kilometers

27 kilometers under the sea to avoid fjords

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Norway has underway A series of megaconstructions that aim to beat numerous records. It is not for less, because it is a country with a very particular geography in which certain types of infrastructure are necessary to opt for certain comforts. One of the most surprising is undoubtedly Rogfast, a four -lane submarine tunnel that will connect the districts of Randaberg and Bokn through 27 kilometers under the sea. This megaobra promises to revolutionize transport on the Norway west coast and drastically reduce travel times on one of the most traveled routes in the country. Fjords don’t make it easy. The E39 coastal road, which travels 1,100 kilometers from Trondheim to Kristiansand, is interrupted seven times by fjords that force Ferris. This turns a direct journey into a 21 -hour odyssey. Rogfast will eliminate one of these interruptions and will cut 11 hours of the total tripbenefiting millions of people who move to the cities of Stavanger and Bergen. Record figures. The tunnel will reach a maximum depth of 400 meters below sea level and extended 27 kilometers, officially becoming The longest road submarine tunnel in the world. It will surpass the current record, the Norwegian Lærdal tunnel of 24.5 kilometers, which crosses mountains but does not go under the sea. Turning Rogfast will take approximately 35 minutes and will have an underground roundabout at 250 meters deep to give access to Kvitsøy island. Image: Telegraph A technical and economical challenge. The works began in 2018 with an initial budget of about 1,838 million euros, although experts estimate that the total cost of modernizing the entire E39 could reach more than 40,000 million euros. The Norwegian government will finance 40% of the projectwhile the rest will recover through a toll of about 34 euros per use. The construction suffered several delays, especially during the pandemic, but maintains its scheduled completion date for 2033. Beyond travel cutting. Engineers have designed a special artistic project to combat monotony and anxiety that a tunnel can cause so extensive. The system promises to include dynamic lighting and decorative elements that will create a sensation of orientation and make the underground path more bearable. The idea is that drivers perceive travel time as shorter than it really is. Goodbye Ferris. Rogfast is part of a larger plan to completely eliminate the Ferris of the E39 and connect the entire Norway west coast with fixed infrastructure. Some sections will require “floating” tunnels anchored to the seabed due to the excessive depth of certain fjords. If the project is successful, Norway will have shown that it is possible to create a completely terrestrial coastal highway in one of the most challenging geographic territories in the world. Cover image | Implane In Xataka | The world’s largest hotel is not in Las Vegas or Dubai. It is in Malaysia and has 7,351 rooms

More than 18,000 kilometers between Portugal and Singapore without the need for CAM

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Trains lover, we have your plan for summer. It is very possible that we are late but as you will see it is better to prepare it with time, carefully and, above all, asking for all the necessary permits that you will need. Because yes, you will need them. Permits, about 1,200 euros and time. Three weeks, specifically. It is what is needed to cover the railway line that, linking trains and companies, allows all of Europe and much of Asia to reach its southern end. With departure in Laos (Portugal) and arrival in Singapore, we talk about the longest train trip in the world. This is the world’s longest train trip It all depends on how much money we want Euronews than the longest train trip in the world You can take about 1,200 euros and 21 days of journey, taking into account some breaks in the city to rest or the time to be used in visas. At least that was the estimate in 2021, the year in which the Opening of a new section Railway between Kunming (China) and Votián (Laos) allowed to add the kilometers enough for the line to end in Singapore. The change is so relevant that it allowed to reach 18,755 kilometers to which the total journey amounts to. At that time, Russia had not yet decided to invade Ukraine so the trip has been complicated since then. The idea is to enter Russia prior to Germany, Poland and Belarus so communication should be assured. Of course, we should not lose sight that whoever is determined to carry out this railway odyssey is entering a country at war. To have all the details by hand, in the SUBDDIT R/MAPPORN They have drawn The whole route exposed on a map of Europe and Asia. In it we see how the route begins as we said in Laos (Portugal) at the southern end of our continent. Next to the Algarve begins an adventure that can end in another paradisiac environment, the Best Singapore Beaches. Following the proposal of Reddit users forces to put Madrid aside and choose to cross all of Castilla y León. From there, one goes to the Basque Country and crosses France for Perpignan. Once in the Gallic country, European capitals will be linked: Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Minsk and, already in Russia, Moscow. Once in Russia is the longest section of the trip within the same country. Overcome Moscow, it continues a little further north taking two of the most famous lines that make up the trip. First, much of the route of the Transiberiancrossing the entire Russian steppe but before reaching the end it is about deviating to Mongolia. Entering Mongolia in the north, now another famous train is taken, the Transongolianwhich serves as a railroad between Moscow and Beijing. Here, we cross the Chinese border that we will only leave behind when we travel south. It is time to return to Laos (this time phonetically), Thailand and Malaysia. Chinese influence is notable here, even after having overcome the borders of the country since if we are traveling through train, it is because China built the line that UNE Bangkok with Beijing. It is, in fact, Laos’s first railway line that does not end in the sea. Overcome the almost 19,000 kilometers of train is time to enjoy the destination. Relax and, why not, try to imitate Willy Fog. If Smith’s estimates do not fail, we have half the world to go and 59 days ahead to match the feat of the character of Julio Verne. Photo | Giulia de Santis and OpenrailwayMap In Xataka | Renfe has just published his first punctuality report. Result: the bird is not punctual

