island Archives - Page 4 of 8

In 1521 Spain established a timid colony on the island of Borneo. Today they demand 15,500 million euros for it

November 13, 2025 by usatoday24

In a corner of Southeast Asia, the island of Borneo has been the scene of a historical entanglement that seems like something out of a novel. What began more than a century ago as a trade agreement between a local sultan and European businessmen today translates into multimillion-dollar lawsuits and international arbitrations involving Spain, Malaysia and the descendants of the Joló sultanate. The surprising thing is that the origin of all this mess goes back to a detail that many would overlook, but given that when it happened the island was under Spanish jurisdiction, a century and a half later, the judicial imbroglio has spilled over into a Spain that has been involved in a lawsuit for 15.5 billion euros without a hitch. Signing of the agreement and colonial movements In 1878, the island of Borneo was under Spanish administration in certain areas, although real authority corresponded to the Sultan of Joló, the highest authority in a small Muslim kingdom located to the north of that island. In that year, Sultan Jamalul Alam signed an agreement with two British businessmen, Baron of Overbeck and Alfred Dent for the exploitation of natural resources of the area. However, for the descendants of the sultan, that contract had a lease character, while for the British it implied a definitive transfer. First point of disagreement. Spain, as the administrative power of the time, left evidence of its limits and neither punctured nor cut nor cut in that agreement. Reproduction of the 1878 agreement In 1885 the Madrid Protocol between the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, with which Spain formally renounced any right over Borneo and recognized British control of the area, left in hands of the British North Borneo Company to its colonial exploitation and became part of the British colonial territories. Already in 1963, the island of Borneo was integrated in the newly formed Malaysia, and the Joló sultanate was integrated as the state of Sabah. Under the agreement signed in 1878, the Malaysian government was the “heir” of that transfer/lease of the territory, so kept a symbolic payment annual payment of about 5,300 ringgit (about 1,110 euros per year at the exchange rate) to the sultan’s heirs. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, oil and gas deposits were discovered in that territory, so Malaysia, through the company Petronas. With a treasure of such magnitude under the soil of their territory and with a difference of opinion regarding the meaning of the initial agreement, the heirs of Sultan of Joló began to pressure Malaysia to return their lands. Something that Malaysia rejected outright. Invasion of Sabah and start of battle Everything changed in 2013, when a group of 235 linked to the heirs of the Sultan of Joló invaded Sabah, starting what became known as the Lahad Datu conflictclaiming the sovereignty of the region. Malaysia responded with military force and stopped the rebels declaring that the state of Sabah was part of the sovereignty of Malaysia. In retaliation, he decided to suspend historic payments to the sultan’s descendants. This suspension marked the beginning of a long international legal dispute since now the heirs did not have the right of ownership of the lands nor did Malaysia recognize the agreement signed in 1878. Since in 1878 the kingdom of Sabah was under the administrative control of Spain, the sultan’s heirs considered that the historical jurisdiction belonged to Spain and requested arbitration in Spain, trusting that the country’s courts could act as a neutral venue to resolve the conflict between Malaysia and the heirs of the Sultan of Joló. Territory in dispute From trade disagreement to billion-dollar international conflict In 2019 and already in Spain, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) assigned arbitration in principle to lawyer Gonzalo Stampa. However, in 2020 and after studying the case in more detail, the same court ordered arbitrator Stampa to stop the arbitration by determining that the State of Malaysia could not be judged by another State. Despite the disqualification and orders from the Spanish justice system, Stampa ignored it and continued with the mediation process. Since it had been banned in Spain, Stampa moved the arbitration to Paris and, in 2022, he dictated a favorable award to the heirs of the sultan. In the award issued by Stampa, which we remember at that time was “free” and no longer recognized by Spain, it could be read: “(…) the Arbitrator decides that the Claimants have the right to recover from the Respondent the restitution value of the rights over the leased territory in northern Borneo. (…) and orders the Respondent to pay the Claimants the sum of 14.92 billion US dollars.” Painting of the Sultan from the late 19th century That is to say, not only had he ignored the instructions of the Spanish justice system, but he also condemned Malaysia to pay compensation of 15,000 million dollars to the heirs. Obviously, nor Malaysia neither Spain nor even Paris Court of Appeal and then the Cour de Cassation French recognized the nullity of the arbitration. In fact, the Supreme Court recently condemned to referee Stampa for contempt and usurpation of functions. Although no authority recognized this arbitration, the heirs attempted to enforce the award by confiscating Malaysian assets, in the form of Petronas assets, in Holland and Luxembourgbut European courts temporarily stayed the action. At the same time, the heirs of the Sultan of Joló filed a new complaint against Spain claiming 15.5 billion euros, alleging that the country had hindered the execution of the award. This demand has just been dismissed by the ICSID (International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes) tribunal dependent on the World Bank, which considered that there was no “protected investment” and ordered the heirs to assume the costs of the procedure. The result is that Spain leaves the dispute without paying a single euro, while the legal battle for territory and compensation against Malaysia remains open and on multiple fronts in Europe and Asia. What began as an agreement … Read more

