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We have been obsessed with Japan for decades to understand people who live over 100 years. The key was in Brazil

January 11, 2026 by usatoday24

For decades, when science was searching for secrets of aginghe always looked in the same places: Japan’s “Blue Zones”Sardinia or the icy and homogeneous populations of northern Europe. However, researchers have pointed out that all this time we have been ignoring a biological gold mine: Brazil. The study. Understanding why there are people who live to be over one hundred years of age is undoubtedly an objective of science to to be able to unlock possible therapies in the future that will extend our lives much longer. Since it is curious that in specific areas such as Japan the population ages far beyond the normal average, being a mystery to science (although the reasons are already gone). The latest research on the matterpublished on January 6 in Genomic Psychiatry, has identified a genetic mix in the South American country that could contain protective variants invisible in more uniform populations. The Brazilian superhumans. The study, led by geneticists Mayana Zats and Mateus Vidigal de Castro, is based on the analysis of a group of more than 160 centenarians and at least 20 supercentenarians, who They are those people who are over 110 years old. Among these people, some quite relevant figures stand out, such as Sister Inah, who reached the age of 116, and several of the oldest men in the world, according to the LongeviQuest Atlas. But what really makes this group of people who have been analyzed by researchers special is not their age, but their biological resilience. Its biological resistance. The researchers’ main thesis is that the intense Brazilian miscegenation, fruit of centuries of interaction between indigenous populationsPortuguese colonizers, enslaved people of African origin and European and Japanese immigrants, has created a unique genomic diversity. By analyzing this genetic “breeding ground”, scientists have identified millions of variants that do not appear in large international biobanks. The hypothesis suggests that this mixture allows protective variants to emerge that are practically invisible in homogeneous populations. It is, in essence, a search for the genes of resilience in an environment of maximum diversity. COVID resistance. Without a doubt, it is one of the most fascinating examples of this history, since before the arrival of vaccines, three supercentenarians of the study they managed to survive the disease. By analyzing their immune response, the researchers found a concentration of cells related to innate defense that was very efficient. In this way, it was seen that individuals not only live longer, but also have a defense system capable of neutralizing threats that are lethal to people decades younger. Something that seems to be related to an increase in biological processes related to autophagy, that is, the ability of some cells to literally clean the body of harmful components. What was already known. This paradigm shift connects with previous works such as those done by researcher Manel Esteller on the epigenetic profile of the Spanish María Branyasthe oldest Spanish person of all time. In this case, what was done was to understand the “biological clock” of longevity in Europe. Now, the Brazilian project expands the map into the unknown. By sequencing entire genomes in this mixed-race population, scientists have discovered some eight billion undescribed variants, many of which could have a functional impact on how we age and how our cells withstand the test of time. Towards the future. The study of Brazilian supercentenarians is not only a matter of biographical curiosity about who holds the age record, but a critical step towards genomic medicine of the future. By understanding how the mixture of ancestors can concentrate protective factors against degenerative or infectious diseases, science is getting closer to discovering whether there is a biological “formula” for longevity that can be translated into therapies for the rest of the population. Brazil, with its genetic mosaic, is demonstrating that the most complex answers to our survival could be written in the genes of those who, against all odds, have seen more than a century of history pass by. Images | Unsplash In Xataka | The change of year has a weapon to slow down your aging: a list of New Year’s resolutions

The DGT is not going to fine for the V-16 beacons at the moment, and therein lies the key

