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Something big is coming in European money. The ECB has set a date for a key step towards the digital euro

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The European Central Bank has made a move in one of the most sensitive projects in its recent history. After two years of preparation, the organization has decided to move on to the next phase of the digital eurothe initiative with which it seeks to adapt public money to the era of electronic payments. It is not a launch, nor a final decision: if the European regulations are approved in 2026, there will be a pilot starting in 2027 and the Eurosystem wants to be ready for a possible first emission in 2029. The decision comes after a preparation stage started in November 2023in which the ECB and the national central banks defined the technical and operational pillars of the project. In these two years, progress was made in the draft of the operating regulations, in the selection of technological suppliers and in tests with market participants. Political momentum has also been key: euro leaders called at the October 2025 summit to accelerate work to ensure that Europe retains its own capacity in digital payments. A pilot to get out of paper. The announced step opens a phase aimed at validating that the system can work in practice, both from a technical point of view and from real use. The ECB talks about a pilot in which Banks, technology providers, businesses and consumers would participate, with tests on payments in everyday situations and security controls. The objective is to verify that the digital euro, if it exists, can operate reliably and offer a simple experience for the user. Despite the progress, this does not mean that the digital euro is ready for launch or that it will replace paper money. The institution emphasizes that the cash will continue to exist and that the project requires legislative support before any final decision. Furthermore, it is neither a decentralized token nor an experiment to displace the banking sector. The proposed architecture, they assure, maintains banks as the main access and operation channel for citizens and businesses. Three points before starting. The digital euro roadmap is supported by three conditions: legislative progress, technical validation and the formal decision of the ECB later. The European Regulation will establish the rights, limits and obligations of the system, including the way in which financial institutions participate. In parallel, the architecture will be deployed in modules to adjust development as results are obtained. Nothing in this phase implies committing unlimited resources or guarantees the final emission. A project that still needs to convince. Initial support for the digital euro is not homogeneous across Europe. In Germany, a survey prepared for the Bundesbank In April 2024 it showed that half of citizens “could imagine using it” and that 41% already knew about the project. In Spain, a study by Monitor Deloitte In 2024, it indicated that 61% would not adopt it for now, largely due to lack of knowledge and satisfaction with current methods. At European level, a survey published by BEUC In 2025, it indicated that privacy is a priority for 81% of those surveyed, along with security and the absence of commissions as essential elements. From now on, progress will be as technical as it is political. As we say, the ECB wants to have the pieces ready for a pilot in 2027 and to consider a possible initial emission in 2029, provided that the European regulation is approved and tests confirm its viability. The process will be gradual and reviewable, and therein lies its importance: Europe is preparing for an option that could expand its autonomy in payments Images | ECB | omid armin In Xataka | The world seemed unprepared for the end of cash. The digital euro makes it clear that yes

The aging of its population is about to leave Japan without a key element for the nation: pants

