key

the key is in tiny technology

by

The promise of 6G It has been on the table for years, but there is a part of that story that is usually left out of the window. We’re not just talking about faster mobile phones, seamless video calls or almost instant downloads, but about something much more complex: getting huge amounts of data to travel through the air with great stability. That’s where technology meets its own ceiling. And a Japanese team just placed a tiny piece right in the center of that problem. 112Gbps. What the researchers have achieved is to send data wirelessly at 112 Gbps in the 560 GHz band. The demonstration was announced by Tokushima University and researchers from this university and Gifu University participated. The important fact is not only the speed, which is already enormous, but also the place where it has been achieved: above 420 GHz. According to the researchers, it is the first time that 100 Gbps class wireless communication has been demonstrated above 420 GHz. The 350 GHz wall. To understand why this result matters, we have to look at the problem that terahertz communications have been experiencing. Mobile networks have gained speed and capacity by increasing working frequencies, but this path becomes more complicated when entering extreme territories. Above 350 GHz, conventional electronic technologies face to lower output power and increased phase noise. In other words: it costs more to generate a strong, stable and useful signal to transmit data at high speed. The tiny piece is a microcomb. The word may sound strange, but the underlying idea is quite visual. A microcomb generates multiple regularly spaced optical frequency modes, like the tines of a comb. Tokushima University explains that this allows very high frequency optoelectronic signals to be obtained with a quality superior to that of conventional electronic approaches. In the configuration used by the team, an optical fiber is attached directly to the microresonator, which eliminates the need to perform extremely precise optical alignments as in conventional systems. The way forward. First, the microcomb allows the generation of a cleaner and more stable terahertz signal than that obtained with conventional electronics at those frequencies. Then modulation comes into play, which is the way of encoding the information within that signal so that it carries more data. The official source talks about high-order modulation techniques, such as QPSK and 16QAM. With QPSK, the system achieved 84 Gbps; with 16QAM, it reached 112 Gbps. It is not for tomorrow’s mobile. It is advisable to understand the scope of the advance before imagining phones directly connected to 560 GHz. The university itself speaks of a technological base for ultra-fast backhaul links and integrated photonic-wireless networks in 6G systems. Simply put, backhaul is the part of the infrastructure that connects base stations to the main network. That’s where very high-capacity wireless transmission can make sense: moving large volumes of data between fixed points. There is still a way to go. Researchers want to extract even more performance from these waves by reducing phase noise, developing more advanced antennas and increasing power output. The objective is clear: that speeds like these do not remain a one-time demonstration, but can be sustained at greater distances. There will be an important part of the reality test. What we’ve seen now is not a finished 6G network, but rather a piece of technology that helps show how a part of that network can be built. Images | Tokushima University In Xataka | Reddit was one of the last corners of the Internet free from burning. Now it’s starting to show worrying signs.

models point to worst El Niño in 140 years and one of the key reports is published on Thursday