January 9, 2026 by usatoday24

Since last January 1, anyone who is stranded on the road due to a breakdown has to place the V-16 beacon connected. And what happens if I don’t have it? Absolutely nothing. At least that is what the Government assures. Because, with the law in hand, the agents can fine us if they consider it appropriate. We also don’t know how long this “truce” will last. “It is not tax collection”. This is what Fernando Grande-Marlaska stated in the press conference in which he gave the results of the road accidents relating to 2025. The DGT has made public the accident data for last year but a good part of the press conference has revolved around the topic of the moment: the connected V-16 beacon that the DGT has been required to carry since last January 1. The agents, Grande-Marlaska assures, will not fine for a “reasonable” period of time, in words reported by The World. They do it because, they say, “our objective is not sanctioning or collecting, what moves us is the obligation to save lives.” “Reasonable”. It is the temporary measure that the Minister of the Interior has used to refer to the time that the agents have before fining. The word says nothing because, really, from January 1, 2026, Traffic can fine us for not having the corresponding signage elements. The fine is 80 euros and it does not take into account whether we carry the triangles with us because the only essential element in the car when signaling an accident is the connected V16 beacon, which must be approved by the DGT. And the triangles have been left in a kind of limbo so that the driver can do with them whatever he considers. Not now. The position of the DGT has changed over time. Since it was confirmed that the V-16 beacon would be the only signaling element of a road breakdown, the discourse has changed and its position has been relaxed. At first it was argued that the use of triangles could be grounds for a fine since an incident was not being correctly signalled. Now, Interior says that there will be a period in which fines will not be imposed for this. Later it was left up in the air whether the beacon+triangle combination was valid. Finally, it will be allowed put the triangles “at your own risk”. many doubts. In his speech, Grande-Marlaska pointed out that last year more than 100 people died on the road, “a significant number for getting off to put up the triangles”, in words reported by Motorpassion. In The World They point out that estimates point to 25 pedestrians dying while trying to put the triangles in what Grande-Marlaska describes as “bleeding.” However, as we have said in Xatakathe DGT has never offered clarifying data. Traffic has always classified these victims as people run over “after getting out of the vehicle” but without clarifying under what circumstances. They do not indicate whether they were hit when getting out of the car, putting the triangles on, changing a tire on the shoulder or waiting for help to arrive. According to their accounts, between 2018 and 2022 (a period that includes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic), an annual average of between 18 and 26 people died in accidents “after getting off the vehicle” on high-capacity roads. as reflected in the document itself which explains why the regulations and technical requirements of this connected V-16 beacon are changed. Taking the total number of deaths in this entire series (8,615 people, according to data from Statista), we are talking about just over 1% of deaths that fall into the category “after getting out of the vehicle.” No fines but no extensions. The result in the application of the measure has been paradoxical. From the Interior they say that the measure is “essential” to reduce the number of road accidents but omitting its use or not having the beacon will not be penalized despite there being no extension. And, at the same time, Traffic defends that it has not implemented an extension because it is something that has been known since 2023 and that we should have already purchased the device. According to Pere Navarrodirector of the DGT, “we considered delaying it” but that “would not have changed anything.” Also left to the driver’s discretion whether or not they want to put the triangles in despite the fact that they consider it a sufficient risk to promote a regulatory change. And they recognize that something has been done wrong with the communication of the new measure. Photo | DGT and Help Flash In Xataka | The V-16 beacon business: who is making money with the elimination of the DGT triangles

Hisense has found the key to improving the color on its 2026 Mini LED and Micro LED televisions: adding more subpixels