We have just measured the longest ray ever registered on Earth: 829 kilometers D

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The rays are huge electrical discharges that in a fraction of second run through the distance between the clouds and the surface of the earth, a distance that can be several kilometers. However, lightning can go to distances a pair of superior magnitude orders. And this is one of those cases. The longest ray. The World Meteorological Organization has confirmed The longest ray observation ever registered. The electric shock toured a distance of 829 kilometers, with a margin of error of about 8 km. To put it in perspective, that is approximately the distance that separates in a straight line Barcelona from Seville. Although the validation by the United Nations Meteorological Office arrived this Thursday, the event occurred almost eight years ago, In October 2017in the United States. The great plains. The ray with its ramifications reached the skies of five states in the central and southern United States. The beginning of his “route” was on the east of the state of Texas, and his end was close to Kansas City, in Missouri. His tour and ramifications also made him pass through the states of Arkansasa, Kansas and Oklahoma. The region of the great plains where lightning was also known as Tornado Alleythe “Alley of Tornados”. This area, the OMM points out, stands out for being one of the areas “with the greatest storm activity known as Mesoescala convective systems”, which also makes it an ideal area for the formation of these “megarrayos.” For 61 km. As explained by the OMM, the new record exceeds 61 km the previous record. That ray also happened in the United States, but later, in April 2020, and reached 768 km, also with a margin of error of 8 km. In both cases, the detection and measurement of these rays was carried out through a method called Maximum Circle Arch. In addition, the OMM emphasizes that the 2017 ray was one of the first events measured with the help of the operational geostationary satellite for the study of the environment of the R (GOES-16) of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). They also explain that this “megary” went unnoticed in a first analysis of the storm, and was not discovered until the review of the data compiled during the stormy episode. Now the details of the analysis carried out by the OMM team have been published In a working document of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Improving prevention. The study of the rays goes beyond establishing records that feed our curiosity about these violent phenomena. Improving our study tools and knowing these events better is key to reducing the risk they imply in several contexts, from aviation to forest fires. “Rays, although they are a source of astonishment, also constitute a great danger that is charged numerous lives every year worldwide, which makes these phenomena one of the priorities of the international initiative an early warns for all,” pointed in a press release Celeste Saulo, general secretary of the OMM. “This record highlights important issues for public security with respect to electrified clouds, (…) that may have serious repercussions on the aviation sector, as well as cause forest fires.” Carrying the accounts. The OMM is the institution in charge of Register extreme atmospheric events Throughout the world, an archive that has other records protected by great magnitude rays. For examplethe lightest ray registered lasted no less than 17 seconds (17,102 ± 0.002 s, specifically), and was captured in Argentina in June 2020. The direct impact of greater size was recorded in 1975 in Zimbabwe, and cost the lives of 21 people. However, the greatest indirect impact occurred in 1994, in Dronka (Egypt), and resulted in 469 people deceased when causing the fire of oil deposits. In Xataka | Two years ago a cosmic ray hit the earth. No one knows where it came from Image | Pixabay (File image)

Drones have become the great threat of Ukraine. So you are covering kilometers of roads with nets

