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

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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

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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

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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

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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 .

Sam Altman is trying to buy his own rocket company to compete with SpaceX. The key: data centers

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The rivalry between Sam Altman and Elon Musk has just reached its highest point: space. And all so that OpenAI can deploy its own data centers in space. The news. As revealed by the Wall Street Journalthe CEO of OpenAI has been exploring the purchase of Stoke Space, a Seattle startup that develops reusable rockets, with the goal of building data centers in space. Although talks with Stoke Space cooled in the fall, the move confirms a trend we’ve been observing for months: Silicon Valley is outgrowing the Earth to fuel AI. Sam’s plan. According to the Journal’s sources, Sam Altman was not looking for a launch provider, but rather an investment that would ensure OpenAI majority control of Stoke Space. Stoke Space, founded in 2020 by former Blue Origin engineers, is developing a fully reusable rocket called ‘Nova’ to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9. So that. Altman maintains a tense rivalry with Elon Musk, so the logic of this move would be to reduce OpenAI’s dependence on Musk’s rockets in the event that it decided to deploy servers in space. But above that there is a purely energetic motivation. The computing demand for AI is so insatiable that the environmental consequences of keeping it on Earth will be unsustainable. In certain orbits, however, solar energy is available 24/7 and the vacuum of space offers an infinite heat sink to cool equipment without wasting water. The fever of space data centers. Altman is not alone in this race. What until recently seemed like an eccentricity has become a serious project for big technology companies: And what does Musk say? The irony of Altman pursuing his own rocket company is that the industry’s undisputed leader, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, already has the infrastructure in place. While his competitors design prototypes and seek financing, Musk has cut off the debate with his usual forcefulness: in the face of the discussion about the need to build new orbital data centers, He assured that there is no need to reinvent the wheel: “It will be enough to scale the Starlink V3 satellites… SpaceX is going to do it.” Images | Brazilian Ministry of Communications | Village Global In Xataka | Building data centers in space was the new hot business. Elon Musk just broke it with a tweet

The best science comedian does not have any scientific training. And that’s the key to your success.