January 7, 2026 by usatoday24

One of the challenges for television manufacturers is to evolve their technologies to improve their ability to represent color, without implying an excessive increase in production costs. Hisense seems to have found the key for its 2026 televisions to improve their image quality: add one more color subpixel to its matrix of Mini LED and Micro LED panels. The brand presented at CES 2026, which is being held in Las Vegas, two advances that seek to make colors more natural and precise: Mini LED evowhich adds a fourth cyan subpixel, and the evolution of its MicroLED panels with the RGBY Micro LEDwhich incorporates a yellow subpixel to its RGB matrix. Both changes allow televisions to better reproduce the most difficult-to-achieve color nuances. RGB MiniLED evo: cyan is the new white The televisions Current Hisense MiniLEDs They are based on thousands of small LED light diodes that illuminate the screen from behind, achieving better lighting control. This improves the contrast without sacrificing the brightness of the screen, being able to turn off more areas of the screen to achieve deeper blacks. In 2025, Hisense put on the table an evolution of that technology with RGB MiniLED, in which the white or blue mini LEDs were replaced by three RGB diodes (red, green and blue) to directly generate colorsinstead of using color filters as traditional LCD screens did. The MiniLED evo that Hisense has just presented goes one step further in this development and adds a fourth cyan subpixel to that RGB matrix. This intermediate color between blue and green helps reproduce complex tones that were previously only approximated by combining the three subpixels. Hisense’s solution is an adaptation to LED of what LG had been doing in its WRGB OLED panelsin which a white subpixel was added to improve brightness, although in this version the aim is to increase the color volume. Clear skies, water or certain skin tones look more natural and with softer gradients. In addition, local light management (local dimming) becomes more precise, reducing halos and poorly lit areas in scenes with high contrast. The introduction of this fourth subpixel increases the effective color gamut, achieving 110% coverage of the BT.2020 color space used as the professional cinema standard. Since, in essence it is an evolution (not a revolution) of the MiniLED RGB system that it already implemented last year in its top model, this new technology will be deployed to models ranging from 55 to 100 inches in a new UR9 and UR8 family, while the new MiniLED RGB evo panels will be limited to the 116UXS (which, as its name indicates, has a diagonal of 116 inches) as an evolution to the MiniLED RGB model of 2025. MicroLED RGB: three colors are no longer enough Along the same lines, Hisense has also presented improvements to the Micro LED RGB panels that it already presented in 2025 for its most premium range. As was the case with the Mini LEDs, the brand is committed to separating the color from the point of emission, replacing the blue or white diodes with three diodes that directly emit the RGB matrix. This is something that Samsung also has launched in its plans for 2026. However, in the variant presented by Hisense for 2026, a fourth yellow subpixel has been added along with red, green and blue, leaving an RGBY configuration. The yellow subpixel fills a critical gap in the spectrum that the three traditional colors cannot accurately cover. This addition improves the reproduction of warm tones and complex light transitions, such as those presented by skin, golden lights or sunsets, with softer and more natural gradients. For the moment, the new RGBY Micro LED is reserved for the 163MX RGBY model of no less than 163 incheswhich integrates millions of subpixels managed by a new processor and algorithms that balance brightness and color. The combination of greater precision in the backlighting provided by much smaller diodes and the incorporation of the yellow subpixel allows 100% of the BT.2020 color space to be achieved, bringing the quality of giant screens closer to those used in professional production. It’s a new era for LED The evolution that Hisense has presented is nothing more than confirmation that, although OLED represents an “affordable” way to obtain the best image quality, LED still has a lot to say in terms of quality and color volume. In the MiniLED evo, the addition of the fourth cyan subpixel allows intermediate colors between blue and green to look more natural, while in the RGBY microLED, the yellow subpixel improves the fidelity of warm and complex tones. In practice, these improvements translate into more consistent, natural and detailed images, without depending only on brightness or resolution. Hisense’s proposal for 2026 is presented more as an evolution in qualitative terms than as a revolution. It is a sign that the future of Mini LEDs and Micro LED involves optimizing the way colors are generated, using additional subpixels and controlling light emission with better processors and more refined algorithms. In Xataka | China is devouring the television market. So much so that Panasonic is considering abandoning it Image | Hisense

Peru has a lot at stake in protecting a key bee for the Amazon. So you have begun to recognize legal rights

January 2, 2026 by usatoday24

In Peru the judicial chronicles of 2026 start with an unexpected protagonist, one that usually has little to do with courts and lawsuits: bees. To be more precise, insects gender Meliponafamous above all for lacking a stinger and their important pollinating function. Precisely because of this relevance and to protect them from possible threats, the authorities of Satipo, in Junín (Peru), have recognized to the bees legal rights, which among other issues will allow them to be represented before the law. The decision is more important than it seems. Of laws and bees. that the bees play a key role in environmental balance is nothing new. For years (decades) researchers have been analyzing their role as pollinatorsits usefulness as pollution indicators and his slow decline. However, studies on the species tend to remain in the papers scientists and only occasionally sneak into the political debate. Hence decisions like the one adopted by the Provincial Municipality of Satipo, in Peru, are so relevant. There the authorities have decided neither more nor less than to publish an official ordinance which recognizes the legal rights of stingless bees that inhabit the biosphere reserve Avirei-Vraem. More than words. The decision is important for several reasons. The first, for the clear and resounding message it sends to society. The second transcends the symbolic sphere and part of the content of the ordinance itself. In it, the Provincial Municipality of Satipo not only recognizes stingless bees and their habitat as legal subjects. The text goes further and details the regulatory shield that protects insects, emphasizing their right to live in “healthy, balanced and adequate” habitats. The ordinance even grants them the “right to representation” in case their interests are harmed. Does it say anything else? Yes. The document, signed on October 27 and which can be consulted On the Peruvian Government website, it highlights “the fundamental role” that bees have at an environmental level and the importance of recognizing their “intrinsic rights”, which affects, for example, the use of pesticides. Hence, the Peruvian authorities also want to “promote awareness” about the species. “Nature is a whole (…). The rights recognized in this declaration are not only intended to guarantee the health of stingless bees, but also of the Amazon as a whole,” ditch. Beyond Satipo. There is who considers that, with its decision, Satipo has turned stingless bees into the first insects in the world with explicitly recognized rights. Whether or not this is the case, the undeniable thing is that its October ordinance seems to have paved the way for other similar ones. The diary The Spectator relieved Recently, the provincial municipality of Loreto-Nauta has taken a similar step and has become the second region to opt for the judicial protection of Amazonian bees. Beyond the measure itself, both localities have managed to put the focus on the risks that faces a species on which not only the environmental balance depends, but also the future of crops with a considerable impact economical, like cocoa or coffee. Is the situation so serious? In September the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP) echoed from a study that warns that more than 50% of bee habitats Melipona eburnea and Tetragonisca angustula They are located in “high risk of deforestation areas” in the Amazon. Among the causes of this vulnerability, he cited the felling of trees in which the species nests, the illegal extraction of wood and the expansion of agriculture. It is not a minor issue if we take into account that, as remembers the Municipal Council of Satipo90% of the region’s wild plant and flower species depend directly on pollination driven by bees. Images | IIAP, Elena Mozvhilo (Unsplash) and Wikipedia In Xataka | The scientific reason why it is not a good idea to jump into the water to escape from bees (and other tips to avoid getting stung)