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Neither tanks nor mines nor sophisticated fighters. What really removes the dream of the soldiers who fight in the Ukraine War (and it is a feeling shared by both sides) are The dronesunmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) loaded with explosives. So much so that the military have baptized the 10 km strip that extends to each side of the front as “Zone of Death”an area infested with remote piloted drones and that can neutralize their objectives with a much lower investment than would require a similar missile. The UAV play such an important role in the war that a curious picture is left: kilometers and more kilometers of road protected with networks. A landscape covered with networks. To complicated problems, imaginative solutions. The France-Presse (AFP) agency has published A chronicle in which he tells how the war between Ukraine and Russia is having a curious effect on the wide range of the front: it is covering it with networks. Networks and more green networks that are installed on post -high posts along kilometers of road in the region of Donetskone of the great stages of war. AFP recounts how Ukrainians are riding that vast tangle of networks to cover their main supply routes, but the panorama is not very different on the other side of the front. The Russians have also set to work to perform a similar task. “Let’s weave nets, just like spiders! We do it for birds without extremely dangerous feathers,” Ironiza In April a nicknamed ‘Ares’. But what birds are those? Drones Drones swarms, surveillance vehicles, kamikazes or equipped with explosives that suppose a serious threat to soldiers and civilians. With meshes the military seeks to repel them in a seemingly as simple as effective way. “When a drone impacts the network, a short circuit occurs and cannot attack vehicles,” Explain To the French agency Denis, a commander of the 27 -year -old engineers. The initiative is not entirely new. A few months ago We told you Already how Ukraine was taking advantage of tons of old Danish fishing networks to repel Russian drones. Now already measure that the Ukraine War is on its way to turning three and a half its use seems to be extending on the front. In March a small sailor town of Jutlandia, Thyborøn, It was news precisely by donating 450 tons of drag networks made of nylon fibers. In origin, meshes were thought to capture tons of fish, but they have also been useful to keep drones away from strategic objectives, especially as the expanding the Fiber optic modelscapable of making fun of devices that cut the connection with the pilots. The drone war. It may seem exaggerated, but if for something the Ukraine War is highlighting, it is precisely because of the role that drones and the threat they represent for soldiers. Reuters cites today Internal reports of kyiv that confirm that the UAV already represent about 69% of the attacks against Russian troops. Moreover, in 2024 they were behind 75% of the attacks undertaken against vehicles and equipment. They are percentages that far exceed those of the use of conventional artillery, which move between 15 and 18%. The great threat. Reuters cites a squad commander, Ivan, 35, who Openly recognize That the soldiers of both sides see the unmanned aerial vehicles already as the main threat to their lives. Your swarms too They take away the dream In the cities, kilometers away from the front. Yesterday Russia launched An attack against Dobropillia as part of an offensive that included the use of hundreds of drones. His role is so relevant that Mark Boris Andrijanic, Slovenian politician, has published An analysis in which it slides that an increase in drones financed by the West would allow war. Images | Ann-Sophie Qvarström (Flickr), Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (Flickr) and Trong Khiem Nguyen (Flickr) In Xataka | The Ukraine War is getting rid, first of all, with drones. And that is leaving an infinite fiber optic trail through the field

Some scientists have rowed 225 kilometers in 45 hours between Taiwan and Japan. It seems absurd but there are good reasons

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In 1947 the Norwegian explorer and ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl He had an idea To demonstrate that the former inhabitants of Peru were able to navigate to the coasts of Polynesia in pre -Columbian times: to manufacture a rudimentary raft and cover the journey himself. Sounds crazy, but experience went well and seems to have created school, like He has just demonstrated An anthropologist determined to reveal how humans were managed to travel between the coasts of Taiwan and the islands of southern Japan. Along with the rest of his colleagues he has chosen to follow the footsteps of Heyerdahl, manufacture a cedar canoe with tools from the Paleolithic and then launch to the Pacific waters. When, where … and how. Researchers who are dedicated to studying the first human settlements in East Asia have a rather accurate idea of ​​when and where the first migrations were made, but there is a question that still takes away their dream: how noses they moved? How did they travel through sea, raffling waves, winds and currents, with hardly any resources? How did the first settlers manage to arrive for example do 30,000 yearsTo the island Yonaguniin the archipelago of The Ryūkyūcurrent Japan? After all, Taiwan is more than 100 kilometers and the distance is even higher from the continent. “Simple questions”. That kind of questions are what the anthropologist was asked a few years ago Yousuke Kaifufrom the University of Tokyo. During his investigations in the deposits of the Okinawa Islands he found vestiges that give away that there were already humans in the region 30,000 yearsbut nothing that clarifies how they got there. “There are stone tools and archaeological remains, but they do not answer those questions,” confesses to The Guardian. That there were no evidence did not mean that Kaifu and his colleagues could not raise hypotheses … and demonstrate them. “We started this project with simple questions: ‘How did the Paleolithic peoples arrive at islands as remote as Okinawa?’ ‘How was your trip difficult?’ ‘What tools and strategies did they use?’ ” remember The Japanese anthropologist. “Archaeological evidence, such as vestiges and artifacts, does not offer a complete vision, since the sea, by nature, drags them. So we turn to experimental archeology, in a line similar to The Kon-Tiki expedition of 1947 of the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl “. In the skin of the ancestors. Like Hayerdahl and his mythical expedition Kon-Tiki, Kaifu and his colleagues assumed the complicated task of putting themselves into the skin of their ancestors of thousands of years ago. How did they travel? How did they guide themselves? What materials did they use for their vessels to draw the currents of the region? First they tested with Juncos balsas and bamboo, but ended up ruling out the idea. With these materials they obtained too slow ships to overcome The Kuroshioone of the strongest sea currents and that conditions navigation in the northwestern Pacific. His next option was to try a canoe made with Japanese cedar, such as those used in the area thousands of years ago. In order for the experiment to be as faithful as possible to reality, the researchers talled a cedar one meter thick with stone axes and then carved it until opening a cavity inside and giving the shape of a canoe of 7.5 meters of length. The result was ‘sugime’, a boat not very different from those used thousands of years ago. In 2019, after waiting for the sea to calm down, a team of five crew (in which scientists and remakes were included) rose on board and tried it. And how did they do it? As the Paleolithic men, without GPS or any other modern navigation device, would have done only by the stars, the sun, waves and instinct. The expedition started from Taiwan Rumbo Yonaguni, in Kyūshū. The island is not visible from the Taiwanese coast (and in fact it was not for much of the journey, when it was hidden from the waves), but the scientists verified that on clear days it is not difficult to contemplate it from the mountains of Taiwan. Hence the populations of 30,000 years ago they met her. The raft left in July 2019 and its crew had to row more than 45 hours and cover a journey of 225 kilometers before reaching its destination. It was not easy, but the team reached Yonaguni to the second night, reinforcing the theory that thousands of years ago the first Okinawa settlers were able to travel in Canoas from neighboring Taiwan. During the syglura, yes, They suffered crampspain and hallucinations and even were forced to Browse water Often to prevent the raft from getting causing. “They achieved something extraordinary”. The experiment was completed in July 2019 thanks to the support of several institutions but has not achieved authentic impact so far, when the University of Tokyo He has revealed The experience. The reason? A few days ago there was a documentary about the trip and two academic articles published in Science Advances. In one the experts report the 45 -hour experiment between Taiwan and the island of Yonaguni. In the other they share virtual recreations hundreds of possible routes to know which could be the “most plausible”. “The general public usually considers the Peoples of the Paleolithic as ‘lower’, mainly due to their ‘primitive’” culture and technology, ” collect the report. “In marked contrast, our experiment has shown that they achieved something extraordinary with the rudimentary technology they had.” The experiment also confirms the growing interest in archaeological reconstructions and tests with boats that copy old models, something that (in addition to the case of Hayerdahl) we have seen in Indonesian research, France either United Arab Emirates. Images | © 2025 Kaifu et al. CC-BY-AR In Xataka | In 1973 a scientist wanted to find out why we fight. So he crossed the ocean in a mini raft full of strangers