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Tom Gauld is one of the most accessible and yet peculiar cartoonists of today. His vignettes are a mixture of a wink for the initiated and simple, white humor.which often makes his cartoons a mix of “everyone can understand them” and “if you’re interested in science and literature, sure.” A real rarity in these times when you have to show up at franchise fan clubs with a very clear identification and resume. Because Gauld may talk about quantum physics, multiverses and the secrets of the cosmos, but he doesn’t leave anyone out either, all thanks to deceptively simple, but highly expressive graphics. Able to make an Escherian architectural nonsense believable or to perfectly portray the interior of an impossible dimension with just a couple of lines, Gauld reduces the complex to a couple of gentle strokes, and hence his popularity on the internet and in media of indisputable prestige such as ‘The Guardian’where he makes literary jokes, or ‘New Scientist‘, where it focuses more on science and technology. It is precisely a compilation of jokes of this last type, ‘Physics for cats’, which Salamandra is now publishing. Thanks to this brand new volume we have had the opportunity to speak with him and have him explain his creative processes and his career as a scientific comedian… who does not have much knowledge of science. We started, of course, by asking him how his collaboration with ‘New Scientist’ began and what impact it has had on the way he approaches scientific topics in his comics. It tells us that we have to go back very far in time. “My grandfather was a scientist, a marine biologist, and he always read the ‘New Scientist’. So when he went home, the magazine was always there, and when he finished reading the magazine, he would give it to my father, who was also interested in science. When I was little, I would look at the pictures and diagrams and, from time to time, I would read a little bit of the text.” And from there, a few years later and now a professional cartoonist, he began to collaborate with them. Gauld states that a magazine of this type is a splendid workplace for an illustrator: “Some concepts about reality or other universes cannot be photographed, so in These types of magazines have a good tradition of using illustrationsand in fact most of its covers are illustrations rather than photographs. Then, I don’t remember exactly why, I thought it was strange that they didn’t have a comic strip in the magazine.” He proposed it a decade ago and it was accepted, but, he says, “I got a little scared because I stopped studying science when I was about 16, so I’m not an expert at all.” How to draw science It is obvious that this approach to science from a non-scientist perspective will entail difficulties. But contrary to what it might seem, “the really difficult thing with vignettes is not getting the scientific details right.” His process is: “I read the magazine, I follow scientists on social media, I listen to podcasts and radio shows about science, and anything that I think could make a joke I write down in my notebook.” And his approach is clear: “I’m giving my own light-hearted, fun take on something that’s quite serious and thoughtful. I try to do it without being derogatory, like when you make fun of a friend you respect.” Which inevitably brings us to the next question: how do you balance scientific precision with the artistic freedom to create such abstract concepts? And in fact, here the lack of scientific training is revealed as an advantage: “When creating the strips, the fact that I have no scientific training, that I am an ordinary person, not a professional, perhaps helps me judge the level of knowledge at which the jokes should be.” And he adds: “I never want to make a cartoon that makes people feel stupid.which makes one think that a doctorate is needed to understand it”. What happens then when he stumbles upon concepts that even he can’t understand? “When some real science is mentioned in the cartoon, I like to get it right, so I do some research on the Internet or ask someone at New Scientist to check my formulas or whatever. Or I do it so badly that it’s obvious I’m not trying to get it right. In fact, last night an astrophysicist mentioned that one of the formulas in the background of one of my strips was correct and that he liked it, which I was very happy about.” When we ask him if there are any scientific ideas or theories related to physics that he finds especially inspiring, he tells us that two come to mind. “One that I think I keep coming back to in the cartoons is, and I guess this is more of a philosophical question than a physical one: What is reality? That and the idea of ​​many worlds. The other is quantum theory, which I still don’t understand. I’ve made some jokes about it and I’m proud of them, but I think they could be improved if I ever managed to understand all of quantum theory. Which may never happen, but I keep trying.” And here we enter into a personal question, but we couldn’t help but ask him: does Tom Gauld like Gary Larson’s humor? (Larson, for those who don’t know, is the creator of ‘The Far Side’, absolute master of comics with background geeka mix of surreal humor and deep knowledge of biology and science absolutely unmatched). “I’ve mentioned Gary Larson as an influence in almost every interview I’ve done today,” he confesses, “so I’m glad you brought it up.” Typical Gary Larson: “‘Hey! What is this, Higgins? Physics equations?… Do you like your job as a cartoonist, Higgins?” And he adds: “The cartoons from ‘The Far Side’ appeared in my local newspaper when I was a teenager and I have … Read more

Boeing wanted to get back on track with Starliner after its most difficult year. The contract with NASA just changed in a key point