On this island in Japan there is a traffic light that only turns green once a year, and not precisely to control traffic

November 8, 2025 by usatoday24

On the small Japanese island of Himakajima there is a traffic light which remains flashing amber or red all year round. Only during one day in May does it change its usual behavior and activate its green light (or blue, as they insist in Japan). This is not a fault. It was designed this way for a reason that goes beyond traffic control. An educational traffic light. The traffic light was installed in 1994 at the Himakajima East Port intersection, but not to regulate traffic. The island barely has 2,000 inhabitants and few vehicles circulate on its roads. The traffic light exists solely to teach children of the place how the urban signals work before they leave the island for larger cities. One less problem. According to explains the Himaka Road Safety Association, which promoted its installation, minors grew up without real experience with traffic lights. Before, they used small models in traffic safety classes, but the children themselves asked “what does a real traffic light look like?” account Kazuo Sugiura, former president of the association, to the local media Asahi. One day a year to learn. Every May, the traffic light is activated for a full day. Third and fifth grade students from the local school go to the crossing accompanied by teachers, parents and authorities. There they practice how to cross correctly: they wait for the color to change, look both ways and cross the zebra crossing with their arm raised, just as they would in any city in Japan. More difficult than expected. The children also discover that calculating the time they have to cross the pass is not as simple as it seems. “It was complicated because it turned red when I was trying to cross,” explained a third-grade student after practicing with her bicycle. The exercise helps them understand the real times of light change and develop security reflexes that they cannot acquire in their daily life on the island. An unexpected tourist curiosity. This little anecdote has gained notoriety beyond Japan. Every year videos and photos circulate on social networks showing the peculiar educational ritual. Some users even consult the local government website to find out the exact date of “green day” and witness the event, although it varies slightly each season. It is already part of the island’s identity. Once the annual training is completed, the traffic light returns to its flashing lights routine. It does not serve any practical function in traffic control, but it has ended up becoming a small symbol of how the community of this island prepares its children for the urban world. The rest of the year, Himakajima remains a quiet place known for its beaches and octopus dishes, with a traffic light that counts down the days until it can turn green again. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | Convenience stores were an emblem of Japan. Until the demographic crisis has revealed the dark side of opening 24 hours

50,000 people paid 120,000 euros to live on a paradisiacal crypto island. Now it is about to disappear under the Pacific

November 8, 2025 by usatoday24

A group of cryptocurrency investors imagined living in a cryptostate in which everything was based on blockchain technology and, of course, 100% tax free. The project it was so serious that they even found a private island in the middle of the Pacific and named the place Satoshi Island in honor of the bitcoin creator. In it, crypto investors could move in and acquire their citizenship in exchange for a modest 120,000 euros. Eight years later, the Satoshi Islandnot only has it not become the tropical crypto paradise promised of bitcoin and NFT, but is at risk of disappearing under the waters of the Pacific. The origin of the initiative. As and how I collected FortuneIn 2017 and with the support of more than 50,000 investors, the “Satoshi Island” project was launched with the development of a new crypto nation on the private island in the South Pacific previously known as Lataro Islandin the Vanuatu archipelago, east of Australia and halfway between the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. The small 32 km2 island was leased to the local government of Vanuatu for 75 years by British real estate entrepreneur Anthony Welch who, according to France 24had been living there for more than a decade. In 2021, the transformation to “Satoshi Island”, named in honor of Satoshi Nakamoto, was presented. with the promise to become a crypto city-state, without taxes and based exclusively on blockchain and NFT. The vision included digital citizenship, “crypto-friendly” modular housing, and an economy untethered from traditional fiat. Real estate promises and realities. The plan was articulated under several axes: issuing citizenship and ownership NFTs, building modular homes on 21,000 available plots, adopting renewable energy, decentralized governance and attracting a global community of crypto investors. It sounds like a complicated formula to attract new neighbors to the island and, in the process, “rent” them part of the 90% of the island that was uninhabited. “We are trying to build a community. We are not looking to develop for profit,” assured Welch to Guardian in a satellite interview with the island, given that the island does not have electricity or internet. Bad omen for an economy based on digital transactions. The wall of territorial sovereignty. According what was published through the specialized portal Decryptin 2022 the Vanuatu government, with then Prime Minister Bob Loughman, supported the initiative after ensuring that they had received thousands of applications, which gave more visibility to the project. Obviously, for all the NFTs of Satoshi Island citizenship, the reality is that investors who wanted to live on the island had to obtain Vanuatu citizenship, which “Golden Visa” mode It was awarded in exchange for a generous donation of 120,000 euros. According to data of the International Monetary Fund, around 40% of its income comes from the “Golden Visa”, so the Satoshi Island project was an excellent attraction to attract new residents and obtain large income. The blow of reality. Shortly after, the first alarm signals began to emerge: absence of infrastructure, significant delays in the implementation of the habitability project and the legal complexity of transforming NFTs into property titles. recognized by the state (the real one, that of Vanuatu). Little by little the project has been deflating until, in July 2025, a publication in the project X profile It marked the end of the cryptotropical dream. Furthermore, the project’s demise is not just figurative, as the Vanuatu archipelago is highly vulnerable to sea level rise, coastal erosion and extreme weather events resulting from climate change, a forecast that already is coming true in its neighboring archipelago of Tuvalu, which has already begun its migration for climatic reasons. In Xataka | A Venezuelan invented a lawless city in the middle of an island. Now the millionaires who followed him don’t know how to escape Image | Vladi