Byd has shown us that the 400 kilometers load in five minutes is very real. And they have managed to change their minds

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Designed for heavy but practical transport for the daily car. And an advance that has raised some controversy in the battle that China-Occident in the battle for the electric car. It is the 1 MW charger of byd. The same one that, they promise, can load 400 kilometers of autonomy in five minutes and with which, in the words of Stella Li (vice president of the company) equals “the experience of Fill a deposit of gasoline “. It is definitely one of the advances in the electric car that has raised the most interest in recent months. And in Xataka we have tried it. Yes, it is very real In a concessionaire and next to other lesser power chargers. Byd has shown us the operation and recharge of its 1,000 kW or 1 MW charger. An experience that promises to match the times of gasoline but that, they assure from the company, is not primarily thought for cars. Last March, Byd hit the table showing your most powerful loaders to date. Immediately, domino’s chips fell and we knew that Catl and Huawei also confirmed that had ready their own ultra -grape load suppliers. The race for the electric car in China advances at a devilish pace that has taken us at the end of this June, just over two months later from the announcement, to see these loaders in operation. The expansion of the more than 4,000 points that the brand aspires to have very soon in its country clashes frontally with the slowness in Spanish facilities. Be that as it is, the truth is that two byd cars can now recharge in this type of facilities. They are the byd and tang l, two electric mounted on their super e-platform that can assume the power of its megawatt flash charger, a load point known as the 1,000-1,000-1,000: 1,000 kW, 1,000 amps and 1,000 volts. A BYD TANG L at the 1MW load station And that’s what we saw. First with a Byd Tang L and, later, with a Byd have l, the company showed us the system load capacity. For this it is necessary to plug the two hoses that leave the supplier. The car, like a Porsche Macan, has two load shots (one on each side) and plug at the same time. Once the two shots are connected, the load begins from the vehicle. And magic happens. In two minutes, 7% battery capacity has passed to almost 40% of it. One is hypnotized When you see on the central screen the 1,000 kW of load power and the percentage of the battery upload. The maximum peak does not last too much. But that is not too much problem. After 20%, the power falls to 750 kW and it remains so until 30%. It is not then that it is maintained with sufficiency in 700 kW or slightly below. Thus it will come with hardly any drop to 80%. At that pace, moving from a brief 7% to 80% autonomy leads to, just over five minutes. And that 80%, In a car with 83.2 kWh Battery are about 67 kWh available. To lower the data to the ground, two questions. Is it a lot of power? It is a lot of power. It is a barbarity. To get an idea, the most powerful load points that are in Spain Sinde 350 kW and begin to consider loads of 500 kW. Have a car that carries, when the power drops, at 700 kW is to fold the most advanced vehicles at the moment, from the Porsche Taycan and Audi GT e-tron to the KIA EV6 and Hyundai ioniq 5. Just a handful get these figures in Europe. Really load 400 kilometers in five minutes? Yes and no. We explain ourselves. The 67 kWh that would have available any of these two cars with 80% load equals just under 350 real kilometers with a consumption of 20 kWh/100 kilometers. If you talk about 400 kilometers in five minutes it is because the Chinese homologation system is much more lax than WLTP. This has led us to receive news from China from cars with 1,000 kilometers of autonomy that would not support an exam in Europe. Despite this, we must not crucify how to measure in the Asian country. You have to take into account the peculiarities of each market. The homologations are assumed, both the Chinese and the European WLTP try to simulate the use that an average driver would give it. That in China, where the car is used as a ciudad already low speed (also in the ringms) it is much more likely that the average consumption is lower than for a European driver. It is something that have confirmed different Chinese brands: the car is for urban use, for the long trips bullet trains and airplanes are used. Is it really practical? When Byd gave the news, the competitors soon answered. As we have seen, Catl and Huawei came out to point out that they also had similar widths for imminent expansion. From Europe the message was another: That loading power is useless. That was what they pointed out in Mercedes. An opinion that can be controversial and shared before going to China. Now, I thought things better. What they maintain in Mercedes is that so much power is not necessary because, generally, when we stop we are standing for more than five minutes. And it doesn’t matter if we are going to have coffee or, simply, fill the car deposit. In the latter we spend more time of five minutes. If we are barely stopped 10 minutes, it recharges it with a car that can fill its batteries at 350 kW of power does not change much with respect to Byd’s proposal. And, if this power is supported, in just 10 minutes almost 60 kWh capacity will have been filled. That is, 300 kilometers with the previous calculations. In practice, the difference is not much. A … Read more