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Japan has entered a unprecedented demographic phase for an advanced economy: retirement mass of the generation that supported its industry coincides with a young one that is too small (and unwilling) to occupy the jobs that this economy requires to continue functioning. On paper, global demand for certain domestically manufactured goods has never been higher, but in the engine room, those who know how to produce them are aging without substitutes. Fabric turned into luxury. He japanese denimslowly woven, dense and dyed with natural indigo in repeated cycles, enjoys a moment of consecration worldwide: Dior, Balenciaga and other luxury houses incorporate it, celebrities exhibit it, the market projects grow more than 85% until 2035 and tourism (supported by a weak yen) triple sales in Kojima’s “Jeans Street.” For an industry that had been hollowed out by decades of cheap imports, the return of demand is not marginal but cultural: the value resides in the texturethe way indigo ages and in that kind of aura of exclusivity that results from real and not cosmetic scarcity. In fact, brands with Japanese only website and without direct export they increase that breath of rarity and price. Without a job when it is most demanded. The apogee has arrived when the productive base collapses: There are barely fifty artisans left in the founding heart of the japanese selvedgethe average age is close to seventy, and apprentices last months before giving up due to noise, heat, grease, discipline and slowness. Bloomberg counted that the skill curve is not linear: it takes six months to five years to operate the loom and up to a decade to maintain and repair it. With the master generation entering retirement and entrepreneurs without time to transmit the trade, continuity is broken by calendar, not by market. Ancient technology. The shuttle looms of the early 20th century (now relics) allow continuous edging what gives the “selvedge” and the density of the weave that produces an unmistakable drape, feel and aging in the fabric. Japan came to have 300,000 machines of this type. The problem? Today there are less than 400 operationsa lower third a single signature. To maintain them you have to remove pieces of other machines already stopped and work at a pace that doesn’t fit with today’s industry. They cannot be replaced by automation without losing exactly what the customer pays for: a finish that only time gives on a slow-made fabric. What is authentic is paid for. Plus: the one who pays For this denim you are not looking just for the feel, but for a product that takes time to make, that ages well and does not depend on the rapid rotation of fashion. In other words, this preference fits with the rejection of fast-fashion and a turn towards objects designed to last. The signs are many and clear: Levi’s sells “Blue Tab” lines for twice the price of a normal 501, Capital places jeans worth several hundred or thousands of dollars, and funds linked to the almighty LVMH they invest in Kojima brands. The problem of aging. Japan is getting older faster than there is time to teach the trade. The factories have plenty of orders, but they cannot get hire or train substitutes. The owners travel and manage, but they do not have hours to teach, and the machines will be lost due to lack of parts and hands that know how to maintain them. If the drift continues like this, the problem will not be a lack of demand but capacity: in about ten years (according to own manufacturers) this type of product will no longer be able to be made because neither the technicians nor the machines will be able to work. There are no shortcuts. The final paradox is that the boom of the sector It doesn’t seem like it’s going to save the job, rather it accelerate towards the limit: The more demand grows, the more it squeezes the few remaining hands and the less time there is to teach others. Thus, the world Japanese denim is faced with a disturbing choice: slow down the pace to transmit the trade (even if that means losing sales in the short term) or exploit the latest generation until it is exhausted, knowing that this would leave a product that will possibly disappear, not due to lack of market, but because no one will be able to do it anymore. Image | PxHere, Liface In Xataka | That Japan has 100,000 people over 100 years old explains a problem: they are literally running out of drivers. In Xataka | Japan’s aging has hit rock bottom with a devastating fact: more and more elderly people want to live in prison

Shenzhen metro is transforming into an autonomous logistics network. The key is a legion of AI robovans

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During the day, Shenzhen’s stations look, in some ways, like those of any big city: full of movement, loudspeakers and announcements marking the passage of trains. But when traffic eases, something changes. In the same space where a few hours ago there were crowds, autonomous vehicles and small robots appear that move with precision, transporting packages from one point to another. There is no spectacle or artifice, just a different use of a familiar environment. The metro network, designed for travelers, is also beginning to serve urban logistics at a time when every minute and every square meter counts. The idea of ​​taking advantage of the subway to move goods does not arise on a whim. In Shenzhen, as in many large Chinese cities, surface traffic has become in an obstacle for daily logistics. Delivery companies deal with extreme urban density and the constant growth of e-commerce, which forces them to deliver faster and with increasingly tight margins. Using trains outside of peak hours allows us to alleviate this pressure and reduce costs, while at the same time making use of infrastructure that usually remains underused for much of the day. When travelers leave, robots stay According to the Xinhua agencyone of the officially documented pilots takes place on line 11 of the Shenzhen metro. Every night in Futian District, SF Express staff sort and pack packages, which are then loaded into metal cages. These cages are transported by means of a autonomous shuttle vehicle to the platform, where they are destined for the sixth coach of the train, enabled as a logistics car during off-peak hours. In less than thirty minutes, the goods cross the most congested stretch of the city and arrive at the Bihaiwan area, near the airport, where they continue their journey to the distribution center. The aforementioned operation is supported by a fleet of robovans. Nikkei Asia explains that These are small vehicles capable of moving autonomously along predetermined routes, where they transfer packages from a storage center to the subway loading area. Each one can transport up to 500 kilos and has a useful space of about 3 cubic meters. Another official test takes place on subway line 2, at Wanxia station, where delivery robots are able to board the train by themselves to deliver goods to stores 7-Eleven inside the station. The system, described by Guangdong Department of Transportationcombines autonomous route planning, laser sensors and a control system that allows it to move safely between passengers. The project, promoted by Shenzhen Metro Group, Vanke and Wanwei Logistics, remains in the testing phase and seeks to verify whether it can be applied on a larger scale in the city’s underground commercial network. The Chinese industrial ecosystem is one of the reasons why these types of projects are advancing so quickly. The aforementioned newspaper highlights that strong competition between national manufacturers has made key components such as LiDAR sensors cheaper and has driven the development of more efficient batteries and specific chips for autonomous driving. On this basis, production costs are significantly reduced. A robovan is already between 20 and 30% cheaper than a traditional commercial vehicle, and the difference increases by eliminating cabin space and the cost of the driver. The development of these initiatives is not without difficulties. Autonomous vehicles still depend on human supervision at various stagesespecially in the loading and unloading of goods. Its speed inside the stations is reduced to guarantee the safety of passengers, and that limits the operational pace. For now, operations remain limited and are far from mass application. Even so, they reflect a clear trend: the attempt to optimize each section of urban space, even the underground. Shenzhen functions as a laboratory for a model that seeks efficiency without altering the rhythm of the city. Ultimately, these tests speak less about technology than about management: about how a metro network can serve two different purposes while remaining, above all, a public service. Images | Guangdong Department of Transportation (1, 2, 34, 5) | Shenzhen Government (1) In Xataka | Many Spanish ports have become luxury resorts for the rich: owning a pleasure boat is increasingly difficult

