months in the middle of the desert. The result was a city designed to work with the climate, not against it. Yakhchal in Yazd And the air conditioning arrived. During the 20th century, much of the Middle East and other warm regions embraced imported architectural models that had little to do with their climatic conditions. Concrete replaced adobe, glass facades replaced solid walls and passive solutions were giving way. to mechanical systems. Many badgir they were abandoned due to the lack of maintenance, due to the entry of dust or insects and, above all, because the air conditioning offered an immediate response. The problem is that it also moved energy consumption to the center of the equation and made cooling a permanent necessity. The irony of the West. As many wind towers fell into disuse in Iran, their principles were beginning to reappear discreetly in other parts of the world. Between the end of the seventies and the mid-nineties, thousands of modern versions of wind sensors in British public buildings. Shopping centers, hospitals and schools incorporated ventilation systems inspired by those ancient designs. In the United States, the Zion National Park visitor center was able to drastically reduce the need for air conditioning thanks to passive cooling strategies based on the same concept. Today architects and engineers they resort to simulations by computer to optimize a technology that was born centuries ago simply by observing how the wind moved. The future may not be in more efficient machines. Contemporary architecture begins to take on an idea that for decades was relegated to the background: the building is also part of the air conditioning system. Recent regulations in countries like uk They prioritize shade, natural ventilation and reduction of solar gain before resorting to mechanical solutions. Exterior blinds, slats, vegetal covers, materials with high thermal inertia or patios return to gain prominence. Even those who defend the use of air conditioning agree that these measures can significantly reduce energy consumption. The big lesson: don’t repeat the same mistake. The history of the Persian method and its badgir It does not prove that we should give up air conditioning. prove something much more uncomfortable: For decades we have tried to solve heat by adding machines to buildings that, in many cases, were designed as if the climate did not matter. The Persians followed the opposite way more than two millennia ago. Before thinking about how to cool a house, they thought about how to build one that needed to be cooled as little as possible. Perhaps the most revolutionary technology to face the next heat waves is not a new machine, but recover an old idea that had been waiting for centuries on the rooftops of the desert. Image | Mohammad Hosseini, Diego Delso, Pastaitaken, Dinkun Chen In Xataka | In 2020, a Chinese billionaire bought the most expensive and luxurious home in London. Then his nightmare began. In Xataka | In 1972 Italy wanted to put an entire city in a one kilometer building. Half a century later he is still paying the consequences

“With increasingly frequent heat waves, more importance could be given to urban trees”

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The asphalt radiates heat, the air becomes dense and thermometers shoot up, and anyone who has walked through a big city in the middle of summer knows the abysmal difference between crossing a square concrete in full sun and take refuge under the canopy of a wooded park. The problem is that, for decades, modern urban planning has treated trees and green areas as mere “urban furniture” or a dispensable ornament to beautify the streets. A big change comes with the climate emergency that we have above our heads, and the scientific community points to the need to make a radical paradigm shift. They specifically propose that urban forests are no longer seen as something merely decorative, but rather that they must be protected and financed with the same priority as the electrical grid, sewage or telecommunications. Under investigation. A published essay At the beginning of the month in PLOS Climate has dotted the i’s after years of scientific evidence and launched a petition to governments to legislate on urban forests, considering them as essential infrastructure for climate resilience. This positioning, which functions as a roadmap, does not emerge from nowhere, but is directly aligned with the most serious warnings of recent years, including the IPCC 6th Assessment Report. In this document, the United Nations already pointed out sustainable urban planning and green infrastructure (such as parks, urban forests and vegetation covers) as key and irreplaceable adaptation and mitigation measures against global warming. Our shields. To understand why scientists urge legally shielding trees, just look at the physical data. As stated in a recent academic review on urban forests as “nature-based solutions”, the presence of forest mass In cities, it directly attacks two of the worst symptoms of climate change, which are heat waves and torrential rains. This is because trees mitigate the dreaded “urban heat island” effect through evapotranspiration and thermal shading, dramatically reducing surface temperatures. At the same time, they act like giant sponges by acting as critical structures in regulating stormwater, preventing catastrophic flooding, and acting as natural filters that improve air quality. Public health. The impact of trees goes far beyond thermodynamics, since various studies compiled in publications such as the one published in ScienceDirect have demonstrated that the lack of trees is, literally, a public health problem. For example, an article published in 2023 shelled the physiological, psychological and immunological mechanisms by which green cities transform our health, reducing chronic stress and improving our immune response. But the evidence on biodiversity and cardiovascular health is still impressive, since the evidence indicates that being exposed to diverse urban ecosystems reduces the incidence of heart disease. The experts. Daniel Jato, professor of Engineering and Environmental Management at the UIV, pointed out in statements to SMC that “in the current context, marked by increasingly frequent, intense and early heat waves, perhaps the role of urban trees could have been emphasized even more.” Images | sq lim In Xataka | César Franco, engineer: “In Spain we are not immune to the effects of climate change, we need to intensify conservation”