The key is not to have a goal but a path

December 30, 2025 by usatoday24

We face the end of the year and arrive at January full of energy and new purposes for the new year. I’m sorry to be a little “Grinch” in this matter, but the problem is that a large part of those purposes deflate a few weeks later, often before the end of February. Gyms and language academies are witnesses of this. How do those people who manage to maintain their goals for months and even years do it? The answer is that they do not depend on a heroic willpowerbut rather a system that turns purpose into a routine that you want to repeat. The data from a study carried out by researchers from the University of Stockholm and Linköping (Sweden) with 200 people leaves no room for doubt: 77% of the participants fulfilled their resolutions in the first week, 55% kept it a month later and only 40% of the participants remained faithful to their commitment after six months. Other analyzes show that up to 43% of resolutions have been broken by the second week of February. Why resolutions wither in February Like a deciduous tree, the motivational effect of New Year’s resolutions loses its initial momentum in a maximum of five weeks. Science speaks of “fresh start effect“, in which dates like January 1 act as a “clean slate”, a new stage that motivates us to initiate a change. That initial emotion serves as an initial impulse, but it is not enough when the novelty wears off and the daily routine returns. Many times, resolutions are seen as a test of willpower: if you stumble once, you feel like you have failed completely, and that brings guilt and abandonment. Studies at the University of Scranton indicate that 46% of people with a clear purpose feel successful after six months, but only 4% achieve it without setting that well-defined objective, which shows that having a clear goal helps, but it is not everything. A recent study from Cornell University conducted with 2,000 adults in the United States followed their New Year’s resolutions for a year and looked at whether the motivation to achieve them came from external reasons (extrinsic motivation) or because they really liked doing it every day (intrinsic motivation). On average, external motivation obtained higher scores (6.27 out of 7) than internal motivation (5.41 out of 7). That is, external factors had more direct impact about motivation than your own willpower. However, the Cornell researchers discovered something that did make a difference: internal motivation consistently predicted continuity success at all measurement points of the research year, while the external one did not have much influence. Those who completed their goal had 5.73 in internal motivation compared to 5.18 for those who did not. Each extra point increased the chances of success in the goal by 1.60 times. The important thing is not the destination, it is the path As and as I pointed out writer and leadership coach Tiffany Toombs on FastCompanythe most productive people do not see purpose as a fixed and distant goal, but as something flexible to create habits that fit into their daily lives and that work for them. pleasant to carry out. Instead of just obsessing about the bottom line, like “saving more money,” they look for small, daily actions that lead to an identity goal such as “becoming more responsible with money.” To help you on that path, James Clear, author of the bestselling ‘Atomic habits‘, gives some keys to convert those purposes into habits integrated into your routine daily that no longer require effort to make, but rather become almost a reward. For example, choose exercises in which, far from suffering, you have fun. You hate monotonous weights, so sign up for Zumba or a guided class, which will make you return to the gym with enthusiasm. If pedaling for a long time seems boring, put on a cool audiobook or a podcast while you train. The key, according to Clear, is finding the system that allows you maintain consistency through activators that lead you to fulfill that habit. The same applies to eating better or saving: integrating small changes into your daily life that provide you immediate satisfaction. If you have to use willpower, it means that you have not integrated enough incentives to turn that purpose into a routine and you are among that 43% who will abandon their purpose in mid-February. In Xataka | You don’t need more hours in the day. All you need is to understand how the brain works to work better with less. Image | Unsplash (Tim Mossholder)