Russia has found a key advantage to multiply the range of its most lethal weapon in Ukraine: Chinese factories

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Last July Reuters was made with some documents that proved the scope of the help from Beijing to Moscow with the war in Ukraine as a backdrop. The proliferation of Russian drones was possible thanks to a system labeling called “industrial refrigeration units” during transportation, one that allowed sanctions imposed by the West to be bypassed through fictitious companies. Now we know something else: that there are entire factories dedicated to collaboration. The invisible industrial alliance. The war in Ukraine has entered a new phase in which Russia’s technological advantage on the battlefield increasingly depends on a network of factories and chinese suppliers. Although Beijing proclaims neutrality, the official customs data show a spectacular increase in exports of critical components (especially fiber optic cables and batteries lithium-ion) that have allowed Moscow to mass-build the wired drones that are transforming the balance of power on the front. These aircraft, operated through ultra-fine glass threads that unwind in flight up to more than twenty kilometers, They are almost immune to electronic warfare and have managed to breach Ukrainian defenses with an efficiency reminiscent of a silent industrial evolution. The Chinese quantitative leap. How much? counted the Washington Post that between May and August, Chinese exports of fiber optic cables to Russia multiplied tenfold, reaching 528,000 kilometers per month, while shipments of lithium-ion batteries climbed to $54 million. In contrast, Ukraine barely received a few tens of km of cable and a testimonial volume of batteries. For analysts, this asymmetry it is not coincidental: China has restricted the transfer of technologies to kyiv and its allies, but has opened the floodgates of the flow towards Moscowtransforming what were simple commercial components into decisive pieces of the Russian war machine. The combination of low cost, high production capacity and speed in developing prototypes makes Chinese factories a material extension of the Kremlin’s war effort, a “precision rearguard” capable of sustaining the offensive even under Western sanctions. The weapon against electronic chaos. we have been counting. Faced with Ukrainian dominance in FPV drones, Russia has found fiber optic models a devastating tool. As they do not depend on radio frequencies, these devices are impossible to block through interference, and their wiring guarantees total control even in environments saturated with electronic warfare. Moscow uses them to destroy logistics lines, command centers and jamming equipment before launching offensives terrestrial. Its scope (coinciding with the advances measured “by sections of cable”) illustrates how this technology defines the very geometry of the front. Since the Ukrainian withdrawal in the Kursk region, wired drones have been the protagonists of precision attacks, such as the registered in Kramatorsk on October 5, cementing a pattern of warfare in which electronic resistance has become useless. The new factories of conflict. After the withdrawal of the giant DJI of the Russian market in 2022, a constellation of minor Chinese manufacturers has taken up its space. Companies like Shenzhen Huaxin Energy either Nasmin Technologyofficially dedicated to civil products, have become major suppliers of batteries and motors for Russian assemblers. The signature Rustakt LLCone of the largest in the Russian military sector, imported from China more than 577 million dollars in pieces between July 2023 and December of the same year, a volume that reveals the scale of covert industrial support. In turn, Russian manufacturers as ASFPV or Stribog exhibit on their websites production lines located in Chinese territorywith personnel, machinery and labels in Mandarin, manufacturing ultralight coils 0.28 mm and 20 km range designed by Chinese engineers. It is a transnational industrial network that no contracts needed formal military to nourish the Russian war effort: the flow of trade is its camouflage. The dilemma of the West. We have also been counting. Despite the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, the majority of these shipments are protected by the ambiguity of the products “dual use”whose civil application allows controls to be avoided. For NATO, China has become a “decisive facilitator” of Putin’s war, Brussels accuses it of selectively applying its own export rules and to tolerate traffic of components that supports the Russian military industry. Beijing, meanwhile, continues to proclaim its neutrality, while its industrial system benefits economically from the prolongation of the conflict. Its strategy is subtle but effective: it does not supply weapons, but the infrastructure that makes them possible. A strategic advantage. Taken together, the convergence between Russian ingenuity and Chinese manufacturing capacity has created a war ecosystem that combines improvisation with industrial efficiency. The fiber drones optics symbolize that symbiosis: cheap, adaptable and difficult to counter. By providing Russia with technological independence from sanctions and tactical superiority on the battlefield, China not only strengthens its strategic partner, but also redefines global balance of power around a new form of hybrid warfare, where factories and cables count as much as missiles. The result is a cumulative advantage that, in the long term, threatens to turn the Ukrainian front into a manufactured warfare laboratorysupported not so much by soldiers, but by production lines on the other side of the world. Image | Ukraine Mod, Ministry of Defense Ukraine In Xataka | Europe has found the antidote to Russian drones. So demand for a 100-year-old gun has skyrocketed In Xataka | Europe has been working for three years to isolate itself from Russian gas. Two countries have decided to build a direct gas pipeline to Russia