The war now happens thousands of kilometers from our heads

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It could be material for a apocalyptic science fiction film. A missile of the future with antibalistic, hypersonic and exoatmospheric capabilities, triggered in search of its goal to intercept it: a ballistic missile to Match 5 whose technology literally exceeds the same line of karm at 1,500 km away. Both sophisticated systems are in the exosphere to elucidate a single winner. And yet the scene It is happening in These momentscompletely changing what we understood by war conflict. Invisible theater. The war Between Israel and Iran marks an unprecedented inflection point in the history of the armed conflict, not only for its political implications, but for the radicality of its means and dimensions. What began as an announced escalation, backed by decades of latent tensions, has become a confrontation Without borderswithout terrestrial fronts and without armies facing face to face, an “improved” version of what already We had seen in Ukraine. Because more than 1,500 kilometers away Among the capitals, without sharing borders and without direct implication of the intermediate countries, both states They are attacked flying over and overcoming alien geographies. Israel displays its aerial power over Iran thanks to a fleet of F-35, F-15 and F-16 long-range, replaced in flight and operating on foreign airspace with total impunity. That operational freedom is only possible because they will go, after years of sanctions, it lacks of air capacity To offer resistance. Thus, in the Iranian heavens, any object that moves must be considered an enemy. ASIMETRÍAS AIR WAR. It I remembered On the weekend the historian and professor in Columbia, Adam Tooze. While Israel uses guided fighters and pumps precision attacks (including those Antibunker bombs Made in USA), Iran responds with a more economical strategy but No less ambitious: long -range ballistic missiles. It is an asymmetric war. Israel flies thousands of kilometers to launch bombs. Iran launches missiles that travel that same distance through the air. It We have counted before. Each of these projectiles can cost millionsalthough together they represent a fraction of the value of the Israeli aircraft. The extraordinary thing is that these missiles not only reach objectives to more than 1,000 kilometers away, but also cross The karm linethe border of exterior space, reaching altitudes of up to 400 kilometers Before rushing to your whites. It’s about Exoatmospheric trajectories unpublished in real conflicts, a direct evolution of the technical legacy of the V2 rockets of Nazi Germany, recycled by Soviet and Iranian programs. The “star” shield. Here appears one of those elements that seem taken from fantastic literature. Because the Israeli response to these attacks Cosmic is Equally Futuristto. Thanks to decades of collaboration with the United States, Israel has deployed the Arrow 3 systeman interceptor capable of neutralizing ballistic missiles in The emptiness of space. Derived from SDI program from Ronald Reagan, the system (developed by IAI, Boeing, Elta and Elbit Systems) Base on the premise of “impacting a bullet with another bullet”, yes, with a “deficit”: a cost of 2 million dollars per unit. These interceptors reach the Iranian missiles at their highest point, even before they enter the Israeli atmosphere. In fact, the first successful interception in combat occurred November 9, 2023marking a milestone: the first time a missile was destroyed in space during a war. Kárman line The dome and the price to pay. Tooze told An anecdote that betrayed the heart of the use of these “stellar” defenses. During The massive attack April 2024, more than 550 projectiles (between ballistic and cruise missiles) launched against Israel. The aerial defense responded successfully, avoiding the closest to a cataclysm. He also counted That the tangible result of that night was that the population returned to work normally. However, this degree of protection has an exorbitant price: up to 285 million dollars by night in defensive operations, According to the Washington Post. In addition, interceptor missile production is limited. Israeli and American factories simply They cannot manufacture enough Arrow 3 to hold that rhythm for a long time. Hence, in the current conflict, the great strategic question is Who will exhaust before His arsenal: They will go with their missiles or Israel with their interceptors. Europe and a shadow. Thus, while the United States and its allies carefully observe that kind of “Star Wars in real life” that reagan pursued, Europe seems determined to acteven convincing Spain. We count it months ago: under the Sky Shield project promoted by Germany, they have Batteries in charge of the Arrow 3 system for billions of euros for that promoted rearme How much Ansia the United States and his wallet. Although the Israeli experience does not automatically translate into the defense of the American continental territory against ICBM, it does for the European continent, which sees in this shield an response to coming threats. New war paradigm. In the background, something that It intuited From the drone war triggered after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and that this confrontation Missilistics Between Israel and Iran He has enhanced: The beginning of a new military era. Gone are conventional wars where the fronts were measured by terrestrial kilometers. Today, war is no longer A geographical matter and attack trajectories cross continents and atmospheres, battles are fought From the exosphere Even nuclear facilities basements buried in mountains. What seemed science fiction (intercept rockets in space, living under invisible defensive domes or coordinating surgical bombings at 1,500 km away) is now part of the Routine Arsenal of the most militarized states in the world. An unpublished experiment. First It was Ukraine. Now, the war between Israel and Iran has confirmed, in geostrategic terms, a Radical rupture. Not only because of its extension or its protagonists, but for the type of technologies That he uses, the scenario in which he is fought and the fundamentally technical, automated and remote nature of his operations. It is no longer just a regional confrontation: now it points to the beginning of An orbital era of distance war, where supremacy is defined in … Read more