When we thought we had seen all kinds of rehearsals for an invasion, China makes science fiction: robots taking over an island

November 7, 2025 by usatoday24

At the end of 2024, several military studies from Beijing were published outlining six different scenarios if future unification with Taiwan goes awry. So we tell that the Second World War I advised against all them because, in essence, there was talk of an invasion of the island. From then until now so much China as Taiwan have carried out all kinds of drills under the war scenario background. What you haven’t seen until now is that China has a plan B: robotic wolves. Mechanized herds. This week and through images and videosChina has shown to the world a new generation of autonomous combat systems in an exercise that simulated an invasion of Taiwan. On the landing beach, the traditional “human waves” of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were replaced by swarms of machines: suicide drones and well-known robotic quadrupeds like mechanized wolves. These units, developed by the state-owned China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC), represent the first attempt to convert amphibious operations into a scenario dominated byor artificial intelligence. The broadcast images State television CCTV showed these metal “wolves” running across the sand ahead of human troops, detecting obstacles with LiDAR sensors, thermal cameras and autonomous navigation algorithms. Wolf specification. Of 70 kilos of weight and capable of carrying 20 more, these robots were divided into attack, transport and reconnaissance variants, managing to reduce the time between detection and destruction of the target to less than ten seconds. In fact, in one symbolic sequencea single human operator simultaneously directed nine robots and six drones from a 3D interface, while the devices cleared barbed wire and trenches for infantry. @elsa50356 “Breaking from China! The PLA’s latest amphibious landing drills—drones take the lead, and robotic ‘wolf packs’ rush the beach! The future of warfare is here!” 🚀🪖 #PLADrills #ChinaMilitary #Drones #RobotArmy #MilitaryTech ♬ 原创音乐 – Elsa Swarm intelligence. The training, called “Landing Operation in Taiwan” was part of an assault test coastal exercise carried out by the PLA 72nd Division, under the Eastern Theater Command, the unit operating in front of the Taiwan Strait. For the first time, quadruped robots performed as a spearheadfollowed by waves of FPV drones bombing simulated enemy fortifications. In total, the attack cycle was cfour times faster than that of a conventional square. This deployment is part of the EPL’s strategic shift from mass doctrine (the so-called human wave tactics) towards what Beijing calls “smart sea and land tactics,” a doctrine that prioritizes automation, cooperation between unmanned systems and data-driven decision making. The buts. However, the exercise itself revealed vulnerabilities: these wolf robots They lack armor, are easily detectable in open fields and one of them was destroyed by light fire. Chinese analysts they recognized limitations, but they stressed that the goal was not perfection, but rather to demonstrate that the army is willing to progressively replace human soldiers with swarms of coordinated machines. Ukraine in the shadows. The Chinese Army has incorporated direct lessons from the Ukrainian war into its maneuvers, where drones have redefined tactical and logistical effectiveness. According to Chinese military media like Daiwanthe PLA is applying the knowledge extracted from that conflict in its ground training, anticipating a future where hundreds of robots advance at 30 or 40 km/h in coordinated waves. The parallel is clear: if Ukraine demonstrated that a cheap drone can destroy a tankChina wants to prove that a network of smart machines can break coastal defenses in a matter of minutes. The current exercises, which until recently were limited to traditional landings, are already a general rehearsal of algorithmic warfare, where the human decision is reduced to an initial order and autonomous systems execute the rest. Strategic competition. Plus: The accelerated development of these systems occurs while the United States reinforces your deterrence strategy in the Indo-Pacific. According to the CIAan eventual Chinese invasion of Taiwan could occur before 2027, and the Pentagon has designed the so-called hellscape strategy: Saturate the strait with thousands of drones, submarines and unmanned vehicles to slow down Chinese forces and buy time for reinforcements to arrive. Beijing, aware of this, is creating units specialized in war against swarms, equipped with software capable of detecting, tracking and attacking targets without human intervention. Companies like Norincoanother state giant, have presented vehicles like the P60powered by the DeepSeek AI model, which can recognize targets, avoid obstacles and operate in logistics support or combat missions. A future of machines. He China’s advance towards an AI-powered war demonstrates both its technological ambition and its practical limitations. The images of robots breaching simulated beaches are as revealing as their failures in the face of enemy fire. However, beyond immediate effectiveness, Beijing’s message is unequivocal: the future of the war in the strait of Taiwan will be decided by the speed of the algorithms, not the number of soldiers. In that race, China seeks to transform mechanized warfare in smart warreplacing brute force with computational precision. The question is no longer whether robots will be present in the next invasion, but how many will be able to think, coordinate and eliminate before the first human makes landfall. Image | CCTV/China In Xataka | Less than 150 kilometers from Taiwan, the US does not stop accumulating missiles. It’s the closest thing to preparing for war. In Xataka | China has asked Russia for an airborne battalion and training. That can only mean one thing: they are preparing a landing