Spain promised them happiness with its airports increasingly full of tourists. Until someone calculated how it affects rents

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Of the 96.8 million of foreign tourists that Spain received last year, 80.5 million, something more than 83%they arrived through airports. The plane is not only the main entry route for foreign visitors (well above, for example, the road or ports), it also shows a clear growth trend and has led several terminals to arise its expansion to gain capacity and (simply) do not collapse due to the tourist boom. Against this backdrop, someone has asked themselves a question:What impact does it have? that avalanche of ‘air’ visitors in the Spanish real estate market? Tourists and real estate agencies? That tourism influences the residential market, encouraging the flight from housing to vacation rentals and raising prices is not no news. There are studies that have already thoroughly calibrated the phenomenon. What is curious is what the New Economics Foundation (NEF) has done in a report commissioned by Transport & Environment (T&E), an organization to which it belongs Ecologists in Action: Its technicians have examined how the increase in ‘air tourism’ is influencing housing rentals and, above all, whether we can expect a price increase in the short term. And what have they found out? That there is a direct connection. One, by the way, not at all favorable for the tenants. After analyzing “the effects of air tourism” on the real estate markets of the 12 main economies in Europe and calculating the evolution of prices in the medium term, for the period 2019-2031, NEF technicians have reached a worrying conclusion: the increase in visitors arriving in Europe through airports will affect the pockets of tenants. “We show a transfer of wealth whereby landlords benefit at the expense of tenants, as annual rents in some of Europe’s largest tourist economies are projected to rise by more than €150 a year over the next five years,” points out NEFand warns: “These increases, which represent national average increases, will be concentrated in the main tourist destinations and will mainly affect low-income households.” Can it go further? Yes. That is the general photo. The report commissioned by T&E provides other data that is just as or even more curious. For example, if we focus on the largest European economies dependent on tourism, the impact between now and 2031 will be greater: in Greece the annual increase in rental prices will amount to €163, in Portugal to €193, in Spain to €217 and in Ireland (the worst stop) to €251. In the specific case of Spain, NEF estimates that we will face an “extra increase of 1.6%” annually over the next five years, between 2026 and 2031. If we talk about rents, the average increase is 217 euros. In the case of the average price of housing, the study speaks of 3,500 euros. “Taken together, this would mean an aggregate annual increase in the rental burden of 648 million euros for landlords located in Spain. In the same period, the increase in tourist arrivals by air is projected at 11.8%,” explains. There is another key: these figures show national averages, so the phenomenon may worsen in the most touristy regions. More climbs on the islands? The T&E figures give food for thought. After recalling that there are certain parts of Europe where “local reactions” against tourism are taking place, such as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Crete and Madeira, T&E points out that these areas are also the most exposed to the arrival of air travelers. There, in the tourist centers, the report warns“tourism can reduce the supply of residential housing by shifting it towards tourist rentals, directing new promotions to visitors or non-resident buyers and making it difficult for local households to move or access a first home.” “We cannot separate the protests against tourism that occur in the streets from the increase in flights above our heads. Trying to manage tourist overcrowding while expanding the airports of Dublin, Barcelona or Lisbon is a losing battle,” claims Bosco Serrano, from T&E Spain. For reference, in the Balearic Islands there are 9.2 arrivals of foreign tourists per resident, the eighth highest value of the European regions. In the Canary Islands they are 4.9 and in Catalonia 2.0. The average for the EU as a whole is just 0.9. What are the causes? For T&E the key is in the “uncontrolled growth of tourism”, driven by the increase in supply, investment in new infrastructure and (in general) the rebound in airport traffic. It’s no surprise. In 2025 Aena registered a record data of passengers. It is important to take into account in any case that the flow of visitors that move the airports may “exacerbate” the crisis of rent (something to be expected if we take into account that many tourists from northern Europe with greater purchasing power fly to Spain), but the reality is that there are other factors that influence the evolution of housing prices. And not all of them depend on tourism. What else comes into play? The imbalance between supply and demand, the fact that new housing is built at much less speed from which new homes are created, the increase in price of materials, the concentration of demand in certain points or the attractiveness that apartments have gained as an investment asset also explain the increase in rents. None of these factors depend on tourism. In fact, there are those who already appreciate signs of a “prick” in vacation rentals, with a loss of interest on the part of investors. Does it only affect housing? No. The report analyzes the impact of tourism in other areas, such as labor or business investment. Regarding the first point, T&E warns that the arrival of more visitors on board airplanes does not always lead to better salaries for workers in the sector. “Tourism employment does not necessarily equate to an improvement in well-being. In 2023, hospitality represented 10% of all hours worked in Spain, but only 5% of the national gross added value,” warns the organization. That tourist rentals rise can … Read more