Millions of users used the legendary Windows XP key “FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8”. Now we know its origin

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Many users – and I included myself – almost knew by heart the activation key for Windows XP“FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8”. With it it was possible to install a valid and official copy of the operating system that Microsoft launched in October 2001, but until now it was not known where that key had come from. Now we know. what has happened. Dave W. Pullmer is a famous engineer and developer who worked his entire career at Microsoft and who, in addition to being in charge of the task manager or ZIP folders, had another task: working on the first version of the Windows Product Activation (WPA) system. Precisely that allowed him to know from the inside what happened with that activation key, and He told that story on Twitter. It was not stolen, but leaked. As Plummer explains, no one hacked Microsoft or its systems to obtain it, nor did they manage to steal it. There was actually a mistake on the part of the development team, and a “disastrous leak” occurred. There were no social networks, but it didn’t matter. That leak ended up going viral and millions of users found out about the trick almost immediately, something surprising considering that conventional social networks did not yet exist. There was no need: a warez (pirated software) group called “devilsOwn” released the key five weeks before the launch of Windows XP, and the key was published on IRC, online forums, Usenet groups, warez websites and especially P2P applications such as eDonkey or KaZaA. How activation keys were calculated. The WPA system generated a key that was based on each user’s hardware: “the identifiers of the CPU, RAM and other components” were taken into account, and were sent to Microsoft along with that activation key to be validated. If errors or suspicious keys were detected, that installation was labeled as pirated. Master key. But FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8 was a valid volume license key that became part of the “white list” that the key validation system had. If that key was used, the servers assumed that it was an enterprise volume license, and that “there is no need to call home.” Thus, when installing Windows XP, users simply had to answer “Yes” when asked if they had an activation key, they entered the famous key and thus avoided checking it. It was like having a master key. You could even update XP. When using this activation key, the operating system started fully functional and without activating small user warning mechanisms such as watermarks or a 30-day countdown. It was even possible to overcome the controls that were applied to receive updates. Although Microsoft detected and banned activation key, new illegitimate patches and “cracks” appeared who managed to make this activation mechanism persist for years. Now you couldn’t use it. As Plummer explains, you could technically still use it on old Windows XP installation disks if you could find one, but Microsoft’s own servers that handled the validation process were disabled years ago. And even if it wasn’t, the key ended up being part of the blacklist of prohibited activation keys, meaning you couldn’t use it to validate a legitimate copy of Windows XP. Image | Internet Archive In Xataka | Nostalgia does not disappear. So much so that there are people developing a new web browser for Windows XP