Years ago Alicante opted for an artificial island with a luxurious restaurant and taxi boat. It hasn’t turned out as I expected

November 6, 2025 by usatoday24

The idea was good. AND on paper It was fable. Set up a restaurant an artificial island in the heart of the port of Alicante, a benchmark in the Valencian hospitality industry where people could eat paella or have a drink with views of the Mediterranean (directly on it, rather), surrounded by sailboats. So that clients could reach the island, it was even thought to build a taxi boat. The idea sounded so good, in fact, that the Port of Alicante decided to invest heavily in it, dedicating millions of euros to it. Now instead of an idyllic island to drink mojitos and coffees in the middle of the mouth what it has is a huge mess. An artificial island? That’s how it is. To understand it you have to go back a few years, to beginning of 2022when the Alicante Port Authority awarded Vías y Construcciones (subsidiary of the ACS Group) one of its most ambitious projects, at least as far as the interrelation between the docks and the city is concerned. What the Port entrusted to the company was the construction of a large platform at the mouth of its inner dock, a sort of artificial island of 669 m2 (34.8 x 20m) that would be supported with the help of three large 14 m concrete piles anchored to the seabed. The contest was launched with a budget of 2.7 million (taxes apart) and aroused the interest of several companies. The AC Group firm ended up imposing itself on the rest with a project of 2.1 million. And what did they want it for? The platform was just a means, not an end in itself. Its objective was to support a future restaurant located in a privileged enclave, a place that would offer food and drinks not with views of the sea (many bars in Alicante already have that) but directly over the sea. If the island measured 669 m2, the idea was that the building dedicated to hospitality uses would occupy 393 m2 on the ground floor and rise two levels (ground and first floor). The remaining 260 m2 would be dedicated to public access, with a three-meter wide promenade. So that people could reach that privileged enclave, it was also planned a taxi boat. The idea was once again ambitious: a purpose-built, sustainable boat managed directly by the restaurant. Did it stay in theory? No. The Port of Alicante took important steps to make the project a reality. The main one was the awarding of the works for the island platform, which ended up being erected, as can be verified today on the docks. The problem is that what should have been a simple work in theory ended up becoming complicated in a bad way, as recently recognized the Port itself. In 2023 one of the support pillars partially sank, requiring reinforcement work to be carried out on the seabed. From there the project entered a loop that now threatens to condemn it. In fact, the Port insists that it “has never received” the work, which is why it has not considered it good. “Once the work was completed, the contractor company refused to carry out a load test that would allow its stability to be evaluated, as provided for in the contract, and as an essential procedure for the port to sign the acceptance of the work,” remember from the organism. What’s more, he claims to have a report of CEDEX (an entity linked to the Ministry of Transportation) that “strongly advises against” carrying out the tests due to “the high risk of collapse of the structure.” And now what? After years of the open platform crisis and after the latest CEDEX report, the Port has decided to make a radical decision. Its last Board of Directors has given the green light to activate the procedures to “resolve” the construction contract for the island. That is, the organism wants break the agreementsomething that has been communicated to those responsible for Roads and Construction. Now the company has ten days to present allegations. Once that period has passed, “and after years of technical and negative incidents”, the proposal will return to the Board of Directors, something that will probably happen before 2026. “In recent years the Port has commissioned audits and expert reports that confirm the irreversible deterioration of the structure and the impossibility of meeting safety standards to locate the restaurant proposed in the original project,” the organization argueswhich in its 2024 accounts already contemplated “impairment losses” of 2.7 million euros, which it has invested in the platform. Is there anything else? Yes. The Port does not only propose to terminate the contract. He also wants the original seabed to be “restored” to “recover the navigable conditions” that existed before the platform works. If the contract finally ends up being broken, it is not unreasonable to think that the conflict will reach court, but the Port Authority assures that it has already touched all possible sticks, so it sees “all avenues to remedy the situation exhausted.” Are there more affected? The Port of Alicante not only awarded the works on the platform. In April 2022 it launched another contest which completed the project with its second fundamental piece: the building that was to rise above the artificial island to act as a restaurant. The one selected for its construction and management was a business alliance between Alicante Gastronómica SL and Restaura Gestión Forty SL, which from that moment became co-protagonists of the project. In fact, they would not only be in charge of the building, an elliptical, glass-enclosed block with a large interior garden patio, a restaurant with views of Alicante and a terrace for cocktails. Another of its functions would be to assume the “maintenance and governance” of the taxi boat that would connect the island, a ship whose investment, precise Alicante Plazatook over the Port and was commissioned for 460,000 euros (taxes included). In January the organization started to try it. Now … Read more