by

All the meteorological agencies in the world are looking at the same building on the east coast of the United States. On Thursday, May 14, before markets open, in College Park, Maryland, a room full of oceanographers and meteorologists will discuss a four-page pdf. In that pdf it will be written the future of the planet. It sounds epic, but it’s more prosaic than it seems. It will not be written clearly, sharply, or with absolute certainty: but it will be. What’s in that PDF? NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) publishes the second Thursday of each month your ENSO Diagnostic Discussion. It is the most important report from the global El Niño monitoring systems and, from what the models are saying, the probability of a “very strong” El Niño is going to exceed 25% (and growing). But if it’s monthly… why is this specific report important? Because the index the agency uses to monitor and predict ENSO has changed. Until this year, NOAA I used ONI: an index to measure the sea surface temperature anomaly, but which does not discount the average anomaly produced by climate change. What is expected is that the predictions under the new index (I’ll call it RONI) is significantly less than under normal conditions. If the magnitudes shoot up despite the correction, things will look worse. This report is important because it is the first that will capture the “acceleration” of El Niño at full capacity. What would this entail? Each new NOAA report translates into a cascade of decisions in agricultural, energy, fishing and fire policies. He last major El Niño (2023-24) coincided with 2023 would be the second warmest year on record and 2024 the warmest ever: a strong 2026-27 El Niño could push 2027 to another global record and the impacts are not well measured. It is true that between March and May the reliability of ENSO forecasts drops sharply (because the equatorial Pacific anomalies go through their transition phase); but, in the absence of the June report, this is the best clue we have. What can we expect? We already know that there is a 61% chance that El Niño will be with us between May and July 2026. A 25% chance that it is “very strong.” The important thing to keep in mind is what that means. 61% measures the probability that the equatorial Pacific crosses the threshold of what we understand as El Niño. But, unfortunately, it does not measure how much it will rain in Cádiz, nor what will happen to the crops in Misiones, nor how many hurricanes the Yucatán will see. It is worth remembering that, during the warm phase (that is, during El Niño), the absence of strong trade winds that cool the surface of the equatorial Pacific causes the temperature of that area of ​​the ocean to skyrocket. It is this, through different atmospheric teleconnectionswhich disrupts all the weather systems in the world. What we are not clear about is exactly how. The effects are varied and change depending on the region (“drier conditions than normal in certain parts of the world; while in others it causes more precipitation. Some countries have to deal with major droughts and others with torrential rains”, says AEMET); but when we talk about temperatures there is no doubt: El Niño is synonymous with heat. Everything else remains to be written. Image | Xataka In Xataka | “It is so extreme that it is difficult to believe”: El Niño forecasts depict an event of unprecedented intensity.

The day a small dispute over the Tab key ended up revealing the big difference between IBM and Microsoft

by

There are companies that have lived so long that their story is no longer told only through big launches, acquisitions or business battles. It is also told in small details, in those seemingly minor scenes that, seen over time, end up explaining an era better than many official statements. Microsoft and IBM belong to that category. Their paths crossed when the personal computer It was still defining many of its rules, and some of those discussions, even the most minute ones, revealed something deeper than a technical difference. The scene has been recovered Raymond Chena veteran Microsoft engineer who has been linked to the evolution of Windows for more than three decades and who for years has gathered in The Old New Thing some of the most curious stories of the Windows and Microsoft ecosystem. Chen does not present the episode as his own experience, but as the memory of a colleague who was assigned to the IBM offices in Boca Raton, Florida, during the collaboration between both companies in OS/2. OS/2 was much more than just another name lost in software history. IBM and Microsoft presented it in 1987 as an operating system designed for the IBM PS/2 line and intended to take the PC beyond the limitations of DOS, with a more modern base and ambitions typical of computing that was beginning to look further afield. The collaboration came from a joint development agreement signed in 1985when the project was not yet called OS/2. In that context, any interface decision could have more weight than it seems today, because many conventions of the modern PC were still being established. Two very similar and also very different companies The problem is that that collaboration brought together two companies at very different times in their lives. Microsoft was still a young company, very attached to software and a more direct way of working, while IBM arrived with decades of history, a huge structure and the weight of a much more established corporate culture. Chen sums it up like a clash of perceptions: from Microsoft, IBM was seen as trapped in a meaningless bureaucracy, and from IBM, Microsoft was seen as undisciplined hackers. Its own nuance is important: there was probably something right in both readings. The specific anecdote begins in Boca Raton, where a colleague of Chen’s worked assigned to the IBM offices. At some point a discussion arose about which key should be used to move from one field to another within the dialog boxes. The Microsoft engineer made a decision that is almost invisible to us today because of how assumed it is: use Tab for that function. IBM was not convinced by the choice and asked that the matter will be escalated to the person responsible from that engineer in Redmond, a reaction that already hinted at the extent to which the discrepancy went beyond the key itself. In Redmond, the petition was not understood as an issue that deserved to be raised much higher. The engineer’s manager responded with a very clear idea: if Microsoft had sent someone to Boca Raton, it was so that they could resolve decisions like that there. Translated into a more institutional tone, the message that came back to IBM was that Microsoft supported the choice of the Tab key. IBM’s reaction was just the opposite. Instead of shutting down the discussion, the company elevated her up its own chain of command to a vice president, several levels above those who were programming. IBM had not only elevated the discussion, it also wanted a response to the same hierarchical height. If its vice president was against using Tab, Microsoft had to find someone equivalent to argue the opposite. Chen’s colleague then responded with a wonderful phrase, translated here into Spanish: “Bill Gates’ mother is not interested in the Tab key“It was a pretty nice way of saying that it wasn’t worth going up the corporate elevator anymore. It wasn’t necessary to go to the heights of Microsoft to decide how to move from one field to another in a dialog box. The phrase worked, at least according to Chen’s account: apparently, after that response, the discussion ended and Tab remained the key chosen to advance between fields. The detail is funny because today almost no one stops to think about it: we simply press Tab and wait for the cursor to jump to the next available space. But there was a time when that convention was not so closed. And what we see in this story is just that: a small interface decision turned into a clash between custom, hierarchy and technical criteria. The exact date, however, does not appear in Chen’s account. We know that the episode belongs to the years of collaboration between Microsoft and IBM around OS/2, whose joint development agreement dates back to 1985 and whose Public arrival occurred in 1987. This allows us to limit the context, but not to set the day or year of the discussion by Tab. There are many decisions behind the products and services we use every day. Some are huge and visible, but others fly under the radar: a key, a gesture, an interface convention that we learn once and repeat for years without wondering where it came from. Surely many have a story behind them, although most never transcend and others would not be particularly interesting. From time to time, however, an anecdote like this appears and allows us to peek into something we almost never see: how things are handled within the companies that build the technology we use. Images | Kaatvrtg (Wikimedia Commons) | In Xataka | In 1993 Microsoft created Encarta to revolutionize knowledge. Twenty years later it would be devastated by a tsunami