power for local AI and an increasingly clear obsession with weighing less

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There are many good laptops on the market, perhaps too many for a brand to differentiate itself with a list of specifications alone. That is why each manufacturer ends up defending a personality: some rely on the ecosystem, others on design, others on power and others on price. LG, with the gram, has tried to occupy a very recognizable place: that of large laptops that weigh surprisingly little. He LG gram Pro 2026 It was born within that same logic, but with added pressure: now it also has to talk about AI locally. With the LG gram Pro 16Z90Uthe idea is understood quite quickly. The company talks about a 16-inch device weighing 1,199 g, compared to the 1,239 g of the previous model of the same inches, the 16Z90TS, according to the official Spanish file. The difference is not huge on its own, but it helps to understand the movement: LG is trying to maintain a wide screen, a Pro proposal and more declared autonomy without abandoning the gram’s historical obsession with mobility. LG Gram Pro (2026) technical sheet LG Gram Pro 2026 16Z90U LG Gram Pro 2026 Dimensions and weight 357.0 x 255.2 x 16.4mm 1,800 grams 357.0 x 255.2 x 16.4mm 1,800 grams screen 16 inch OLED WQXGA+ (2880 x 1800) 500 nits Contrast 1,000,000:1 16:10 aspect ratio 16 inch OLED WQXGA+ (2880 x 1800) 500 nits Contrast 1,000,000:1 16:10 aspect ratio processor Intel Core Ultra X7 358H16 cores: 4 high performance + 8 efficiency + 4 low consumptionUp to 4.8 GHz18MB Intel Smart CacheNPU up to 50 TOPS Intel Core Ultra X7 358H16 cores: 4 high performance + 8 efficiency + 4 low consumptionUp to 4.8 GHz18MB Intel Smart CacheNPU up to 50 TOPS graphics Intel Arc graphics B390 Graphics Intel Arc graphics B390 Graphics memory 32 GB LPDDR5X (Dual channel, 8,533 MHz) 32 GB LPDDR5X (Dual channel, 8,533 MHz) ports 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2×12 x USB-C USB 4 Gen 3×2 with fast charging, DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 41 x HDMI 2.11 x 3.5mm headphone and microphone jack 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2×12 x USB-C USB 4 Gen 3×2 with fast charging, DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 41 x HDMI 2.11 x 3.5mm headphone and microphone jack wireless connectivity Wi-Fi 7Intel Wireless-BE211 2×2Bluetooth 6.0 Wi-Fi 7Intel Wireless-BE211 2×2Bluetooth 6.0 wired network 10/100/Gigabit Ethernet via RJ45 adapterRJ45 adapter not included 10/100/Gigabit Ethernet via RJ45 adapterRJ45 adapter not included storage 512GB M.2 (NVMe Gen.5) 1TB M.2 (NVMe Gen.5) battery Up to 27 hours, 4 cells and 77 Wh of Lithium-Polymer Up to 27 hours, 4 cells and 77 Wh of Lithium-Polymer sound HD Audio with Dolby AtmosBuilt-in 3W x 2 stereo speakersSmart AMP up to 5W HD Audio with Dolby AtmosBuilt-in 3W x 2 stereo speakersSmart AMP up to 5W webcam and microphone 2 MP FHD IR camera at 30 FPSDouble microphonefacial recognition 2 MP FHD IR camera at 30 FPSDouble microphonefacial recognition price PVPR 2,649.00 euros PVPR 2,849.00 euros The battle is also on the scale The obvious question is how to achieve that fit without making the laptop smaller. That’s where it comes in Aerominumthe new magnesium alloy that LG has introduced in this year’s gram Pro line. The company presents it as a way to reduce weight, reinforce the resistance of the chassis and achieve a more premium metallic finish. They claim that this improvement comes with up to 135% more scratch resistance. Comparison within one’s own family helps put the data in context. The LG gram 16U55 and 16U55Ualso 16 inches, weigh 1,800 g. They are cheaper models and do not belong to the Pro line, so they do not play exactly on the same level. Even so, the contrast serves to see something important: the most aggressive commitment to slimming the laptop is not distributed equally throughout the range. In 2026, the showcase of that strategy is clearly in the Pro surname. The LG gram Pro 16Z90U mounts an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H with an NPU of up to 50 TOPSaccompanied by 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory and Intel Arc B390 graphics. What is relevant is not only that it complies with the fashion of Copilot+ PCbut LG tries to bring certain tasks to the computer itself with the help of gram chat On-Device, its own layer designed to search and summarize documents offline. On paper, that execution on the computer itself can help with privacy, latency, and availability, although the actual scope depends on each feature and how it is implemented. The fine print matters too. LG introduces gram chat On-Device does not support continuous conversations or Internet searches. That is, we are not facing a universal assistant that solves everything from the laptop, but rather a specific layer of local AI for limited scenarios. That precision is important because in 2026 almost all manufacturers talk about AI, but not all of them explain in the same way what it can really do. LG gram Link also enters the scene, an application designed to connect the computer with iOS and Android mobile phones, as well as integration with LG devices with compatible webOS. The idea is not new in the industry, but it does help to understand where LG wants to go: that the gram Pro is not just a light machine with a good screen, but a device capable of better integrating with the rest of the devices we use daily. The rest of the file accompanies that reading of a premium laptop. LG talks about a 16:10 OLED screen of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels, with a variable frequency from 30 to 120 Hz and 100% DCI-P3 coverage, a combination designed to work with more space and better image quality. It also mentions a dual-fan system with 21% more airflow compared to the previous year’s LG gram model used by the company in its internal tests. LG Gram Pro 2026 price and availability The LG gram Pro 2026 arrives accompanied by a broader renewal of the family, with new LG … Read more