On the island of Djerba there was a ten-meter tower made of skulls for 300 years. Those of 5,000 Spaniards

November 1, 2025 by usatoday24

There are dozens of monuments in the world that should never have been erected. One of them stood for centuries on the Mediterranean island of Djerbain Tunisia. Yes, the region where The fictional city of Tatooine was recreated for the Star Wars saga, where George Lucas glimpsed a young Luke Skywalker discovering the path of the force. This mysterious place, beyond being an iconic place for fans of the saga, housed one of the most macabre constructions in history: Burj Al-Rus, a tower made with the skulls of 5,000 Spaniards. This is your story. In the 16th century, also called the “Century of Discoveries”, Spain rose as a world superpower and He assembled an empire so large that it dominated territories throughout the globe: Africa, numerous colonies in Asia, half of Italy, the Netherlands, Burgundy and much of America, from the current United States to Argentina. As his hand extended over so many regions, controlling and managing them became a problem. In fact, the management of the Mediterranean alone became a great headache for the Christian countries, especially for Spain, since the Ottomans and Berbers They carried out raids and they captured slaves wherever they could. It was also at this time that a fearsome figure emerged: Turgut Reis, also known as Draguta privateer, pirate and Ottoman admiral who has filled pages of historical literature ever since for his cruelty. Not only their fleets They attacked the ships of the empire dailyhindering trade routes, but managed to plunder even coastal areas and enslave their people. During this time, Jean de La Valette, general of Malta, was obsessed with defeating the Turks and reconquering the city of Tripoli, which was now under their power. So in 1559 he convinced Philip II to command a fleet of 28 ships and 50 galleys with 30,000 Christian soldiers. These forces would be led by Juan de la Cerda y Silva, fourth Duke of Medinaceli and Viceroy of Sicily. Hundreds of men left Syracuse, in present-day Sicily, for Tripoli. But when they arrived they saw something they did not expect. The enemy defenses were superior than thought. They turned around due to De la Cerda’s decisionwho pointed out that that battle was impossible win it without the relevant artillery equipment or, at least, cannons. Several troops were sent to Malta to warn of the situation and the rest of the fleet stopped on the island of Djerba (also called Los Gelves) to wait for reinforcements. The Djerba massacre and the construction of the tower There they fortified themselves as best they could and tried to build some defensive sites against a possible arrival of the Ottomans. And boy did they arrive. In less than two months, almost 90 galleys under the command of Piali Baja and its commander, Turgut Reis (Dragut). He chaos and fear It seized the troops, who were waiting for their commander’s decision. Between the choice of fighting or retreating, he chose the second when the Muslims had already landed and started a massacre. Pialí Bajá fought the Spanish, or what was left of them, for three months. While his generals managed to escape, 5,000 men led by Álvaro de Sande were isolated. Half of them were soldiers and the other half were simple sailors.. Without any help, they surrendered to the Ottomans, but Dragut showed no mercy. He didn’t even take them as prisoners. Directly ordered cut off the heads of the 5,000 survivorsclean their skulls and bones and, together with mud, build a tower on the beach built with Spanish skulls and adobe. This terrifying monument that could be seen from the sea dozens of kilometers away, would serve as a warning against future attempts at conquest. This tower was called Buj Al-Rus, which means “Tower of Skulls.” It was more than 10 meters high and stood for almost 300 years, until 1848, when the king of Tunisia ordered its demolition and buried the remains. Later, a monolith would be erected in its place in memory of the thousands of Spaniards who perished atrociously on that island. Turgut Reis, for his part, ended his days in the Ottoman siege of Malta, on June 23, 1565, at the age of 51, after being wounded during the siege of Fort San Telmowhen a cannon shot mortally wounded him in the neck. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Burj-er-Roos, engraving by Sir Grenville T. Temple, Bart. (1841). In Xataka | A group of archaeologists has discovered a new unknown language thousands of years old. The problem is that they don’t know how to decipher it.