It is the key to ending superbacteria

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The antibiotic resistance It is one of the greatest threats facing humanity together. Bacteria that were previously harmless They are becoming ‘superbacteria‘Immune to our most powerful medications. In this counterreloj career, science is looking towards the past to find a solution of the future: bassoonrapy. A new step to face a big public health problem. A known technique. This technique, which Use bacteria annihilate virusit could be our best asset, but a new study reveals that bacteria have an ace under their sleeve: a sophisticated defense mechanism that seems taken from a science fiction film. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Melbourne They have discovered An unpublished bacterial strategy that have baptized as “excluding and surviving.” This mechanism allows a bacterium infected with a virus (a bacteriophage or phage) quarantine the invaderamputate the infected section and continue living as if nothing. Understanding how they do is the first step to be able to counteract it. Microscopic scale. To understand the importance of this finding, you must first understand how the Passopotherapy. The phages are the natural predators of the bacteria and only seek to infect them to take their control. Literally these phages adhere to the bacterial surface, inject their own genetic material and kidnap cell machinery to create thousands of copies of themselves. Finally, the bacterial cell, full of new viruses, explodes (a process called lysis), releasing the army of phages to infect their neighbors. A process that in the end is exponential and is also used with our own human cells to infect them when we have a virus inside. The biological process. The problem, as in every arms career, is that bacteria do not stay with crossed arms. The new study, focused on bacteria Bacillus subtilishas identified protein Yjbh as the orchestra director of an ingenious defense. Specifically, it has been seen that when a bassoon injected its DNA into the bacteria the bacteria andjbh detects it immediately, it joins it and confines it in a tiny area of ​​the cell, usually near one of the poles. Next, the amazing occurs: Yjbh recruits the cell division machinery to build a wall or septum right next to the infected area. From here the cell is divided asymmetrically, creating a small “mini -free” without a future that contains all the infection and expels it, while the stem cell, now free of the virus, follows its life. The study. Researchers have used various fluorescent dyes to visualize this process in real time, such as the DAPI, which dyes the DNA, and the FM4-64, which marks the cell membranes, allowing to observe the formation of these exclusion compartments. The future. This discovery is a perfect example of the evolutionary arms race between bacteria and viruses. And it is that understanding exactly as it can defend a bacteria can anticipate us to create next -generation treatments that attack this type of machinery. A target. The fact that the YJBH protein is in a wide range of gram-positive bacteria, including notorious pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria Monocytogenesshow that we are not facing an anecdote, but before a very widespread defense mechanism. And now that we know him, we can begin to design strategies to overcome it. The idea would be to develop modified or “cocktails” of phages that can evade or inhibit YJBH’s action, making therapy much more effective. Although there are still challenges ahead – as the possible response of the human immune system to the phages – this type of research is fundamental. The era of antibiotics could be coming to an end, and we need urgent alternatives. “We hope that when reactivating phage therapy we can contribute to non -antibiotic treatments for infections,” concludes Ghosal. “After 100 years, it is time to reconsider the benefits of phage therapy.” Images | CDC In Xataka | The AI ​​has opened a chest that had been closed almost 4,000 million years: the salvation of antibiotics