Researchers point out that the first 1,000 days in a person’s life are key to our life and memory

by

Something quite popular among society in general is that the youngest children are true sponges that absorb everything that is around them, this being fundamental for their adult personality. Here are some experts who specifically point out that the first 1,000 days of life are They are practically everythingsince a temporary window opens that can largely determine the intelligence, health and social skills of the future. But… is it like that? There are questions. Scientific evidence calls for pressing the brakes, since, although the overwhelming importance of these first stages of life is not denied, researchers are beginning to warn against absolute determinism. And all this because, although the first 1,000 days are a critical window, the next 1,000 days They are just as crucial. The first days. What happens up to two years in the brain, the truth is that it is fascinating, because here some research they point specifically because early feeding influences physical development and long-term metabolic health. But in addition, the attachment bond with an adult figure traces the physical, neural, cognitive and socio-emotional trajectories, meaning that, if this attachment does not exist, many problems can arise. But also, listening to caregivers, such as parents, speaking, singing and interacting, lays the foundations for the neural networks linked to language and the communication skills that we will have in the future. The effect on memory. We often think that memory is the adult ability to remember knowledge that we have ‘put’ in our brain ‘drawer’, but in childhood memory It is a basic neural learning mechanism and identity construction. In these cases, babies record constant sensory and emotional information, such as smells, voices, affective responses, and the receiving context. And precisely, experts point out that if at this stage the child is correctly stimulated and takes in the memories well, the brain “trains” its synaptic circuits, making learning new skills much easier in the future. It is literally as if a base is being generated (which we will not remember) to generate new skills in the future by generating very strong neural networks for future memory. We don’t have to be absolutists. Saying that only those 1,000 days determine cognitive and social development is a mistake, since the literature tells us that we are not facing a “closed window”, since human brain plasticity is amazing and does not have a switch that automatically turns off when two years have passed. From here, what surrounds the little ones in the house, the education they receive and also the social interactions continue to have a profound impact beyond 24 months. That is why simplifying the concept to the extreme can lead to a biological determinism that diverts attention from other equally important stages of childhood. Everything that happens. This is where the most recent evidence comes in so we have to focus on what they can be. the “next 1,000 days” which is the period that goes from 2 to 5 years. This preschool stage is not a maintenance period, but rather it is a new golden window of opportunity, since during these years complex motor skills are triggered when starting to walk, for example. But beyond this, language also goes from isolated words to a complex grammar and the ability to narrate and reason. And even social-emotional skills such as empathy or impulse control are also experiencing rapid growth. This is why promoting an environment of safe care and healthy habits in this period is capable of significantly altering and improving development, compensating for the deficits that may have occurred in the first years of life. Images | javi_indy on Magnific In Xataka | One baby, three (biological) parents: a promising fertilization technique that, for now, we will not see in Spain