We have been wondering for centuries how the statues on Easter Island moved. The answer was very simple: walking

October 19, 2025 by usatoday24

Can you walk a block of stone the size of a school bus? Can a rock that weighs tons and measures several meters long be walked? The most logical answer is (obviously) no, but things change if what we are talking about is the moai of Easter Island, the unmistakable carvings sculpted and distributed throughout the Polynesian island several centuries ago through the old town of Rapa Nui. Beyond your meaningcharacteristics or design archaeologists have always wondered how the hell the natives managed to move those multi-ton masses from the quarries to the ahuthe ceremonial platforms on which they stood. The answer was just that: no more and no less than ‘walking’. An ancient mystery. There are few sculptures in the world as iconic, unmistakable and fascinating as the moai of Easter Island, the enormous rock heads that seem to emerge from the earth on the distant oceanic island. Since Jacob Roggeveen and its people arrived there in 1722, the world wonders what they were for, what they represent and of course how their creators, the people of Rapa Nui, managed to move them from the quarries to their destinations. Why is it so surprising? Because the statues, carved especially in volcanic tuff of the Rano RarakuThey measure several meters long and weigh tons. In fact, it is said that on average they are around 4.5 meters and 10 talthough there are older specimens. Taking that into account and that they had to move from the places where they were made to their platforms, how did the islanders move them? It is not a minor question if we remember that on the island there are hundreds and hundreds of statues, some have the buried torso and were manufactured mainly among 13th and 16th centuries. Their displacement has aroused so much curiosity that over the last decades it has inspired various theories, such as the one that maintains that the figures they lay down on a kind of wooden sled with ropes. Now a group of researchers he thinks he has settled the debate once and for all. And your answer has little to do with trailers, horizontal loads and logs. ‘Walking’ sculptures. The ancient legends of Rapa Nui they assured that the moai arrived “walking” to their ceremonial platforms, the ahu. And although that possibility has always sounded like a pure fable, it seems that it was not so far off the mark. Thanks to a study that combines physics, 3D modeling and field experiments, a team led by experts from Binghamton and Arizona universities has confirmed that “the statues really walked”. And the most interesting thing is that this process had very little mysterious about it. It was simple physics and engineering. All that was needed was ropes, people, paths and a special design. “After studying nearly a thousand moai, Professor Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt discovered that the inhabitants of Rapa Nui probably used ropes and ‘walked’ the gigantic statues in a zigzag pattern along carefully designed paths,” he explains. a statement launched by Binghamton University. Is it something new? More or less. The theory itself is not new. In the 80s a Czech engineer (Pavel Pavel) already raised that the moai moved upright thanks to a system that propelled them from two points. Carl Lipo himself and his colleagues they argued does years that the statues “walked” with vertical and oscillating movements, contravening the hypothesis that the people of Rapa Nui transported them upside down with the help of logs. To prove it they even did a practical demonstration that attracted interest of National Geographic. Despite these efforts, there were still critical voices that questioned the theory. And that is what Lipo and Hunt have now wanted to settle by deploying their entire arsenal. From the theory… To the facts, which is what the investigators have done. For prove the validity of his theory and better understand the movement of the carvings, Lipo and his colleagues turned to high-resolution 3D models and thoroughly studied the shape of the moais, both those that remain upright and the dozens that fell by the wayside when their creators tried to remove them from the quarry. Not only that. The team also incorporated practical tests into its argument. Practical tests? Yes. The researchers built a moai of 4.35 tons and they dedicated themselves to moving it with the help of ropes. The result is fascinating and Binghamton University itself has taken care of divulge it on YouTube. The team needed just 18 people to move the moai 100 meters in 40 minutes. “Once it gets moving it’s not difficult. People pull with just one arm. It saves energy and it moves very fast,” comment Professor Carl Lipo. “The tricky part is getting it to swing in the first place.” That experience, added to the 3D models and the rest of the analysis, demonstrates, in the opinion of the archaeologists, that their theories “really work.” And to silence voices they have captured it in a paper published in Journal of Archaeological Science with a headline as revealing as it is provocative: “The hypothesis of the walking moai.” Have they discovered anything else? Yes. The researchers identified certain “distinctive characteristics” in the design of the moai that, a priori, made it more feasible for them to advance with an oscillating and zigzag movement with the help of the ropes. What features? The archaeologists quote two specifically: “wide ‘D’ shaped bases and certain inclination forward” (between 5 and 15º). To be more precise, the experts appreciated bases wide and roundedespecially in the moai that were left halfway, which suggests that the islanders used them to move them (the design served to lower the center of gravity). Then, once the figures reached their destination, they carved them to settle them. Another of the clues they have found is in the paths used by the islanders of Rapa Nui. Its width (4.5 meters) and concave cross section invites experts to think that roads were “ideal” … Read more