Senna has given us back the passion for a Formula 1 that no longer exists. And its sound is key to understanding its success

December 27, 2025 by usatoday24

March 1, 1981. Brands Hatch, United Kingdom. He had fought for two karting world championships but was still a complete unknown to the general public. Not even in England, where the passion for motorsport is several steps ahead of other European countries, were they aware of what they were seeing. Brazilian with curly hair. The face of a child on the body of a 21-year-old boy. The arrogant look of someone who knows he is superior. And it is superior. That day was fifth at the controls of his Van Diemen. Two weeks were enough for me to get his first victory. With the circuit flooded, Ayrton Senna da Silva asked his team to put as much pressure as possible in their tires. They say that no one on the team believed in that decision but as a pilot who paid to have a guaranteed seat, the mechanics followed orders. The rest is history. The Brazilian driver began to string victories. Six races held that year in the Formula Ford 1600 with four victories. 12 victories out of 19 rounds in which he took the exit. At the end of that same year, Ayrton Senna fulfilled his family commitment and promise to Lilian de Vasconcelos Souza, then girlfriend and then briefly wife of the man considered the most talented Formula 1 driver in history. Senna returned to his country to run the family business. But he had already experienced what it was like to win. He had already experienced what it was like to be the best. And he came back to win it all. They exist, they are somewhere More than 40 years after that Brands Hatch race, Netflix released Senna. “While we were still searching, we recorded a Formula Ford in Sweden, an FF 1600,” The speaker is Gabriel Gutiérrezsound designer of the six-episode series in which the pilot’s life is recreated working with, among other tools, Dolby Atmos. Senna talks about the human side of the driver, his private life and his path to becoming a triple world champion. But if something attracts an amateur, it is the montage of the images, the recreations aboard legendary single-seaters. Recreations that would be nothing without their sound. “I received a call from a post-production supervisor from Brazil, Gabriel Queiroz, who told me about a new project by Vicente Amorim, with whom I had already worked on Holy. From the beginning, we started looking for cars worldwide and how to get models from that era to go out and record them,” explains Gutiérrez about how Senna was built. “The filming was going to be done with replicas of the cars that were custom-built models, fantastic, with enormous precision, but their engines were not Formula 1 racing ones,” Gutiérrez clarifies. Ayrton Senna in the Formula Ford 1600 in 1981 And there begins the challenge: to be able to record the most iconic models driven and against which Ayrton Senna competed throughout the decade of the 80s and early 90s. “Many people told us that we were crazy, that we were never going to achieve it, that those cars were dismantled and that they do not exist.” But boy do they exist. Whoever has ever gone to see a Formula 1 race, there is something that they do not forget: the sound. The current V6 hybrids have nothing to do with the brutal howl of the V10s of the late 90s and early 2000s that Senna himself would not see. What he did have in his hands were cars from a time that will not return. Between his debut in Formula 1 in 1984 and the fateful May 1, 1994 when he lost his life in the Tamburello curve of the Imola circuit (San Marino), the turbo V8 and the naturally aspirated V10 and V12 paraded through Formula 1, the latter with a brutal sound, hoarser than the return of the V10 from 1995 onwards. Pure sounds, without a trace of electrification, that danced inside the cabin to the metallic tapping of the gearbox lever. From stomping on the clutch to downshift, playing with the accelerator to synchronize the revolutions of an engine that was going above 10,000, 11,000, 12,000 rpm. The engine backfired before taking the first chicane at Monza where the Ferraris of Berger and Alboreto watched in shock as Ayrton Senna abandoned the car after Jean-Louis Schlesser crashed and got the only victory they would scratch to the McLarens throughout 1988. The hit of the accelerator at the start and the howl with each gear change before reaching the Parabolica and heading down the finish line. The no less powerful cry of the typhosi in the stands when they saw that they were returning to the top of the podium in Monza when just three laps before they had seen it impossible. They were years of pure driving, of senses. By sight, smell, touch… and hearing. For the protagonists and those who admired them. For those who saw a Brazilian debutant swims between the rails in Monaco in 1984jeopardizing the victory of an already renowned Alain Prost who managed to stop the race before its end, distributing half of the points in a decision that would end up costing him the World Championship at the end of the year in favor of Niki Lauda. Ayrton Senna aboard the Lotus 97T “We were able to record Ayrton Senna’s original Toleman from 1984 and the original Lotus, the 97T model at the Lotus Classic Track in Oxford, which was a fantastic recording. The Toleman was positioned as the new leading car for us, the favorite,” explains Gutiérrez. By then, they had already obtained a good handful of the cars that marked an era. As? Moving through the mist. Senna’s sound designer explains that his first idea was to talk to Frank Cruz, who held that same position in Rush by Ron Howard, a film about the duel between Niki Lauda and James Hunt in the 1976 World Championship. The film … Read more