Ibiza has evicted 200 people who lived in campers and caravans. Their big problem is that they are key workers for the island

by

If you enter Idealista and you are looking for a home For rent in Ibiza the cheapest option right now, a 32 m2 studio in Sant Joan de Labritja with the kitchen almost at the foot of the bed, is 799 euros. And that, the ad warns, is only the price of “the winter season.” Looking ahead to spring and summer, things change. The next option, a 35 m2 studio, already costs 1,000 euros. From there up. Especially if you are looking for near Eivissa. With similar prices to many workers who keep the island’s hospitality and construction industry afloat they have no other choice than staying in cabins, shanties, vans or (hopefully) caravans. The problem is that they are often installed in unauthorized settlements that end up dismantled by court order. What has happened? That Ibiza has just expanded its (increasingly large) list of evicted settlements. He April 21 About twenty police officers went to the Sa Joveria site, near the Ibiza fairgrounds, to clear what was probably the largest settlement of substandard housing on the entire island. When the agents arrived there were barely any tenants left (the date of the operation was announced days before), but it is estimated that in Sa Joveria they have come to live (badly) more than 130 people who spent their daily lives in caravans, shacks, tents or vans camperized. Just a few days later, the April 29another judicial delegation moved to Can Misses to dismantle another settlement made up of caravans, tents and shacks. The photo was similar: when the agents arrived at the lot there were hardly any people left, but not so long ago more than fifty people lived there (it is estimated that between 70 and 80), part of them bounced from a previous eviction in Can Rova. The eviction left no incidentsbut it is a new reminder of the housing challenge that Ibiza faces. Are these the first evictions? Not at all. a few days ago Ibiza Diary took stock and counted at least half a dozen similar operations since 2024, including the last two in Sa Joveria and Can Misses. The list starts with what was probably the most dramatic episode of all: the eviction of Can Rova in the summer of 2024, when agents from the Santa Eulària police and the Civil Guard dismantled a settlement in which they lived hundreds of peopleincluding children. The episode ended with detained. In March 2025, a similar (more peaceful) operation was carried out in Can Raspalls and in July of that same year the scene was repeated in the es Gorg and Can Rova industrial estate (again). Now the authorities have returned to act in Sa Joveria and Can Misses, among other reasons due to the fire and pest risk what the settlement entailed. “Ibiza city has a major housing problem, but the administration cannot tolerate this becoming a habit of life,” argues the mayor, Rafael Triguero. Why is it a problem? Ibiza is not the only territory in Spain (or Europe) that deals with illegal shanty settlements. The problem is that there is a peculiarity on the island that is explained by its residential market: a good part of those who are forced to survive aboard motorhomes or vans parked in lots like Can Misses or Sa Joveria are not people at risk of ‘social exclusion’, without jobs or fixed income. It comes with reading the local press and the interviews with evicted people to understand that construction, hospitality and tourism workers also live in the towns. People with stable jobs and payrolls that exceed 1,000 euros per month. The problem is simply that their salaries are not enough to find housing. Or what they find (rooms in shared apartments in exchange for exorbitant rents) is less attractive than the prospect of living alone in caravans or vans. Are there testimonies? Yes. Recently The Country chatted for example with Ahmed, a 35-year-old immigrant from Western Sahara who works in a five-star hotel on the island. At least until a few weeks ago, before the eviction of Sa Joveria, at the end of his shift he returned to the cabin built with wood and cardboard that served as his home. The newspaper claims that 80% Of those who lived on the plot were Sahrawis who worked as seasonal workers in the construction and tourism sectors. Another similar case was that of Mohamed, 38 years old, installed in a tent. Also interesting is the experience of Yamile Elisabeth, a Venezuelan who has resided in Spain since 2019. Until her eviction, explains to elDiariolived in a van in Can Misses for which he paid 550 euros a month. “When you look for a rental, they easily ask for 1,000 euros and three or four months’ deposit to share a small space with five other people,” the woman clarifieswho claims that he works several hours a day cleaning a bank branch, although in reality he has training as a physiotherapist and last summer he earned 1,600 euros by working six days. Is housing that expensive? Not only is housing becoming more expensive in Ibiza, but there are a number of factors that have put special strain on its market. The first is its status as an island, with limited space. The second, its enormous demand for tourist accommodation, which even leads some homeowners to abandon them in summer (they temporarily move into caravans) to rent to visitors. The result is prohibitive income for many workers, including civil servants. Three years ago, in fact, the case of a firefighter at Ibiza airport who was forced to settle in a caravan was reported. “The only solution to save some money”, recognized the man, of Andalusian origin, in an interview with laSexta. Is there more? Yes. The problem, as remember our colleagues Motorpassionthe thing is that living in a caravan on the island is not that simple either… or economical. Laws like the 5/2024 vehicle control or that of the Rustic Land of … Read more