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For years, Starliner was presented as Boeing’s opportunity to aspire to a leading role in American manned flights, in a scenario in which SpaceX I moved faster with Dragon. The contract signed with NASA in 2014 It represented that opportunity: six manned flights and an open door to a new cycle of missions. Eleven years later, the situation is different. That agreement has been adjusted and the next mission has become an exam without people on board. That agreement placed Starliner within the program with which the US space agency sought to guarantee two different US vehicles to the International Space Station. The idea was clear: have more than one capsule capable of transporting astronauts, long-term planning and autonomy in low orbit. That document established that, once the ship was certified, Boeing would operate six manned flights for regular rotations. All this with an eye on the station’s deadline, scheduled for 2030. A shortened contract, by mutual agreement. NASA and Boeing have decided to modify the conditions of the original agreement and reduce the number of guaranteed flights. Instead of the six manned missions planned after certification, the new scenario includes a mission without astronauts, intended to validate the system, and up to three crew rotations. In addition, there are two optional flights that NASA can activate depending on its mission needs. This review also reduces the value of the contract, which goes from $4.5 billion to $3.732 million, after deducting $768 million. Starliner-1 changes roles. This mission without astronauts has a name: Starliner-1, and it has become a key piece of the system validation plan. NASA will use it to send cargo to the International Space Station and verify, in real conditions, that the changes introduced after the manned flight in 2024 offer sufficient guarantees. The target date remains no earlier than April 2026, provided the spacecraft successfully completes testing, certification and pre-launch preparation. A history of setbacks: The first warning came with flight OFT-1 in December 2019, when some problems prevented for Starliner to complete the planned profile and approach the International Space Station. The mission had to be terminated early. In 2022, the OFT-2 flight managed to reach the station, but problems appeared in several thrusters. Two years later, during the first manned flight, several thrusters failed again on approachwhich led NASA to order the return of the ship without the astronauts. NASA and Boeing engineers inspect the Starliner spacecraft after landing in White Sands, New Mexico, during the OFT-2 orbital test in May 2022 When NASA decided that Starliner would not bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back, they both extended their stay on the International Space Station much longer than planned. In total it was nine months, until the agency scheduled a Dragon flight with two fewer astronauts than usual to have enough space. That landing, in March 2025, allowed the return to be completed and confirmed that the evaluation process on Starliner was still open after the 2024 manned flight. Meanwhile, Dragon. In parallel, Dragon began operating with astronauts in 2020 and was progressively incorporated into NASA’s regular planning. Since then, the SpaceX capsule has covered the planned rotations within the Commercial Crew Program, becoming the vehicle regularly used to access the International Space Station. In August 2025, the Crew-11 mission was completed, and Crew-12 is scheduled for February 2026. NASA has booked additional flights with Dragon until the station’s operational end, scheduled for 2030. Less flights, less income, more pressure. The contract modification also means a change in Boeing’s position within the program. The reduction of the total value to 3,732 million dollars implies 768 million dollars less compared to the original figure, with fewer guaranteed flights and a greater weight of optional missions. According to Reutersthe company has invested more than $2 billion since 2016 in this development, which adds relevance to Starliner’s performance in upcoming flights. Despite this, Boeing says it remains committed to the program. Redundancy against the clock. For NASA, Starliner remains relevant because the agency wants two independent systems that can transport astronauts to the International Space Station. Steve Stich, head of the Commercial Crew Program, summed it up by pointing out that the plan involves certifying the ship in 2026, scheduling its first manned rotation when it is ready and coordinating future flights according to the operational needs of the station, which will remain active until 2030. Maintaining this double capacity is key so that the agency does not depend exclusively on a single vehicle. What happens from now on will depend on the outcome of the next flights. If the system manages to be certified in 2026, Starliner can still participate in up to three crewed rotations, with two additional options subject to NASA decision. Boeing maintains its commitment and suggests that the ship could have a place in commercial projects after the end of the International Space Station, although these scenarios are yet to be defined. The opportunity has not disappeared, but it no longer looks as much like the one signed in 2014. Images | NASA (1, 2) | Boeing In Xataka | Starship’s great hope has gotten off to a bad start: a new and painful explosion

The color of your Ethernet cable is not for decoration: it is a key visual language

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We all have Ethernet cables at home and they are probably different colors. In my case, I have several yellows, but there are also red, blue, green… What many people do not know (myself included) is that colors are not a whim of the manufacturers, but rather They answer a practical question. A question of organization Contrary to what we might expect, the exterior color of an Ethernet cable will not tell us anything about its performance. If what you want is know the category of the cable (that is, the speed it supports), they all come with this detail printed on the cable itself. The color does not tell us if the cable is more or less fast, it is for something totally different: being able to distinguish and organize them better. In Xataka How to convert the antenna sockets in your house into an Ethernet network to bring Internet from one room to another. In a home it doesn’t make as much sense, but imagine a server or data center where Ethernet cables number in the hundreds or even thousands; If all the cables were the same color it would be crazy to identify them. Colors help manage large networks. Ethernet cable colors Although there are some guidelines on cable colors from organizations such as the IEEEand ANSIthere really is no universal color code for Ethernet cables. The meaning of each color can vary depending on the country, the sector and even the company. However, there are many similarities and widely used color patterns. These are the most common uses: Grey/white/black: These are the colors that we usually find for general home and office use. We see them in most routers. Blue: They are the most used cable for general network connections, servers or workstations. Yellow: They are usually PoE (Power over Ethernet) cables, that is, they provide power as well as connectivity. They can be used in IP cameras and VoIP phones. Green: to directly connect two devices such as computers, without an intermediate device. Red: They are usually reserved for critical connections such as security or emergency systems. orange and purple: They are less common colors. According to Cables and Kitsare used to connect systems that require a specific connection not compatible with the usual standards, for example to connect older systems that do not use Ethernet with newer ones that do. {“videoId”:”x8coltz”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”ALL ABOUT ETHERNET CABLES_ TYPES, CHARACTERISTICS AND WHICH TO CHOOSE”, “tag”:”webedia-prod”, “duration”:”211″} As we said, the color of the cable does not determine its performance, but rather has a practical purpose for those who manage very large networks. With colors, maintenance time is shortened and serious failures such as the disconnection of critical systems are avoided. At home it can also be useful if you have several devices connected to your router and you want to clearly see which is which. Image |PxHere In Xataka | The submarine cables belonged to the teleoperators, and now the big technology companies are controlling them (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 The color of your Ethernet cable is not for decoration: it is a key visual language was originally published in Xataka by Amparo Babiloni .