A cheese giant is slowly taking shape in Spain thanks to a key ally: Mercadona

December 15, 2025 by usatoday24

The long list of Spanish companies that grow in the heat of Mercadona adds a new name: Entrepinaresa company dedicated to the production of cheeses and dairy products that started 40 years ago in Valladolid and today manages centers spread throughout Galicia, Castilla and Madrid, in addition to generating employment for something more than 1,500 people. Although the signature presume to be “the largest cheese manufacturer”since more than 20 years has a key alliance with Mercadona. And that is helping it expand. Why is it news? Because their 2024 accounts have just been released, a year during which Entrepinares managed to skyrocket both its turnover and its profits. The first section rose to the 665 million euros8% more than in 2023. As for the second, EBIDTA (earnings before taxes) reached 64 million, which represents an increase of 16%. Both indicators are partly explained by an increase in production: in 2024, 100 million kilos of cheese came out of the Entrepinares factories (8.3% more than in 2023) and around 35 million kilos of dairy products. In addition to being the main supplier of Mercadona cheeses, the company saw how it was reinforced its foreign activity, with exports to more than 50 countries. Is there more data? Yes. We know that the company dedicated 41 million to investments in search of greater efficiency, which raises the mobilization of resources for that purpose above the 140 million in the last four years. Thanks to this commitment, it has managed to gain a prominent place in the sector at a national level. In fact it leads the sectoral ranking of cheese manufacturers (at least based on turnover volume) prepared by elEconomista. Regarding staff and internal resources, the firm has more than 1,500 workers, collaborates stably with more than 700 farms and a large score of cooperatives and manages four production centers spread across Valladolid, Fuenlabrada, Villalba and Los Yébenes. Added to these are a logistics and packaging center in Valladolid and two other plants specialized in whey treatment located in Castrogonzalo (Zamora) and Vilalba (Lugo). Why is it important? Because of the data itself and its context. Entrepinares is not the only Mercadona supplier that has grown in recent years coinciding with the expansion of the Valencian chain, which has managed to strengthen its position in the market with a business share that It is already on its way to 30%. One of the clearest examples is that of the group Martinez Familywhich integrates several business lines and operates as a strategic supplier to Mercadona. It was recently revealed that the company will invest around 150 million euros between this and the next year to reinforce its Traditional Dishes facilities and keep up with Mercadona. Months before it had emerged that last year its billing increased by about 8% and its net profit 16%. Are there more cases? Yes. Another Mercadona supplier that has managed to grow is Ozturk Quebapa firm based in Toleado specialized in the production of kebabs and meat products that has been supplying the Juan Roig chain for years. Last year it invoiced around 63.8 million euros and this year it hopes to exceed 75. For now, in the first semester it reached 37.8 million. Its expansion is prior to the agreement with Juan Roig’s company and the firm exports to other nations, but Ozturk recognizes that “with Mercadona everything changes.” Mercadona’s leverage is also serving Sefood Group. Its subsidiary Leroy Processing Spain hoped in the spring to close this year with a turnover of 160 million euros30% more than last year. The company has been dedicated to the production of Japanese food for a few years and has managed to make Mercadona one of its main clients. The Roig chain also has among its suppliers: Profand and Panamar, Tarradellas House and Summer. Images | Entrepinares e iStock In Xataka | Mercadona has found a vein to grow beyond its white label and prepared food: tourism