20 years ago someone believed they had the key to decongesting Madrid. Today it is gaining strength again with a name: M-70

by

In 2005, someone put on the table that, perhaps, the time has come to decongest Madrid from transit trips. That is, those that start outside Madrid and end outside Madrid. The idea is not new by any means. The M-30 or the M-40 They were born with the clear objective of keeping cars away from the city center. More kilometers for the driver but with the promise of taking much less time to reach our destination. The problem is that the municipalities and neighborhoods adjacent to the M-40 are enormous in Madrid. Some even merge with the city itself. As a result of this problem, the M-50. The highway finished being consolidated in the early 2000s. It has a total length of 85 kilometers and with it you can go from Las Rozas on the A-6 to San Sebastián de los Reyes, already on the A-1, surrounding Madrid on its southern side. It serves as a connection to the entire southern belt of the city, passing next to Móstoles, Leganés or Getafe but also next to Pozuelo, San Fernando de Henares or Barajas. The connection, however, is not closed in the north. That is, there is no direct connection A-1 and A-6 or vice versa, it is necessary to surround the entire southern framework because right now no highway crosses that space. The closest is the M-40 which, as we say, is next to the capital. But what if we go further? What if we try to eliminate traffic in Madrid with a radial highway that links all the provincial capitals that surround Madrid and without having to go through this autonomous community? This is what was proposed more than 20 years ago and now they want to recover. The M-70, an old Castilian desire Although it sounds utopian, the truth is that carrying out the Pentagon Project or the M-70, as the idea has been known since 2005, this idea has been raised more or less seriously. In fact, that year it was included in the Strategic Infrastructure Plan for Madrid just as they collected in 20Minutes and was considered of General Interest of the State as it was part of the Strategic Infrastructure and Transportation Plan (PEIT) 2008. The crisis, however, wiped out any reference to the project. That name of “Project Pentagon” It is because its construction would create a road network with this shape by joining Segovia, Ávila, Toledo and Guadalajara, passing through other municipalities of considerable size such as Ocaña, Maqueda or Tarancón. The name M-70 would not exist as such at the moment because, really, the objective would be to connect highways between said capitals in a kind of Frankenstein that would allow movement between all the radial roads near Madrid but without the need to enter said autonomous community. The last consistent reference to the project is a statement by Emiliano García-Page in 2024 who made reference to the fact that the connection of Cuenca with the A-5 through an extension of the A-40 would make the latter the M-70 of the city. And at the time of projecting that future M-70, it was already projected that the A-40 would be the road that would largely structure the project. This road, the A-40 It is a connection that aims to unite Ávila with Teruel. At the moment, on the west side, the road has been passable since 2012 between Maqueda (on the A-5) to Mocejón (past Toledo). At that point the highway is cut off as it passes through Aranjuez (the only point where it touches the Community of Madrid) and extends again from Ocaña to Cuenca. At the moment, that Madrid section and the connection from Maqueda to Ávila is in the study phase. And to finish this old dream of the Castiles, it would be necessary to extend the highway to Teruel from Cuenca, whose preliminary project has already been completed and approved. The concept of M-70, however, would be realized with the existing connection between Ávila and Segovia and, most complicated, the connection of the latter with Guadalajara. The “simplest” thing (yes, in many quotes) would be to create a connection between Segovia and the A-1 and reuse the latter in the direction of Madrid to unfold the possible ring road taking advantage of the route of the N-320. The latter connects the A-1 highway with Cuenca passing through Guadalajara. However, this Segovia-Guadalajara connection seems really complicated given the geographical accidents along the way. Despite this, as we said, a hypothetical M-70 ring road It would be an amalgamation of different highways or linked highways, not the construction of an entire ring road. It would, however, be a possibility to alleviate some traffic on the east-west and west-east routes without passing through Madrid. The A-40 wants to be that solution in the south but there were already those who dreamed 20 years ago of carrying it out also in the north. Photo | Command on Wikimedia and Google Maps In Xataka | The great artery between Madrid and Valencia had been awaiting renovation for years: 500 million euros will end the wait