The key to the new speakers and Amazon screens is in the design

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At home, the practical usually wins. That’s why speakers and smart screens They have gone into the kitchen, in the living room or in the office: they upload the music while we cook, put a timer when we need it, they call who we want or turn off the lights when we are already on the couch. If we are thinking of starting or updating what we have, the key is not only “better sound”, but how it integrates into our routines and how much the little things of the day simplify us. New York has been the chosen stage to present the next wave of speakers and smart screens Echo de Amazon. We talked about Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11, all with potential improvements, design and voice process. The company insists that this generation feels the basis for the future of Alexa+its assistant with generative, although for the moment in Spain we will have to wait to know when these functions will be available. Echo Dot Max: Two speakers, best sound The Echo Dot Max is the first model of its range to incorporate two speakers and arrives with a clear promise: serious almost three times more powerful than the previous generation. Amazon explains that he completely redesigned the acoustic systemintegrating the speakers directly into the housing to double the air space and get a deeper sound. The result is a compact device, but with an improved volume and sharpness. It is a model combines a WOOFER capable of producing deep serious with three complete range speakers oriented to project sound in all directions. Is compatible with technologies such as Dolby Atmos and space audio, designed to create an immersive experience at home. All this in a spherical design with quality materials and a new visual language that accompanies the classic light ring. One of the outstanding novelties is the possibility of setting up a system of home cinema With several Echo speakers. You can combine up to five units of Echo Studio or Echo Dot Max next to a compatible SITIC Fire TV, and Alexa is responsible for synchronizing them and automatically adjusting them to space. The idea is to offer an enveloping sound without complex facilities or expensive equipment. Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11: screen with best aesthetics The new Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 stand out first for their aesthetics, but especially for the screen. Amazon explains that they have used a high density panel with more than one million pixels, which together with the In-Cell design and the negative liquid crystal, allows to reduce reflexes and optimize visibility in different lighting conditions. They also include a 13 MP camera for calls, with which they seek to improve the sharpness of the image against previous models. In the audio section, the new Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 premiere a renewed architecture. They have frontal stereo speakers and a WOOFER personalized, which according to Amazon translates into a plus enveloping space sound. The drivers are placed under the floating screen and project the audio directly to the user, with the idea of ​​achieving greater clarity and presence compared to previous generations. Next to the screens, Amazon has launched a specific accessory: an adjustable base designed for the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11. Its design is aligned with the color and finish of the devices, and allows the screen angle to vary to improve visibility in different positions. Custom processors In the heart of this new generation are two custom chips: AZ3 and Az3 Pro. The Echo Dot Max incorporates the first, with improvements in the detection of the word of activation and in the clarity of the microphones, which according to Amazon they achieve an almost a precision 50% higher compared to previous models. The Echo Studio and Echo Show 8 and 11 integrate the Az3 Pro, which expands these functions and adds support for more advanced language models and computer vision capabilities. On this hardware, Omnisense is supported, the Amazon sensor platform designed for what the company calls “environmental AI”. It resorts to the 13 MP camera combination in the Echo Show, microphones, ultrasound, Wi -Fi radar, accelerometer and network signals to adapt Alexa’s responses to the context. The idea is that the assistant can anticipate and offer more personalized and proactive interactions. Amazon stresses that this new family Echo is compatible with Alexa+your assistant proposal with generative. The company ensures that the devices are ready to take advantage of these functions, but clarifies that in markets such as Spain there is still no confirmed calendar for its arrival. Price and availability of the new Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 The four new Echo devices can already be reserved and will be available before the end of the year. These are official prices in Spain: Images | Amazon | Xataka In Xataka | Fire TV Stick 4K Select: its greatest jump does not arrive by the image, but by the future Vega Os operating system

We have taken 60 years to discover that a key treatment against diabetes does not work as we thought

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The drugs may well be the substance that we study the most before getting the market: preclinical and clinical trials; experiments In vitroin animals and in people … everything to make sure the treatment is safe and works. But sometimes the question is another: because works. Because the answer can be so complex that we are late for decades to unravel it at all. Also in the brain. Something like that It has happened with metformina compound used for more than six decades in the treatment of diabetes: a new study has found that This drug It acts in our brain and not only in the liver as we believed before. The discovery opens the door to possible new therapeutic, more effective and precise pathways, in the treatment of diabetes. Rap1. The new study develops around Rap1 proteina protein that is usually found in the brain region known as ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH). As the team observed in its analysis, metformin acts in this region “turn off” the rap1 function. Modified mice. To check it, the team administered a high fat diet, with which they emulated the effects of type 2 diabetes, to modified mice so that they did not have the rap1 protein in their VMH. Then they administered several types of drugs against diabetes: metformin, insulin and GLP-1 agonists (peptide similar to glucagon 1). When this protein disappeared, metformin ceased to be effective in reducing blood sugar while the other treatments continued to work. The team performed another test to demonstrate the key role of the brain in the functioning of metformin. For this they inject small amounts of the drug diréctorly into the brains of mice with diabetes. They were able to observe that, in doing their blood sugar levels, they decreased, even with “thousands of times smaller” doses of which they are usually administered orally. Combined action. The new study suggests that the biochemical mechanisms with which metformin acts in our body are more complex than we thought. Until now we knew that the drug acted on the liver and we also had evidence that the intestines also act. Now we not only have evidence that it acts on the brain, but it seems that in this context it responds to smaller doses than is required to act in the other areas of the body. The details of the study have been published In an article In the magazine Science Advances. New treatments. The responsible team keeps the hope that the new discovery will contribute to the development of new treatments against diabetes, drugs that focus on this “path” of the brain. The effects of this drug go beyond the control of diabetes, the team recalls: it has also been linked to slower cerebral aging. Of course, it can also have adverse effects, although uncommon, one of the most serious is lactic acidosis, a serious and potentially deadly disease. In Xataka | This is the great hope of competition to replace Ozempic. Your weapon: banish needles with a pill Image | Sweet Life