It is increasingly common to find jellyfish on Mediterranean beaches before summer. And it’s a bad sign

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Last weekend and the one before that I tried to swim at the beach. However, upon seeing a few jellyfish I ended up deciding to spend time reading in the sand. The worst of the afternoon was not that. I found more annoying a few teenagers playing soccer a few meters from my towel. Jellyfish, after all, are in their habitat. But it is true that I had never seen in my entire life jellyfish in the month of May. I did some research and discovered that in recent years their arrival in the Mediterranean at this point in spring has become more and more frequent. They are even starting to appear in other waters in which they are not normally so abundant. Logically, the first thought that came to mind was that is related to global warming. The temperature of the Mediterranean has risen at a dizzying rate in recent years. However, I had the feeling that there must be something more. After all, the water has been warming for many years, but this boom in jellyfish populations (known as bloom, by the way) seems more recent to me. To answer my questions, I have contacted Jose Carlos Báez, Chief Program Researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, CSIC. As I feared, warming water plays a role, but there are even more factors that affect this uncontrolled proliferation that is becoming more and more noticeable. Three phases to give rise to adult jellyfish Although there are small variations between some species and others, in general the reproductive cycle of jellyfish consists of three phases. On the one hand there are the larvae, which float in the water until they find a place to cling to on the seabed. When they achieve this, they move on to the polyp phase, which can last up to a year. When conditions are favorable, the polyp fragments, releasing the ephyras, which are small immature jellyfish that, over time, become the adult jellyfish. The transition from polyp to jellyfish It is known as strobilation and depends on factors such as the temperature of the water, the oxygen dissolved in it or the availability of food. Jellyfish are only released into the water if they are going to be able to live in it. The surface temperature of the water is a determining factor. In fact, it has been observed that with an increase of 1.7°C The rate of asexual reproduction in the polyps of some species is accelerated by 20%. Therefore, strobilation normally occurs at the beginning of summer. It may vary between species. In some it occurs at the end of spring, but it is more common for it to take place from June onwards. According to José Carlos Báez, this is causing “a dilation of the reproductive period“, so we are seeing more generations of jellyfish in a single season. They arrive earlier and leave later. Not everything is going to be global warming The massive proliferations that we are seeing with increasing frequency on beaches are known as blooms. As we have seen, global warming is causing us to start seeing jellyfish earlier and stop seeing them later, but it does not seem to be the cause of the blooms. “It is difficult to affirm with complete certainty that the total biomass of jellyfish in the Mediterranean has increased due to climate change, mainly because we do not have sufficiently long and homogeneous historical series that allow us to compare the current situation with that of past decades,” says Báez. “However, there is evidence that jellyfish blooms, as well as the arrival of large swarms in coastal areas, appear to be increasingly frequent and prolonged.” The problem of overfishing “In a healthy ecosystem, teleost fish eat especially zooplankton, in which ephyras are found,” explains Báez. Among those fish that ephyras eat, sardines stand out, for example. On the other hand, adult jellyfish are typically preyed upon by turtles, but also by large fish such as tunas, to which tuna belongs. All of this, taken together, helps keep jellyfish populations more or less stable. Because of overfishingthere are fewer and fewer predators for jellyfish. There are, for example, fewer sardines being eaten in their ephyra phase and fewer tuna eating adult jellyfish. If we add to all this that more generations of jellyfish are born in a season due to warming water, we have the perfect cocktail for the appearance of blooms. The whiting that bites its tail (pun intended) In 2022, José Carlos Báez’s team published a study in which another less known relationship was described between the populations of jellyfish and sardines or anchovies. We have already seen that fish feed on the zooplankton in which ephyras are found, so they can help regulate jellyfish populations. However, what happens next is not so well known. Adult jellyfish can also feed on the eggs of sardines and anchovies. Therefore, if there are too many jellyfish, they can deplete the sardine population, so there will be fewer of these adult fish to continue feeding on the ephyras. As a result, there are even more jellyfish and we start again. The balance between one predator and another is broken and clearly leans towards the proliferation of jellyfish. Furthermore, in that study a relationship was also found between the proliferation of jellyfish and the decrease in weight of adult sardines. And, in turn, adult jellyfish also feed on zooplankton, which is why they compete with sardines and anchovies for food. If there are many, they do not allow them to feed properly. Not everything is jellyfish in the gelatinization of water With the proliferation of jellyfish, something known as water gelatinization is occurring. Logically, these animals, with their gelatinous appearance, have a great influence. But they are not the only ones who favor that aspect. Other gelatinous animals also proliferate, such as ctenophores. In addition, the water looks cloudier due to excess algae. This is because great eutrophication is occurring in the Mediterranean. … Read more