9 kilometers of water keep the planet in suspense

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The tension climbing Between Iran and the US it has had a peculiar effect: it has led to half the world (and the other medium too) to look at a tiny navigable channel located in the Middle East, the Ormuz narrow. In view of the satellite it does not seem much, a narrow sea language that connects the Persian and Oman Gulf, but in practice it is a strategic artery for the world’s fuel traffic. Every day dozens of metaneros and oil companies navigate. Now Tehran considers to close it as punishment to US attack against its nuclear baseswhat would put Above up The oil market. What is the Ormuz Strait? A strategic channel for global hydrocarbons transport. A “critical point of oil strangulation “. And a tiny corner of the Map of the Middle East who today look carefully at the economists and leaders of half everyone. Ormuz is a narrow navigable between Oman and Iran that joins the Persian and Oman golves, which in practice makes him an artery for traffic with the Arabic sea. A Fast look The map arrives to understand two characteristics of Ormuz, both interrelated. The first is its narrow geography. At its closest point the channel measures only 33 km wide, although the navigation zone is even smaller: the two reservations for the passage of oil companies barely reach Three kilometers Each one and are separated by a damping zone with a similar width. Hence The Wall Street Journal point out that world markets are really pending a strip of nine kilometers. Why is it important? Because dozens of huge ships loaded with crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) that drives the economies of world world powers, including China, are going through these routes, including China, including China, including China, including China, including China, The biggest buyer of Iranian oil. The data speak for themselves. The Vortexa firm Calculate That between the beginning of 2022 and last month every day they flowed through the narrow millions of barrels of oil (between 17.8 and 20.8) of different types, which means that the Ormuz Strait channels the fifth part of the world consumption of crude oil. And that is just oil. There are those who calculate that Something more than 20% From the metaneros ships that navigate the world pass through that narrow channel that Iran and Oman separates. The firm Lloys List has thrown accounts and calculates that every day they transit about 15 million barrels of crude oil, 2.5 million barrels of products, 20% of liquefied natural gas and one third of Liquefied oil gas. AND It is then distributed by the world, with a special impact on Asian economies. The AEI assures that 84% of crude and 83% of the LNG that passed last year through the Ormuz Strait ended in Asia markets. Why is it news? Because the stability of the channel is on the tightrope. After Washington Atacase the weekend Three Nuclear Bases of Iran, the world now expects Tehran’s response and among its possible movements is the blockade of the Ormuz Strait, which would submit to the fuel market (and by extension to the global economy) to strong pressure. How is probable? That is the million -dollar question: will they really go to close the Strait? Although there are analysts who doubt that Tehran will adopt a measure that would damage their own economy and that of its neighbors, Like Saudi Arabiathe Iranian government has already shown that the idea is on the table. On Saturday the Islamic Advisory Assembly recommended The closure of the channel, although the final decision is not in its hands, but in those of Ali Jamenei. For now, the government has made it clear that they do not rule out taking a step that would tighten the markets and would probably have its reflection in prices. Yesterday the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard insisted in that the closure of Ormuz “is being considered”, and warned: “Iran will make the best decision.” The channel blockade is only one of the options that Tehran would have to respond to US attacks. The analysts They speculate With other options, such as direct attacks on US forces, hitting diplomatic missions or cyber attacks. How would the Strait close? It is not the first time that they will love with tensioning the markets. He did it Already in 2018, in full strip and loosen with Washington for the sanctions to Tehran. TWSJ appointment Naval analysts and operators of the oil sector who remember that the Iranian Navy has been expanding its power in the area thanks to different resources, such as the use of boats capable of attacking objectives. They also talk about the possible use of mines or even the assault of ships from helicopter with the purpose of “retaining them for long periods.” A few years ago, In July 2019the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran already assaulted a British oil tanker in the Ormuz Strait and kept it blocked for months in response to the arrest of one of its ships in Gibraltar. Washington could answer with their war ships, but there are experts, such as Antony Gurnee, former director of the oil sector, who warn that clearing the Strait would take time … with its consequences for the international market, as verified Not long ago In the Red Sea with Hutis attacks. What effects would the closure have? The first would be evident. Qatar, Baréin, Arab Emirates or Kuwait would face serious problems to export their crude. Saudi Arabia could continue to supply a part to the market thanks to its East-West pipelinebut its global export capacity would be strongly affected. Iranian oil would also be harmed, since it uses the same river access road, and would affect one of its great world buyers: China. The threat for Beijing is so serious that Washington already He asked him that intermediate to remove Tehran from the head the possibility of closing Ormuz. Sable noise and … Read more