The key was not in the stars, but in his birth

by

If there is something more difficult than putting doors in the field, it is possibly finding the edge of our galaxy. Or any other, really. They are not perfectly well-defined spacesbut rather a kind of cloud with fuzzy edges. Even so, science has been trying to find the limits of our own galaxy for many years: the milky way. Until now it had been impossible, but an international team of scientists, led by the University of Malta, has discovered that we were defining the borders in the wrong way. Almost 40,000 light years. According to this new researchthe closest thing to an edge of the galaxy would be the place where stars stop forming. This, based on their calculations, is located approximately at a point between 36,800 and 39,600 light years from the center. That would be the radius. There are stars further away. Until now, the error was in considering that the edges of the Milky Way are those that house the most distant stars. This concept of edge is constantly being redefined. The better the tools for detecting stars, the farther away they are. However, these scientists observed that there are stars that move after their formation. Especially when a supernova explosion occurs nearby. Therefore, they could not help us define something like a border. In fact, there are stars up to 10,000 light years away. further of what these researchers have defined as a possible limit. In this case, the radius is measured in kiloparsecs, which are equivalent to 3,262 light years each. This is how stars are born in a galaxy. The first stars are born in the centers of galaxies, where there is a greater density of gas and dust. Then, as gravity allows small pockets of condensed gas to form, they can form further and further away as well. Therefore, the oldest stars are those in the center and the most distant ones are the newest. That’s not counting those that disperse and move to other points in the galaxy. Precisely the ones that had made it so difficult to find those supposed galactic borders. In search of stable orbits. The authors of the recently published study focused on analyzing stable orbits. Those whose stars have barely migrated beyond their point of origin. Thus, they have found the limit of stellar birth. Telescopes can look further. The materials are there, but something is missing. Beyond these borders there is still gas and dust. However, it has not condensed enough to guarantee star birth. Possibly, it is due to the absence of sufficiently intense gravitational processes. In any case, despite having found something resembling a diffuse edge for the first time, it is important to insist that doors cannot be placed on the Milky Way, like the field. And much less borders. Image | Freepik | University of Malta In Xataka | James Webb has found a galaxy from when the universe was 330 million years old. Hides a whole enigma