“The need to actively capture CO₂ is increasingly evident”

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Nations’ current climate commitments are not enough to meet the trajectories needed to maintain global warming below the limit of 1.5 ºC that we have marked. The solution to the climate crisis It is no longer just about stopping broadcasting greenhouse gasesbut requires direct action to literally collect them from the atmosphere and store them in some way. A warning. As he warns the third edition of the report State of Carbon Dioxide Removalhumanity would need to expand technology to eliminate CO₂ at a rate comparable to, or even greater than, the expansion of solar energy and electric vehicles. The biggest audit. This report is truly important as it is the first global, independent and accessible scientific assessment of how carbon dioxide is being removed. This edition has been prepared by an interdisciplinary team composed by more than 50 scientists from highly prestigious institutions, including the University of Oxford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To ensure transparency, this assessment includes an open data portal detailing performance indicators. CDR and allows you to monitor where, how and how much CO₂ is actually being eliminated around the world. Where are we? Although we are already working to eliminate carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, the figures indicate that we are very far from the goal that would allow us to breathe a little easier. To be clear about the numbers, global CO₂ removal levels are around 2.2 gigatonnes per year. And although it seems like a gigantic figure, the reality is that 99.9% of this elimination is carried out through conventional methods. This fits with the histories compiled in the 2024 edition led by the University of Oxfordwhich already indicated that the world removed about 2,000 million tons per year, depending almost exclusively on reforestation and land management. The objective. In order to meet the 1.5 °C objective that we have set for ourselves as a society, it is essential to multiply our capacity, since it points to the need to eliminate 5 gigatonnes of CO₂ by the year 2050. And for this, the strategies that different governments are following are not designed to even come close to this figure. Technology. Achieving this massive expansion will require a true technological revolution. Methods evaluated for their potential and costs include bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, and advanced afforestation techniques. In addition to large-scale implementation, science continues to look for cutting-edge solutions and, in Spain, for example, CSIC research centers They study novel methods such as the photoactivation of CO₂ using titanium dioxide and copper clusters. The experts. Here Science Media Center has collected the impression of different critical voices, such as that of Raffaele Bernadello, researcher in the Climate Change group of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, who points out that “the need to actively capture CO₂ is becoming increasingly evident as a complementary measure to the rapid and marked reduction in emissions” On the other hand, Ana Hernández, biodiversity and natural resources planner at the Climate Research Foundation, also points out that “temporarily exceeding the 1.5 °C threshold is practically inevitable, given that the remaining carbon budget will be exhausted around 2030.” Images | Chris LeBoutillier In Xataka | The easiest way to understand global warming, in this climate map with data from 1940

For centuries Spain shone for its castles. Today we do not know exactly how many there are and we have thousands that are increasingly dilapidated