It is a tiny Caribbean island with a unique asset

October 6, 2025 by usatoday24

The AI is A bottomless well of burning money. There is Very few companies earning money With this technological boom and the fear that everything will be A bubble about to explode The atmosphere flies over. In the midst of this uncertain panorama, an unexpected winner has emerged, a small British island located in the Caribbean Sea. Your secret? It has control of the domain .AI .AI The domain was created in 1995 specifically for Isla de Anguila. Like the .es. With the AI boom, the use of domains. The boom. Perplexity.ai, x.ai, Google.AI… They are some of the AI services that these domains use, but there are many more. According to This report From the Domain Technik hosting service, in 2018 there were approximately 48,000 .AI registered domains. The figure was growing over the years, but in 2023 the thing is triggered and the 354,000 domains are reached, which meant 145% growth with respect to 2022. There are currently 870,000. Taking into account that up to date an average of 1,500 domains are being recorded. Income. As reflected in the Annual Income, Expenses and Capital Report of 2024 of the Anguilla government, in 2022 the income derived from the domain registry. In the world of AI, they are ridiculous figures, but on a small island like eel, it is an important part of its income. Caution. According to the local medium Anguilla FocusJose Vanterpol, Minister of Infrastructure and Communications said that “in the years prior to the true advance of AI, income from domains. However, they are cautious. In statements A AP News Last year, Prime Minister Ellis Webster said that “we cannot predict how long this will last (…) I do not want our economy, our country and all our programs to be based solely on this.” Other cases. Anguilla is not the only case of a domain that unexpectedly becomes a gold mine for a region. He passed with Tuvalu, an archipelago between Australia and Hawaii who saw how The .TV domains became their second source of income. There has also been similar cases With the domains .ly belonging to Libya and. Me de Montenegro. Cover image | Wikipedia In Xataka | There are such monstrously high skyscrapers in China that a new job has emerged: those who take lunch to the last plants

Vigo’s elite has an island for her isolated from the rest of the city. Now risks that to change

October 5, 2025 by usatoday24

Maybe it’s not as famous as The Cíesbut Torralla It is also a unique island. In its own way, of course. More than its fauna and flora, this small insula of the southern coast of Galicia stands out for its legal situation. Although it is connected to Vigo’s coast through a 400 -meter bridge and in theory it must comply The Costas Lawin practice it is an impenetrable urbanization for most vigueses. At the end of the viaduct there are A garrita with a guard who restricts the passage to the interior of the island. The barrier only rises for the (scarce) residents, their guests and the researchers who work in the Marine Science Station (Ecimat), a space linked to the University of Vigo that premiered in 2006. Torralla is therefore a city within a city, a private and exclusive village available to its even more exclusive residents, including The business elite local. The country Precise that there are only 149 people censored there, although in good weather the number of residents multiplies. Two ways to visit her As access is closed to anyone outside the island, there are only two ways to get an idea of what is inside. One is to cross the bridge and (without crossing the garrita), go down to one of the coves located on both sides of the catwalk, accessible from the 90s Thanks to a Supreme Judgment. The other (more comfortable) is to open Google Maps and notice In view of birds, internal roads, large gardens, chalets and swimming pools that are distributed throughout the island. Its most characteristic piece (and perhaps controversial) can be observed, however, from a good part of the vigués coast: a tower of 70 meters high and 21 plants Raised between the end of the 60 and the beginning of the 70s, during the boom of the developmentalism. In idealist it is possible to find The announcement of a floor of 120 square meters on the 18th plant sold for 620,000 euros. Another peculiarity of the island is that in practice it is intended as a Private condominium in which the City of Vigo barely has a presence: the basic services, such as lighting, water supply or maintenance of the vials are assumed by the neighborhood community, Precise The confidential. That Torralla is today an island of private use, an anomaly of the Galician coast, is greatly explained by Its complex story. Until the second third of the nineteenth century the island belonged to the Church, but after confiscation He went to the Marquis de Valladares. Since then it has changed ownership (in 1884 a prosperous factory came to rise there, Iberian string) until in the mid -60s it ended up under the control of a society, Torralla S. This episode was key to the future of the insula, which saw how in just a few years the bridge was built that connects it with the coast, the Huge residential tower and the thirty of exclusive chalets that are distributed by its surface, some with gardens and pools that arrive almost to the rocks where the sea breaks. In its day, the construction of a nine height and 120 meters long for 85 exclusive homes that met the frontal opposition of the city. “It goes against every idea not only landscape, but I am even afraid that the island sinks,” He came to iron In 1975 the then mayor, Joaquín García Picher. After an intense pull and loosen, three years later the Supreme Court proved him right and gave the judicial folder to the megaproject. Goodbye to privileges? Torralla has been hoarding for years headlines Because of its peculiar status, but a quick search arrives on Google to verify that its rhythm has increased exponentially in recent months. The reason is simple: if the government Fulfill your wordin not long residents could lose one of the privileges that have been retaining for several decades, being the only ones (except for Ecimat workers) who can enjoy the coast of the island. In June, during a visit to the neighboring beach of Samil, Minister Sara Aagesen, guaranteed that will defend “he toCceso to the public domain Maritime-terrestrial “in the area.” It has to be for public use and we are working on the definition of the project, we hope to have it just around the summer, “he insisted. Wednesday The confidential revealed That the government is already finalizing the project to achieve it, which in practice would go through lifting the garrita that prevents the passage of non -residents and recovering the public domain strip of the insula. To understand that effort you have to understand some keys before. The first, the status of the island. What Torralla SA has is a concession, an authorization of almost a century granted in the mid -60s and will not end Until 2064. In between, in the late 80s, the Government approved the Coastal Lawa regulation that regulates the public use of the coast and the one that right now does not adjust the Galician island. In fact, if the vigueses (and the rest of the visitors) can cross the bridge and sunbathe on the coves of the island located on their margins is not because of the hospitality of the SA, but by a sentence of the 90s that forced him to retract the garrita to the end of the catwalk, allowing his public access. The Coastal Law however demands something else. The norm includes a space of “Traffic servitude” that must respect a strip of six meters widean area in which “the construction of any installation is not authorized and should be left permanently expedited for pedestrian public use.” That is what Vigo aspires now with the support of the government: a perimeter walk of more than 1.5 km and at least six meters wide for which residents probably They will have to give land. With him they would achieve two objectives: to end decades of privileges and erase Torralla … Read more