Canopo’s decree is one of the greatest mysteries to solve the ancient Egypt. And finally we have a key track to understand it

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Egyptologists and especially those scholars dedicated to the study of hieroglyphs and The Ptolemaic dynasty They are in luck. And rightly. A team of archaeologists has located in the site of Tell el-Faran´inin the city of The Husseiniya (Sharqia), an unparalleled treasure in the last century and a half. Not because of the materials with which it is manufactured or its lavishness. No. The key is what he says, how he says it and above all what he does not say. What experts have found is neither more nor less than a famous stone trail Canopo decree. Of course, a very special. What is Canopo’s decree? A Egyptian decree promulgated by the king Ptolemy III Evergetes on a deck of 238 AC, in full Ptolomeics dynasty. The document was written after the high priests met in the city of Canopusto the east of Alexandria, to honor the monarch, his wife Berenice and the little daughter of both, who died by those same dates. It may sound boring, but the decree has been fascinating the Egyptologists. The text exalts the figure of the monarchs (“The benevolent gods”), their donations, campaigns and veneration in the temples. Also of more practical issues, such as the decision to lower taxes those years in which crops did not receive enough water from the Nile, or the creation of a new priestly range and a religious holiday. Another of the ads that it collects is the deification of the deceased daughter of Ptolemy III Evergetes and Berenice, which was called as her mother. Does it say anything else? Yes. Among other issues, the introduction of a new system of leap years which would add an extra day every four years to adjust it to religious rituals. Ptolemy III wanted that additional day to commemorate him and his wife, but the idea He didn’t finish curdling. Today it reminds us how advanced Egyptian astronomy was and how it advanced to Julian calendarintroduced by Julio César in the 46 AC replacing the Roman. Beyond what he says, the decree is valuable for how he says it. The document makes it clear that its content should be expressed in stelae that mixed three different writing systems: Egyptian hieroglyphs, The demotic and The Greek Koiné. The copies should also be distributed among the main temples for the edict to reach every corner of the kingdom. When in the nineteenth century the archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius He discovered one of those specimens in Tanis, he found a valuable help to decipher the hieroglyphs. So or even more than Rosetta stone. How is the new wake? Of sandstone, 127.5 centimeters high and 83 wide, with a thickness of 48. Its upper part is rounded and, in addition to the registration of the central section, distributed over 30 hieroglyph lines carved in relief, the stone shows some interesting decorations. The design is crowned by a large winged solar disk flanked by two royal cobras that show the white and red crowns of Egypt, symbol of the union of the two lands. In the center, an inscription stands out in which “Di-Ank” can be read, a message that could be translated as “the one that gives life.” Why does the finding matter? Because the copies of Canopo decree do not abound. Or at least we have not found them. As remember The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, the wake found in Tell el-Faran´in will join the other six known and unearthed versions inKom el-hisn, Tanis either Tell enough. Some are complete. Another are just fragments. “This discovery is considered the most significant of its kind in more than 150 years, since since then no new and complete version of the decree has been found,” Underline. Does it differ in something? Yes. And that is one of the reasons why the wake recovered in Tell el-Faran´in has generated so much interest. Although the decree of Ptolemy III made it clear that it should be captured in stelae that combined the three writing systems (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek), the specimen we just found shows only one. This was confirmed by Mohamed Ismail Khaled, of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, who Clarify that the wake is written “entirely in hieroglyphs”, which differentiates it from other previous trilingual versions. What is it for? Beyond the obvious historical, archaeological and patrimonial value of the finding, Tell el-Faran´in wake has a key utility. From the outset, it has served the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, to breastfeed for the “continuous achievements” of the archaeological missions of the country and the “support” of the government to the excavation campaigns, something that feels especially good in full controversy by the Tourist megaproject of the Sinai. Political issues apart, scholars are relying on squeezing the content of the wake. The authorities expect them to help them expand their knowledge about the real and religious documents of the Ptolemaic era and “enrich” the understanding of that historical period. If something has aroused interest, it is, however, that the stone includes a single writing system, which seems an exception to the norm that includes the decree. “Open new horizons for our understanding of the language and provides additional information about Ptolemaic decrees, as well as about real and religious ceremonial systems,” Add the government. Images | Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt government and Wikipedia In Xataka | A 2,000 -year -old cup has revealed an unexpected facet of the Egyptians: psychedelic cocktails