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There are times when the best way to raise awareness is to take out a cell phone at the right time and place. Occurred a few weeks ago in Escalona, ​​Toledo, when one of the tourists waiting to enter the castle of the town observed that stones were beginning to fall from one of the towers. His impulse was record the scenewhich ended up immortalizing the mere five seconds in which the structure crumbles in a cloud of dust, taking with it centuries of history. The video ended up going viral and leading to another debate: the conservation of the castles of Spain. At the end of the day Escalona It is not a unique case. Two collapses in one year. Escalona Castle is a stately fortress whose history can be traced back to Roman times and covers a period that extends from the 1st century AD to the 12th century. Neither that, nor its status as BIC, nor the City Council’s plans to restore part of the structure prevented two months ago, March 14the albarrana tower will collapse in front of a tourist’s camera. the castle Almonacid of Toledo It is also another heritage jewel of Muslim origin whose chronicle dates back to at least 848. Again, neither that antiquity, nor its enormous historical wealth, nor its protection like BIC prevented one of its most emblematic towers from would fall apart after several weeks of heavy rain. “We have reached this situation because they (the Board and the owners) did not spend a euro on historical heritage. In the end what we feared has happened: it has fallen,” explained the councilor, Almudena González, to The Country. @latinus_us Tourists recorded the moment in which the tower of the Escalona Castle collapsed, in Toledo, Spain; there were no injuries. The site dates back to the 11th century and in 1922 it became a Site of Cultural Interest. #Latinus #InformationForYou ♬ original sound – Latinus – Latinus How is it possible? That’s it the debate that began to gain strength after both events, especially because both occurred in a surprisingly short period of time, not far away and affected fortresses with high historical value. Added to that is the viral video of Escalona. The truth, however, is that both news have stirred up a problem that is by no means new. Although the vast majority of castles in Spain enjoy heritage protection since 1949in practice the state of conservation of the thousands and thousands of fortresses that are distributed throughout the Spanish geography is very “unequal”, as explains Miguel Ángel Bru, member of the Spanish Association of Friends of Castles (AEAC), to the SER. Do we handle data? Some. And they paint a scenario that clearly could be improved. In the same interview in which he was asked about the heritage of Castilla-La Mancha (where Escalona and Almonacid de Toledo are located), Bru provided a revealing percentage: only 20% of the castles have been rehabilitated and are maintained in an acceptable state. The remaining 80% present more or less serious conservation problems. Another interesting approach is provided by Hispania Nostra, an association that is dedicated to the defense of Spanish heritage and is known above all for its “Red List”which includes those elements “threatened by a serious risk of destruction, disappearance or irreversible loss of their heritage values.” If we search for “Castles and fortified architectural complexes” we obtain dozens and dozens of results spread throughout the country. And the selection increases if we include other types of structures, such as “forts, military buildings, towers or walls.” The percentage: 60%. Probably the most shocking fact was shared a few days ago by Bru on a talk with The Country in which he warned precisely about the state of conservation of a large part of the heritage: “Six out of every ten castles in Spain are exposed to collapsing, but if we refer to smaller landslides, partial falls, we would already be talking about eight out of ten.” In reality, the problem is not only that it is estimated that 60% of the fortifications are in conditions very far from what would be ideal. The real challenge is that we don’t even have a complete, closed ‘photo’ of how many structures there are. “The first catalog there is is from 1968, it is the one recognized by the Ministry of Culture, but it is completely insufficient because the number of records is very low,” duck the director of the AEAC. To solve this, the association has been developing for decades a list of defensive structures that already exceeds 10,000, but that does not mean that the study has ended. If we want to protect the castles, the first stepEssentially, it is to have a precise idea of ​​how many fortifications exist. The other figure: 2,807. Right now the catalog of Castles of Spain includes a total of 10,362 registered properties. That is the global figure, the most updated photo that the association has achieved. When we go down to detail, however, we obtain other more worrying ones. Of those 10,362 castles, only 728 They are in “very good” condition. 2,209 They are considered to be in good condition and 1,037 They are in a situation that technicians consider “regular.” In 537 cases the collective speaks of “consolidated ruins” and in 2,087 of “progressive ruin.” The entity contemplates still other scenarios, such as fortifications that have already disappeared or that have been altered. The big question: Why? How is it possible that, despite their high heritage, historical and even tourist value, and that they are protected by state regulations, there are so many castles with poor conservation in Spain? There are several factors that come into play. One is that not all buildings play the same cards. There are large historical complexes located in populated areas that have become symbols ‘pampered’ by the administrations. And also isolated fortifications or in rural areas that have not suffered the same fate. If we talk about … Read more

We are increasingly looking for human answers on Reddit. That is the reason why the Google search engine is now a Reddit in disguise