The Caspian level has dropped so much that it now has a new island. But you can’t visit (still)

September 14, 2025 by usatoday24

Climate change has caused the oceans to have raised their reach in a few centimeters, but human action escapes also the opposite in other environments. The most obvious case is almost missing from the Aral Sea, but we find a more recent one in a nearby basin, that of the Caspian. A new island. A new island It has emerged from the waters in the Caspian Sea. The geographical accident is due not volcanic activity (as usually happens occasionally) but to the progressive decrease in sea level in this inner basin. The existence of the island was confirmed this summer by the Shirshov Institute in Oceanography, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IO Ras) On the ground (or almost). According to Explain the institutionthe first sighting of this new sand bank in the middle of the waters of Caspo was held from space, in November last year. However, the existence of the island was not confirmed and the unknown of its existence lasts for a few months. Until the end of May, when the IO Ras brought an expedition to the land. According to the oceanographic body, the expedition could not make land on the island due to the low depth of the waters and the weather conditions, but could see it and perform a first analysis that included the deployment of a drone to be able to approach it. The island without name. The island has not yet been named and there is little we know about it. As Io Ras points out, it is about 30 kilometers Southwest of Maly island Zhemchuzhny, another small islet formed in front of the Delta del Volga. The description made by its discoverers of the new formation is that of “a soaked plain”, a kind of marsh in the middle of the sea, as can be seen in the photos. In addition to appointing it, the team Point out that we will still have to study it in better detail to investigate in its “biohydrochemistry, hydrobiology and (in) the dynamics of sea behavior.” To facilitate the study, the team placed an oceanographic station about 40 cm deep in the waters surrounding the island. Experts expect the continued descent of the sea level in the Caspus to make the island expand over time. The end of summer would be a conducive moment for the study of the new island since the evaporation of sea water during the summer, along with a lower flow in its tributary rivers also implies a slight seasonal drop in this sea level. Importance for marine life. It will be interesting to see how the appearance of this islet to the ecology of the environment affects. The land could be used for some of the bird species that inhabit the Caspian to nest or make a break in the environment with other reasons. The other new islands. The warm -up of the planet is also able to “give” new islets to the geography of the planet through the withdrawal of the ice from the poles. It is what It has happened too Recently in Alaska, where the withdrawal of Alsek glacier has allowed the appearance of an island in the homonymous lake. However, the main engine in this creating new formations in our seas and oceans is volcanic activity. A recent example is The island that arose with the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano. It was the already missing The island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, the result of the fusion between two existing volcanic islands. It is not necessary to leave the caspian waters to find another example. At the beginning of 2023 a mud volcano erupted in this sea, creating a new island that faded little by little. These examples do not predict a long life expectancy for the new training, but the scientists who study it believe that the progressive decrease of sea level will imply that this island grows, at least for now. If it will be later that is razed by the sea, that will be another story. In Xataka | In 1940 the Nazis invaded a British island. There they met an unexpected enemy: a language that nobody understood Image | Io Ras

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