one million terabytes and 24,000 nvidia chips for a key mission

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In an increasingly digitized world and where artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we work, investigate and relate, the supercomputing has established itself as the rod of measure technological power. It is a strategic resource that allows us to accelerate advances in science, innovation and defense. Not all super -taders play in the same league. Frontierof the United States Department of Energy, marked a milestone in 2022 by becoming the first to officially overcome the exaescala barrier, with 1,102 Exaflops in the Benchmark HPL. To that achievement they joined later The Captain and Auroraalso on American soil, consolidating its leadership position on paper. In the case of China, the information remains opaque, With very few public data about the status of their projects. Europe, however, just moved. Your first superorous to exaescala is already underway: Jupiter. Installed in the Jülich Supercomputing Centerin Germany, one of the most important advanced research poles of the continent. Jupiter is driven by the platform Nvidia Grace Hopper And Evidan xh3000 Bullsequana architecture is based on a liquid -refrigerated system designed to squeeze efficiency and performance. It is expected to reach up to 90 exaflops in artificial intelligence loads. Their applications will be diverse: from climatic research to neuroscience and quantum simulation, placing Europe in a new calculation capacity league. An inauguration with historical air September 5 The official inauguration ceremony in Jülich took placewith the presence of German authorities, European and leaders of the technology industry. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz presented him as a Pioneer project for Europe. “With Jupiter, Germany now has the fastest supercomputer in Europe and the fastest room in the world. Open completely new possibilities, from the training of AI models to scientific simulations.” In the Top500 list, Jupiter already appears as the fourth Most powerful supercomputer in the world, only behind the Captain, Frontier and Aurora in the United States. The European Union stands outIn addition, what works entirely with renewable energyby hiring green supply on the German network, and that its Rack Jedi leads the Green500 energy efficiency classification. The figures behind Jupiter To understand its magnitude, just review some technical data: 24,000 superchips nvidia gh200 grace hopper 51,000 network connections with infiniband quantum-2 technology Storage capacity close to an exabyte Modular installation with 50 specialized containers Maximum consumption of 17 MW, equivalent to about 11,000 homes A rack called Jedi leads the World Energy Efficiency Classification Why is it relevant to Europe Europe had been behind in the supercomputing career for years, with a landscape dominated by the United States. JUPITER offers researchers, companies and academic centers direct access to a top -level machine without depending on external resources. This means forming their own talent, consolidating experience in the management of these systems and reinforcing technological sovereignty at a time when artificial intelligence and calculation capacity have become strategic issues. Concrete applications The first projects already selected show how far a supercomputer of this category can go: Climate: The ECMWF works with a kilometer scale simulations, capable of representing extreme storms and feeding the Destination Earth project, whose objective is to build digital twins of the planet European: The Trustllm consortium trains language models in multiple European languages ​​for industrial and scientific applications Neuroscience: With the arbor simulator, neurons behavior will be modeled at the subcellular level, key to developing therapies against diseases such as Alzheimer’s Quantum: JUPITER aims to exceed the 50 -QBITS record in simulation, a relevant step towards quantum practical computing Astrophysics: The Max Planck Institute will use it to study cosmic reion, the period in which the first stars and galaxies emerged Particle physics: The University of Wuppertal will increase the resolution of its calculations on the Mon, which could open the door to new discoveries Video models: The University of Munich explores compression and dissemination architectures to advance applications that go from medicine to autonomous driving Multimodal models: The University of Lisbon Scale open and multilingual models, integrating different fields of science and automatic learning Access and future Researchers may request access to the system in calls that will be held twice a year. At the moment, there are already 30 projects underway. The expected useful life is at least six years, which guarantees continuity and stability in a land where technological cycles are increasingly fast. A strategic movement Jupiter is not just a technological achievement. It is a strategic commitment to provide Europe on their own capacity in an area where part of the future of artificial science and intelligence is played. With him, the continent finally has a tool that allows him compete at the highest levelwith energy efficiency and technological independence. Images | Nvidia | Jülich Supercomputing Center In Xataka | Alibaba has just demonstrated that Openai spends 78 million to do the same as them for $ 500,000

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