It is essential to give us the key to leukemia

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The bone marrow is undoubtedly one of the most complex, and at the same time vital, tissues in the human body. It can be said that it is the “blood factory” of the body where stem cells are born that keep us alive and that gives rise to our defenses or our red blood cells. However, studying it is a real nightmare as it is encapsulated within the bone such as the femur. Until now, scientists had to choose between study cells on a flat piece of plastic (which looks nothing like the real body) or use micewhich, spoiler: they are not human. That is why there is now a real revolution in this field, since they have managed to create a great model that will make life much easier for science. The study published in Stem Cell just changed the rules of the game. A team of researchers have managed to create eVON, a macroscale, 3D, vascularized model of the human bone marrow that not only has cells, but “breathes”, has functioning blood vessels and even nerves. Why does it matter? Although it seems insignificant, the reality is that right now there were many doubts about how they develop diseases as aggressive as leukemia. In this case, this piece of tissue engineering opens the door to finally understanding how leukemia works and how to cure it without depending so much on animal models that are not faithful to the anatomy and physiology of humans. Until now, the solution to research also involved taking a Petri dish, which is nothing more than a piece of plastic, and cultivating the stem cells here that will give rise to the components that we have in our blood. Logically, they died quickly here, since they lacked the environment where they were truly comfortable ‘living’. It is what is known as endosteal niche. This niche is the specific neighborhood within the bone where stem cells interact with blood vessels, bone, and nerves to decide whether to multiply or become white or red blood cells. Something fundamental to understand what is happening there. We already have a solution. eVON is presented as a wonderful alternative, since it has three key elements: A ‘scaffold’ composed of the same mineral that we have in bone to imitate the hard structure of the trabecular bone human. No white gelatin, but something that feels like a real bone. Stem cells that have been reprogrammed in the laboratory to generate both bone and blood tissue. Functional vascularization, thanks to the fact that they have managed to make the cells form networks of capillaries and blood vessels that penetrate the artificial bone. And the truth is that they have managed to introduce all the components that are around them into our marrow. Most surprising is the level of detail: The model spontaneously developed sympathetic nervous system nerve fibers and macrophage-like cells, creating an entire ecosystem that no one had ever had to explicitly “design” cell by cell. They have literally created a blood factory. The fight against leukemia. Acute myeloid leukemia is a cancer that is undoubtedly devastating and that often “hides” in the bones themselves, making it very resistant to chemotherapy since it is difficult for the medication to reach the bones. The good news comes when the study shows that eVON recreates the exact molecular signals that tumor cells use to survive. And this is fundamental, since attacking these genes is like hitting their weak point. In short, it gives us the necessary tools to be able to kill tumor cells and cause them to die. The test. To prove that their “artificial bone” was robust, the researchers did something worthy of science fiction: they implanted the eVON tissue under the skin of mice. And the truth is that the result was very good: the human tissue integrated with the mouse and the human blood vessels connected with those of the mouse. In this way, the human stem cells survived and were able to repopulate the mouse blood with functional human cells. But logically there are still challenges that must be overcome, such as the size of this model. To do this, it still needs to be reduced so that large-scale tests can be carried out with drugs that can kill these tumor cells. Images | ANIRUDH National Cancer Institute In Xataka | 125,000 years ago Neanderthals ate bones to survive. Today we discovered that they were right

We are discovering how the brain “hacks” us to make us hungry. And it is a key step in the race towards losing weight.