NASA loses contact with its key orbital repeater

December 12, 2025 by usatoday24

When you launch a probe into space that is not exactly cheap, without a doubt one of the biggest fears you can have is that it will stop send data or cut off your communication. This is precisely what has happened 225 million kilometers away with the MAVEN probe who has lost contact like NASA itself has been able to confirm. And this has been carrying out its function outside of our planet for many years now. His story. The ship, which has been orbiting Mars since 2014, it stopped communicating with Earth on December 6, 2025 and, so far, attempts by the Deep Space Network (DSN) to reestablish the connection have been unsuccessful. Although the worrying thing is not only that this scientific instrument could have been lost in space, but that MAVEN is a fundamental piece in the “interplanetary internet” that connects the Rovers on the surface with us. What we know. As NASA itself reports, everything indicated that it was a very normal day at the orbital office. MAVEN was preparing for its usual passage behind Mars that would leave it hidden, but a priori everything was working correctly inside. But logically the moment it is lost behind mars (something that almost always lasts between 25-30 minutes), the signal loses. However, on day 6, when the probe was to leave the shadow of Mars and reestablish the link with the Deep Space Network, the signal never arrived. It stayed just behind Mars with no further signs of ‘life’. Now the objective is to try to wake up the ship without success, although they assure that there are no indications that its trajectory has been altered. The worst possible moment. This is something that hasn’t had the best timingand as is known, we are already approaching the superior solar conjunction that is expected for January 2026. This phenomenon occurs when the Sun comes between the Earth and Mars, which makes communications very difficult and risky. In this way, if NASA does not recover MAVEN in these weeks, everything indicates that they will have to wait several weeks without being able to make more attempts. Because. Among the hypotheses that NASA has right now to explain this failure is radiation. Recently the Sun has been very active and a flare or cosmic ray could have corrupted the probe’s onboard computer, as already happened to other missions as Curiosity. Another hypothesis lies in atmospheric drag, since MAVEN flies really low. Thus, if a solar storm had ‘bloated’ the Martian atmosphere, the friction could have destabilized the spacecraft, forcing it to enter a mode where its antennas were not pointed at Earth. Its importance. This probe is not just a decoration in space, but rather plays a crucial role in understanding how Mars lost its atmosphere and water over the eons. It has been a resounding success, surviving well beyond its original lifespan. But in 2025, its role is more pragmatic: acting as a signal repeater. Right now the Rovers that are on the Martian surface as they are Perseverance and Curiosity They do not have the necessary power to optimally send information to Earth. This caused its data to be passed to MAVEN and other probes and then sent to Earth. In this way, losing MAVEN means leaving two probes that are much older on Mars and that could cause problems when sending this data. Images | NASA Hubble Space Telescope In Xataka | We already know when the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will be closest to Earth and what’s better: how to see it

Smart glasses find their “iPhone moment” in China. The key to your success: payments