It is the key day if you do not want a tree to ruin the August eclipse

by

Can you imagine preparing everything to see the solar eclipse this August 12 and that right at the moment of truth there is a tree that blocks your views? This is more common than it seems, but don’t worry: it can be prevented with a simple drill. This April 30 is the ideal time to do it. a symmetrical orbit. Due to the symmetrical orbit of our planet, the Sun describes exactly the same arc in the sky on two dates of the year with the same separation from the solstice. You could say that they are twin dates when it comes to the location of the Sun in the sky. The date symmetrical to August 12 is April 30. That’s why, from the official website of the Trio of Eclipses They recommend that this Thursday we go to the place we have chosen to see the eclipse and check that we have good visibility of the Sun. We must do it at 8:30 p.m., as that will be when the occultation occurs in August. This way, we will avoid disappointment when push comes to shove. If the place is bad. If at 8:30 p.m. there is an obstacle that makes it difficult for us to see the Sun, we have time to change the location. Just walk around the area and look for that place where you can see the Sun directly, with nothing in the way to prevent it. If you can’t that day: In case you cannot go to the chosen place on April 30, don’t worry. Two days before and after also good results are obtained. Always at the same time, of course. The bad thing is having to travel. Unfortunately, the eclipse will not be seen equally throughout Spain. It will only be observed in its entirety in a strip that goes from the north of Galicia to almost all of the Balearic Islands, passing through Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, the north of Castilla y León and the Valencian Community, La Rioja, and a part of the Basque Country, Navarra, Madrid, Aragon, Catalonia and Castilla la Mancha. In the rest of the country it will be a partial eclipse. For this reason, many people will travel far from their homes on August 12, in search of a luckier environment. Some music and art festivals have even been organized around this astronomical phenomenon.. In case you have decided to travel far, it will not be so easy to do a drill. There you will only have to trust that the locals have done it and can give you a hand when the time comes. More eclipses. The one on August 12 will be the first of what is known as Iberian Trio of Eclipses. And in mainland Spain we will enjoy three consecutive years with a solar eclipse. The dates will be August 12, 2026, August 2, 2027 and January 26, 2028. Those in 2026 and 2027 will be total. That of 2028, cancel. Since they will be seen in different parts of the country, almost all of us will have a more or less close point to which we can travel to see it. And, of course, there will always be a symmetrical date on which to carry out the drill. For now, let’s go step by step and start with the rehearsals on April 30. Even the first Spanish woman astronaut, Sara García Alonso, has echoed these advice. If you have the opportunity, be sure to take the test. You will avoid having to run on August 12. Image | POT In Xataka | The trio of eclipses that await Spain on the horizon: an unprecedented and historic chain between 2026 and 2028

Madrid has the key mineral underground so that Europe does not depend on China. The problem is that there is a gap above