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Right now, treatments to lose weight are the order of the day, with a clear protagonist like Ozempic. The problem is that beyond the aesthetic effects that are achieved, there are many doubts about both the side effects as well as all the effects it has on the body. But little by little science you understand much better how they achieve their effectwhich seems like a real miracle for many. What we knew. In general, these treatments They are ‘copies’ of GLP-1 which is a hormone that we produce normally in our body and makes us have the feeling of satiety. The moment we increase it exogenously we have a greater feeling of satiety that allows patients to lose weight (although with a risk of bouncing when treatment is stopped). But beyond this effect, the action it could have directly on the brain was something that had only been explored in animals. Now, a new study published in Nature has crossed this frontier thanks to Casey Halpern’s team, which has taken advantage of a “unique opportunity” to observe, for the first time in humans, the impact of Mounjaro (tirzepatide) directly into the reward center of the brain. Why it is important. The discovery of how the brain can ‘hack’ our body to eat much less opens many doors for us in the field of pharmacology to be able to continue working on definitive treatment. against obesitybecause we are seeing that it is something in high demand by many people who find it necessary to have this help (although it is not a miracle) to be able to reduce their weight. And we even see how in the United States purchasing is becoming more and more accessible. And we say that it is a miracle, because Ozempic or Mounjaro does part of the work, but we must not leave aside the change in eating habits to adjust the diet and be able to maintain it after stopping the treatment. The problem is that there are people who after stopping the treatment continue eating normally, and logically they see that there was no miracle involved. How it was done. The study focused on a 60-year-old woman with treatment-resistant obesity and type 2 diabetes. This patient was already taking Mounjaro for diabetes, and coincidentally, she was participating in another trial to treat dysregulated eating. This coincidence allowed the researchers to do something unprecedented: use the electrodes, already implanted in its nucleus accumbens (NAc)for hear brain activity while the drug took effect. And this brain nucleus is really important as it is the center of pleasure in humans and reward, that is, it is the point that can be modulated to restrict food consumption. The sign of craving. Those cravings we have for eating a little chocolate, a greasy pizza or a hamburger are something we all have because it is what gives us pleasure. In this case it was seen that the signal changed over the months, specifically the delta-theta frequency band. In the first months of treatments with Mounjaro, the patient had no desire for food in that sense of craving. Something that corresponded to a null signal in this nucleus, so it could be said that the medication was silencing this ‘noise’ that is generated in the pleasure center. The problem is that in the fifth to seventh months, despite being on the maximum dose of medication, the patient again had severe concern about food. And here again the signal in the nucleus had spiked to match that of those people who had no treatment. An advantage for the future. The most important finding here is that the change in the brain preceded the behavior. That is, before having a relapse this signal was increasing as if it were a warning signal. That is, a future where a sensor can detect this brain signature and alert the patient or doctor that the effectiveness of the drug is decreasing, before that the person will feel the cravings again in an uncontrolled way. Much ahead. This is a study with a single person, and it has many limitations and its conclusions logically cannot condition the clinical activity of the use of these medications. What it is useful for (and a lot) is to understand that the brain has a lot to do with this weight loss as if it were a real button to control eating habits. Perhaps silencing this brain nucleus in a very specific and sustained way may be the ‘holy grail’ that weight loss science seeks to control these cravings that can ruin a diet imposed by specialists. Although there is still a lot to investigate and it is only a first door for other medications that can complement Ozempic or Mounjaro, which has given great results. Images | Shawn Day Victoria Shes In Xataka | This is the great hope of the competition to replace Ozempic. Your weapon: banish needles with a pill

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