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Google has updated its search platform for the umpteenth time, but it has done so with an especially significant change. The user experience in its AI search engines (both AI Overviews and AI Mode) attempts to become more “human”. And to do this, in these searches Google will add more context to the links, such as extracts from internet forums and blogs. And if there is a beneficiary (or harmed) of that movement, it is Reddit. Google was already a gateway to Reddit. There is a behavior that Google has been seeing in its data for years and that for a long time it preferred not to publicly acknowledge: when someone wants a real answer to a real question, add “Reddit” to the end of the search. Not because Reddit is necessarily a reliable source, but because Reddit brings together real people who have experienced this issue, tried to solve it, and written about it without anyone paying them to do so. Google, with all its infrastructure and all its algorithms, had not managed to replicate that. So instead of trying it’s going to incorporate those answers directly. What exactly has changed. The search engine update will make in AI Overviews Fragments from forums, social networks and other “first-person sources” appear. When someone searches for something for which there is no single objective answer, Google’s AI will include perspectives and opinions found in all kinds of (supposedly) human sources online. Doing so will add the name of the creator of that content (or their avatar) and the origin from which said perspective comes. Google also promises to add more context about the origin of its AI-generated answers, similar to how ChatGPT or Claude include links supporting their answers. Tired of so much SEO. The reason is obvious: Google’s organic results for practical and subjective questions—”what vacuum cleaner should I buy”, “how do I cure my dog’s ear”, “what is the best neighborhood to live in in Valencia”— They are dominated by SEO and those techniques optimized to appear on Google. It is important to position, not answer the question well. That is precisely where Reddit, like other forums or personal blogs, has something that this content usually does not have: the real experience of someone who was in the same situation. Google sums it up in its own statement bluntly: “For many searches, people are increasingly looking to other people for advice.” The contradiction that Google has not resolved. There is a potential problem in this new way of conceiving these searches with AI. AI Overviews were designed to answer questions directly and thus save the user the work of clicking, reading and researching. Now they will include diverse and even contradictory perspectives from forums and social networks. So, will AI Overviews answer the question, or will it make us go back to the sources to find the answer? If it is the latter, it will not be very different from what I already did the traditional Google search engine. There is an interesting imbalance here between “we give you the answer” and “we give you context so you can find the answer.” In a sense, Google’s decision complicates searches. AI models are becoming less prone to failure. The famous cases of add glue to pizza are much less common now, and new models often boast a significant reduction in “hallucination” rates that they have. GPT-5.5 Instant, released this week, “produced 52.5% fewer hallucinations than GPT-5.3 Instant,” OpenAI indicated in its official announcement. The problem is that these hallucinations are increasingly difficult to detect because these chatbots hide these mistakes very well. That the system now includes unverified or validated content from networks like Reddit can be problematic: community votes do not always measure how truthful or useful a certain thread is. Using Reddit has its drawbacks. This platform has value precisely because it is not optimized for Google algorithms: It is chaotic and contradictory.. Sometimes there are brilliant responses from people, but other times there are completely wrong comments. When a user adds “Reddit” to their search and reads the results, they are automatically weighing which comments are useful and which are not. But that step disappears if Google extracts fragments of those discussions to include in an AI Overview. Eliminate that human filtering step and presents those answers with an authority that perhaps they should not have. Google will have much more difficulty than a human in distinguishing the comment of someone who has been working in plumbing for twenty years from that of someone who tinkers as a hobby. The shadow contract. This is not just an editorial or technological decision. In 2024 Google signed a deal worth $60 million a year with Reddit to access their data and train their models. You are not incorporating content from this social network as a public service: what you are doing is monetizing a commercial contract. Your message that you are highlighting those “original voices” is really saying that you have paid for that privileged access to Reddit content and now you are going to take advantage of that access and make it profitable. That revenue is interesting for Reddit, no doubt, but there is a problem: clicks. The Stack Overflow Precedent. There is no need to speculate much about what may happen because it has already happened. Stack Overflow is the largest technical Q&A community on the internet, but has lost most of its traffic in two years because AI companies They started collecting all those answers. to train your models and then serve them to your users directly. That caused users to stop visiting Stack Overflow and experts to stop answering questions. The quality of the new content on this network was clearly affected, and it became clear that if the AI ​​already gave you the answer without having to enter Stack Overflow, why enter? The danger for Reddit is exactly the same. Google didn’t have many alternatives. ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity They have been capturing … Read more