by

Under the soil of Madrid lies a strategic resource that Europe desperately needs to reduce its technological dependence on China. To ensure this supply, the regional government has decided to make a move and protect the future of the Tolsadeco mine. The plan. As they progress in Europe Pressthe Community of Madrid finalizes the procedures to extend until 2037 the mining concession located between the districts of Vicálvaro and San Blas-Canillejas. It is about reactivating an open-air exploitation that has been paralyzed since 2007, with the aim of not losing access to the last reserves of a material critical for the industrial autonomy of the continent. A simple absorber or the future of the electric car? Although it is traditionally known for its domestic use as an absorbent material—especially in pet litter—sepiolite is today a very high-tech mineral. According to Europa Press citing the Elcano Royal InstituteSpain is the only European producer of this material, placing it as an extractive singularity of the country. In fact, the processing factory located in Vallecas transforms about 400,000 tons per year out of a global production estimated at 600,000. The strategic importance. High purity sepiolite is the basis of flame retardant additives essential for the cable, pipe, automotive and construction industries. These components allow Europe to replace antimony oxide, a raw material that is today imported almost exclusively from China. Furthermore, the mineral is the core of the project MADBATa Madrid initiative to develop high-performance electrodes for electric vehicle batteries. The economic impact projected by the concessionaire company, Tolsa, is ambitious: a turnover of 113 million euros, with more than 53 million destined for international export. The emptying of the water and the promise for 2037. To resume extraction, the first step will be to evacuate the water accumulated during two decades of inactivity. The Ministry of Economy defends this intervention under an argument that transcends the industry: citizen safety. The regional administration emphasizes that it is not a natural lagoon, but rather a deep mining hole with clay soils that, as they warn in their reports, act like “quicksand.” Despite the fences and signage, the place has become a recurring clandestine bathing point. Tragedy has struck this enclave on several occasions: since 2012, three people have lost their lives due to drowning in these waters, including the death of a minor in June 2021, according to the files of Europa Press. Given this danger, the Community of Madrid promises that, upon completion of exploitation in 2037, the area will be restored through a “safe and planned reconfiguration” that will create new controlled lagoons. The clash with the neighbors: the destruction of an ecosystem. However, the reactivation plan clashes head-on with neighborhood and environmental opposition. The Regional Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Madrid (FRAVM) and various groups have denounced, in statements spread by Europa Pressthat the work will mean the “destruction of the Laguna Grande.” The associations deny the official version about the origin of the water, ensuring that it has a phreatic character and is connected to a deep aquifer. In addition, they warn about the impact on biodiversity—especially in breeding colonies of the sapper planea protected bird—and about the proximity of mining activity to homes, sports facilities and educational centers. For organizations like Ecologistas en Acción and SEO/BirdLife, This extension is a bucket of cold water: postpone sine die the long-awaited project of converting the Ambroz environment into a large “Eastern Country House”, integrated into the Metropolitan Forest. The groups have not been slow to react: they are already preparing allegations and keeping open the possibility of taking legal action. The price of European autonomy. The Ambroz lagoons conflict perfectly illustrates one of the great industrial and environmental crossroads of the present. On the one hand, the undeniable geopolitical need for Europe to secure strategic materials to lead the energy transition and stop the Asian monopoly. On the other hand, the high ecological cost that this strategy requires at the local level. Madrid has decided to shield its sepiolite mine in favor of the technology industry, but the price to pay will be to empty – at least for the next decade – the oasis that nature had silently claimed in the southeast of the capital. Image | freepik Xataka | From devouring diesel to being 100% electric: the incredible transformation of a 650-ton mining excavator in India

The iPhone can do much more than we think. The key is in the Shortcuts and this way you can start taking advantage of them

by

A few days ago I was in a cafe with a friend when, in the middle of the conversation, he took out his iPhone and showed me how much of a Shortcuts expert. At that time I thought more people should know that. Barely two weeks have passed since then and now I have to present to you this video that my colleagues at Xataka have made, a very good opportunity to start using the mobile “like a pro”. Ana Boriawhich has tested devices like the Plaud Note Pro or the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro and that even you have been encouraged to home automation your homenow wants to help us make life easier for iPhone users. This is a video in which he shares his experience with a tool that can be very useful and explains how to use it for tasks such as scheduling the sending of messages, reading news with a single click or creating a QR code to share the WiFi network. The video that we have just published on the Xataka YouTube channel It starts precisely with that last possibility. “You probably know that on Android, simply clicking on the Wi-Fi network gives you the QR code to share it with everyone. Well, then on iPhone it is not so simple”, says our colleague. How to do it then? With Shortcuts. We just have to add the shortcut that Ana left us and configure it exactly as she explains. In addition, it proposes three different options so that everyone can choose the one that best suits their needs. “If you have traveled, it may have happened to you the same as me, that when you go to another country they don’t speak your language, but they don’t speak English either. Well, for that, this shortcut has been great for me,” says our colleague when presenting her next recommendation. In this case You don’t even need to download any additional applications. All you have to do is take advantage of a shortcut that is also capable of detecting the language automatically. Ana also reviews other especially useful shortcuts, such as one designed to read the last 10 articles from our favorite websites, another to obtain a personalized note with parameters from the Health app and several automations for the iPhone to execute certain actions based on the time or location. It is true that launching these shortcuts requires following some steps, but In the video there are all the necessary links to download them and start playing with them. I hope you like preparing it as much as we do. And, of course, we invite you to leave your comments both here and on YouTube. Images | Xataka In Xataka | The foldable iPhone is getting closer every day: this is everything we know about it so far

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.