France is building a high security megacárcel for its most dangerous prisoners. 7,000 kilometers from France

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In 2024, 110 people They died In France for reasons linked to drug trafficking and another 341 were injured in accidents or account adjustments. Although they are lower figures than those of 2023 —139 dead and 413 injured – in the Ministry of Interior they consider that they remain unacceptable. Your solution: attack the problem at the origin. 7,000 kilometers … and with a jail. The plan. Gérald Darmanin is the Minister of Justice of France and, a few weeks ago, advertisement The opening of 2028 of a new maximum security prison. As we say, curiously it will not be on European continental soil, but in the French Guiana on the other side of the Atlantic. In an interview, Darmanin commented That the goal of this third high security prison in France is to “leave out of the most dangerous drug trafficking profiles.” And, precisely, that those drug traffickers are at that distance from continental France will contribute to “take them away lasting their mafia networks.” Cocaine route. French Guiana is a overseas territory in France. Previously a colony -but abolished as such after the French revolution -, this French territory has established itself as a key platform for cocaine traffic from Brazil and Surinam Towards Europe. The figures scare: esteem that between 15% and 20% of the cocaine that enters France does it through the French Guayana-Paris route. It is done through “mules”, person (young and single mothers, especially) who are pushed by situations of extreme poverty to accept about 7,000 euros per successful trip to Europe carrying the merchandise. And the estimate It is that, on each flight from Cayena (the capital of the territory) to Paris, they travel between 20 and 30 mules, of which one third manages to pass without attracting attention. The jail. France’s goal is to build the new prison in the commune of Saint-Laurent-Du-Maroni. It will be about seven kilometers from the urban center and very close to the border with Surinam, one of the hot points of that cocaine route. The budget My dear It is about 450 million euros and the intention is that the complex, in addition to the prison itself, includes a court to expedite all judicial processes and procedures associated with inmates. It will have capacity for 500 inmates, of which 60 will be classified as “maximum security” and another 15 as “terrorists”, with a wing especially destined for those more dangerous inmates and will not only serve to fight drug trafficking, but to give a respite to the other prison of the French Guiana, a Rémon-Montjoly that has a capacity for 614 inmates and houses almost a thousand. And that inmates nickname “Dry guillotine“ Past ghosts. It may seem like a fissure plan to build a maximum security prison in the heart of drug trafficking towards your main territory, but far from it. The problem, or one of them, is all that it entails … and the historical precedent. Inspired by chow the British used AustraliaNapoleon III established a criminal system in the French Guiana that served as the main overseas criminal colony of the country from 1852 to 1953. In that century, especially the Salvation Islands and the Diablo Islandthey became the point where both common criminals and political prisoners shared space. They performed forced labor, severe punishments and there was a very high mortality rate: 75% in the blackest points. The few who could return to France told their stories in the place, making public opinion promote the gradual closure of the facilities that are currently Tourism focus. And fear. And how we read in BBCthe idea of ​​returning to the French Guiana that condition of ‘overseas prison‘He has outraged his population. A local deputy, Davy Rimane, considers that it is a unilateral decision by France, since they have not had the deputies of Guayana and that “transferring criminals from high level to Guayana, people who France do not want, return us to a terrible past, painful and full of suffering.” Because they are not only drug traffickers, but also Islamist terrorists who will be relocated to this prison. Rimane points out that they are not “the France dump.” Also in statements to BBC, the criminologist Marion Vannier of the University of Manchester considers that it is “a bad idea” to go from wanting one jail to relieve the other present in the country to devise a new system in which there are dangerous prisoners and high -level drug traffickers. “ As we say, the idea is that France has its new overseas prison from here to three years, but we will see if the plans are fulfilled because the Francaguayans do not seem happy with the idea of ​​returning to that dark past 70 years later. Image | Ministry of Justice In Xataka | That crazy occasion we wanted to fix Europe by dividing it into 24 radial cantons