increasingly successful at leisure than at home

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Spain can boast of a rich gastronomic tradition based on fish. Neither that, nor their kilometers of coastHowever, not even the millions of euros that the country’s ports move each year have prevented the fish from going through a particular journey through the desert in Spanish homes, one marked by the collapse in consumption per capita and the closure of thousands and thousands of fishmongers. Behind this phenomenon there are several keys, such as cultural and educational changes that affect the purchase or the perception that consumers have of its cost, but there is also another interesting factor: we increasingly associate fish more with leisure and less with our refrigerators. Maybe we don’t plan to cook a sea bass for lunch, but we like to go to sushi, sashimi, pokés or ceviche for dinner. A percentage: 32%. These are not good times for the fish industry. Not at least in Spain. Markets and fishmongers have been losing strength in the shopping basket at a speed that is evident in consumption data per capita at home calculated by the ministry: if in 2014 each Spaniard consumed on average 26.4 kilos of fish per year, at the end of 2025 that indicator it already marked 17.8. In short: a collapse of 32.5% in just a decade. If we extend the comparison the decline is even greater. In 2009 They were close to 30 kg. A negative trend. The latest data They don’t exactly invite optimism either. According to the latest tables from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (Mapa) on domestic consumption, in November 2025 each Spaniard ate an average of 1.48 kg, on which they spent 17.65 euros. The consumption data is more or less similar to that of 2024, but is far from the more than two kilos of 2015. In your sector report Most recently, with data from November 2025, Luis Planas’ department warned that the fish market in Spain “is losing purchasing intensity”, with a drop of almost 2% that is partially offset by the increase in prices. The most affected (by far) is the fresh merchandise business, which has fallen by 5.6%, dragging the rest of the sector along in its fall. Frozen sales actually rose by 1.5% in 2025. One figure: 5,000 businesses. The drop in fish purchases not only shows us what we eat at home, it also leaves a clear business reading. This ‘pinch’ in consumption has been accompanied by the closure of 5,000 fishmongers in Spain, such as I remembered a year ago The Newspaper. “A third of the 15,000 fishmongers that existed in 2007 have been lost, which means the closure of more than 350 traditional fishmongers per year,” corroborates Fedepesca. “In the same period the number of people employed in the sector has also gone from 26,237 to 18,396.” Although the closure of establishments coincides with changes in consumption and a lower presence of fish in the country’s refrigerators, Fedepesca recognizes that this is not the only challenge. “There is no generational change,” regrets before pointing to factors such as business hours or the lack of a firm commitment to training. In an attempt to diversify their income, some have even begun to explore new business avenues, such as pet food. Do all the fish fall? The truth is that no. And that is one of the keys that help us better understand the changes in fish consumption that Spain is experiencing. In your report ‘Fishing month by month’MAPA points out that there are species that have seen their demand increase over the last year, such as trout (27.7%), tuna (3.4%), sardines and anchovies (7.5%) and salmon (9.7%). The demand for smoked salmon and trout has also grown, by 9.1 and 38.9% respectively. The evolution of salmon stands out above all, not so much for its growth percentage as for its volume, with one of the highest per capita consumption among the species identified by MAPA. More fish (away from home). There is another indicator that is equally interesting. Fish consumption may decrease in homesbut his behavior is better outside the home. He report of Mercasa on “extradomestic consumption” of 2024 suggests that the product is improving its reception in restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses where people can eat without cooking. Over the last few years, the organization has registered “a progressive increase in the extra-domestic consumption of fish and shellfish” that can be clearly seen in your graphicsIf in 2022 it was 145.9 million kilos, the following year it rose to 149.8 million and in 2024 it was already 155.7, the highest figure since at least 2020. Going down into more detail, the demand for seafood, squid, octopus, prawns and shrimp, salmon and fresh tuna stands out. During the start of 2025, out-of-home consumption of fish continued to increase, with a growth of 8.1% with respect to 2024. What does that tell us? We may have reduced the consumption of fish in our homes and in general we pay less attention to it when planning our meals, but its demand does not evolve the same at home as it does outside of it. In fact, the loss of fishmongers coincides with the rise of other types of businesses: establishments specializing in sushi, sashimi, poké and ceviche, dishes from foreign cuisines in which fish also plays an important role. Increasingly associated with leisure. Seen another way: fish consumption is losing strength in homes, but seems to be strengthening in others oriented towards ‘leisure’. Companies in the sector detect a problem of “perception” among consumers related to the price of fish, but the reality is that there are businesses that have been able to take advantage of it. In recent years there has been no shortage voices that they claim that the increase in the intake of salmon, one of the products that responds best, is directly related to the rise of Asian cuisine. Beyond the opening of businesses, interest in new ways of preparing fish was evident during … Read more

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