December 11, 2025 by usatoday24

In China, AI glasses allow you to pay by looking at a QR code and giving a voice command. Alibaba itself launched its Quark for $268, integrated with Alipay for payments and Taobao for purchases. Xiaomi presented its glasses with AI in June and they became the third best selling in the world in the first half of 2025, despite being available for only one week. The Chinese market for smart glasses is growing exponentially in the second half of the year, according to a study by BigOne Lab. Why is it important. After more than a decade of unfulfilled promises, smart glasses have finally found their reason for being. And it is something as prosaic as paying without taking your cell phone out of your pocket. AND It’s working in China like nothing else has before. in this sector. From the adoption for payments, the rest of the value proposition is built. The context. China’s digital infrastructure, where even the elderly use their smartphone for everything, facilitates adoption. QR codes are in all shops and Meta does not operate in China without a VPN, which has left the field clear for local companies to experiment without direct competition. Yes, but. The price is determining. Chinese glasses cost between 200 and 300 dollars, a price not too high. Xiaomi, RayNeo, Thunderobot, Kopin, Baidu and Alibaba compete in the Chinese domestic market. The payment functionality does not require very sophisticated screens or complex optics. All you need is a basic camera, voice recognition and connection to the payments ecosystem. This makes production much cheaper. The big question. Will we see something similar in Europe with Bizum? Mobile payments here are less ubiquitous than in China, but Bizum has achieved enormous penetration in Spain. If businesses adopted Bizum QR codes, as some already do, smart glasses could find their practical use here as well. The European ecosystem has advantages: stricter privacy regulation, greater consumer trust in traditional banking systems, and a population accustomed to incremental innovations. But it doesn’t have the density of QR codes that makes China the perfect terrain for this experiment. Between the lines. Chinese companies are not just developing hardware. They are creating the use case that justifies wearing smart glasses all day, and instead of looking for something spectacular and complex, they have found something much simpler and everyday: not having to take your phone out of your pocket. Rokid boasts that its glasses are not tied to a single generative AI model: they work with OpenAI, Llama, Gemini and Grok. They also offer simultaneous translation into English while someone speaks in Chinese. But none of that matters as much as the payment feature. And now what. Meta dominates the global market with a 73% share in the first half of 2025, according to Counterpoint. His success with Ray-Ban Meta This is explained by a design that is almost indistinguishable from normal glasses. In addition, Western manufacturers maintain advantages in chips. But Chinese companies have obvious advantages: many brands and models, rapid iteration, and the ability to adapt quickly to market changes. In Xataka | The POCO F8 Pro and F8 Ultra are a great change of direction for the brand. We spoke with POCO to find out what awaits us now Featured image | Xiaomi

December is the key month for rain in half of Spain: if we miss it, we will go back to square one

December 9, 2025 by usatoday24

For months, one of the favorite activities of half of Spain was entering embalses.net and see how the country’s water reserves were. If we did, the most common reaction could only be described with one word: tranquility. The water impounded on December 1 was 54.02%. That is 3% more than the same week last year and, mind you, almost 10% above the average of the last 10 years. Everything seems in order, but the story is always more complicated than it seems. Because, while these data seem to improve, more and more towns declare their tap water ‘non-drinkable’‘. That is to say, despite everything, we cannot lose December. A key month for water in Spain. Meteorologist César Rodríguez Ballesteros said it a few days ago“climatologically, December is one of the rainiest months of the year in Spain. Of the 2621 stations on the map, it is the rainiest at 1075, the 2nd rainiest at 385 and the 3rd at 236.” It is true that it does not rain the same way or at the same time throughout the country. It is obvious, but it is good to keep it in mind: the eastern peninsula — DANAs territory — the most important months it’s september and, above all, October. In the heart of the Ebro and Duero Valley, the key month it’s may. And, curiously, in the Cerdanya area, the rainiest month it’s august. However, I insist, by extension (almost half of the country) and location (the parts of Spain with the greatest storage capacity), December is a key month. Above all, after a very dry october and a barely normal November. In Xataka Catalonia has prohibited filling swimming pools due to the drought. For your hotels the solution is easy: buy water in France And, a priori, we have good news. As we explained a few weeks agothe start of December 2025 in Spain would be marked by a very active Atlantic circulation thanks to a significant “negative NAO”. The ‘NAO’ is the ‘North Atlantic Oscillation‘ is what meteorologists call the eternal “give and take” maintained by the Azores anticyclone and the Icelandic low, the two major atmospheric phenomena that govern the meteorology of the North Atlantic. When the index we use to “measure who is winning” is negative, the Azores anticyclone is weaker than normal and, for this reason, it cannot block deep Atlantic storms. The direct consequence is that they circulate further south than normal: right at our latitude. {“videoId”:”x8npqne”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”DROUGHT What if we can’t reverse it?”, “tag”:”Webedia-prod”, “duration”:”262″} A mattress that can disappear at any time. Looking at the data, even in the most optimistic analysis it is clear that we are coming from very dry and irregular autumns: our water system is affected and the water cushion can evaporate very quickly in spring. To do? As experts often repeat“the (next) droughts are managed with full reservoirs.” Now, even provisionally, they are. It’s time to prepare for summer. However, everything seems to indicate that we will not do so. And, in that at least, yes we have experience. Image | Copernicus In Xataka |In the middle of one of the most extreme droughts in living memory, Catalonia has had an idea: start cutting down trees (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news December is the key month for rain in half of Spain: if we miss it, we will go back to square one was originally published in Xataka by Javier Jimenez .

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