Bird nests and kilometers of garbage

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Among the technologies that have been applied on the battlefield in Ukraine, few as currently recognized as one of the Mortifical weapons. We talk about drones and fiber optic cables, a lethal conjunction that has the potential to change the dynamics in the contest. In fact and how We have recentlyin Ukraine, every Russian drone that raises the flight becomes a silent bet between life and death if a cable accompanies it. Now, in addition, technology is leaving an unpublished trail. Invisible summer. It Forbes explained The weekend. Ukraine is entering a new phase of technological war with the massive deployment of attack drones guided by fiber optic cables, marking what is already known as The “summer of fiber drones”. Thus, in fields and villages, the remains of these systems, which leave fiber ribbons gathering as Cobbles on the groundthey have become omnipresent. In this regard, the immediate environmental impact is already long term of the wiring kilometers remains uncertain, but From CEOBS There are works that are exploring several concerns, such as the possible release of degraded cable microplastics, pollution from hazardous chemicals such as PFAS, risks to wildlife due to physical tangles and the complications that they can mean for activities such as demining. Not just that. Recent images even show Bird nests Built with cable fragments, an unnoticed but eloquent symbol of the reach of this new technology. What began as a Tactical innovation now it is transforming the way They fight the battles: Ukrainian and Russian operators can introduce drones by windows and doors to locate and destroy hidden vehicles, overcoming the limitations of conventional drones that They depend on signals of radio vulnerable to electronic blocking. Forgotten concept evolution. Like almost everything in war, the idea is not new at all: already in the 2000s, Darpa had conceived Guided drones by fiber optic cable to avoid electronic interference. But it was not until the war in Ukraine when that concept found real application. Russia was the first in deploy fiber drones On a little more than a year ago, and quickly went to a broader production. Ukraine, with the support of international volunteers Like former Marine American Troy Smothers, It has accelerated: 15 local companies already manufacture these drones (although at a distance from Russian machinery). The Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, has led the effort, promoting collaboration between private initiative and defense capabilities. Unlike traditional drones, which can lose communication if they fly low or after a hill, fiber maintains an uninterrupted connection along tens of kilometers, and do so without issuing signals that can be detected by the enemy. Lethal tactics. The first fiber drones barely exceeded 3 kilometers, but today missions have been documented up to 41 kilometers. In fact, A Russian video It even shows a 50 km coil that weighs less than 4 kilos, compatible with larger models. Thanks to the low energy consumption of cable connection, some drones can land and stay In ambushed mode For long periods, ready to activate When passing from an objective. Russia has also shown prototypes of small land robots that work as mobile platforms To launch fiber drones, expanding its autonomy and coordinated attack capacity. The concept of a “cobweb operation”, with multiple drones connected and launched from unmanned vehicles, is dangerously approaching to become reality. How to stop the impossible. We counted a few days ago that Ukrainian troops have tried everything, even scissors. But current defensive measures are ineffective to the new threat. Physical networks can stop some drones, but a slit to allow their entry, such as They demonstrate videos Where Ukrainian drones go through Russian meshes without resistance. In addition, tracking the cable to its operator has become impracticable to the entangled landscape of abandoned fibers. Cutting the cable is also A theoretical option more than practical: there is A video which shows a quadcoptera achieving such a feat, but doing so requires an extremely complicated precision and synchronization combination. Drones equipped with shotguns They have shown efficiency in demolishing other drones, but they are Little useful Given the speed and discretion of fiber FPV. Some Ukrainian units, Like the Birds of MasharThey have managed to intercept Russian devices with the help of tactical radars, but their reach, again, is limited and not scalable. No clear rules. The proliferation of fiber optic drones It is accelerating on both sides, and the defenses still They do not adapt to the rhythm of its deployment. Thus, the battles of the immediate future could include fighting between autonomous drones in the air, where human reaction time is no longer enough. Hence, the need to develop automatic interceptors capable of detecting and neutralizing these real -time drones has become urgent. The problem? That the development of countermeasures goes behind offensive innovation, and no one can predict how long this era of tactical supremacy based on invisible cables will last, nor what will be the trigger that ends. Image | 12th Brigade Azov In Xataka | Ukraine soldiers are starting to carry scissors. It is the only way to face Russia’s most lethal weapon In Xataka | A technology 20 years ago took Ukraine to the Russian bombers. Moscow’s response comes from China: a laser cannon

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