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Italy is going to build the suspension bridge with the largest opening in the world. And they will load it to NATO’s budgets

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The megaconstructions are the order of the day. We find each other Colossal projectssome that They make us crack an eyebrow thinking If necessary. However, few can boast of being the culmination of a work of centuries, or even millennia. Italy is close to getting it when approved A huge bridge that connect the continent with Sicily: the Messina bridge. The turn is that they have described it as something key to the NATO. So that? So that the bridge budget is included in the percentage of military spending that Italy must contribute. Historical dream. Sicily is a complicated territory. Isolated from the continent, it remains Italy and, although they have a very strong identity feelingthat isolation has led to some problems and difficulties throughout history. In it Roman empire I know proposed Unite the territory through the Strait of Messina with a peculiar plan: connect Calabria and Sicily using barges and barrels. It was ruled out for obvious reasons such as intense maritime traffic or its technical unfeasibility. In the Middle Ages, Charlemagne too study take actions to unite the territory and, in 1866, firmer plans were drawn to build a viaduct, but they were also discarded when considering that A tunnel would be more suitable. In whatever, it also ended in nothing and, during the following decades, the project of the bridge in the Strait was changing hands without success, maintaining the connection with the peninsula by ferry. Colossal. Throughout. Everything changed in 2023, when the new Giorgia Meloni government resurrected the plan. Contemplating an investment of more than 13,000 million euros, the bridge would mark a turning point in Italian, European and world architecture, depending on who we ask. The length will be about 3.7 kilometers with twin towers of 399 meters on both banks, a height of 72 meters above sea level so that large boats and capacity can pass and capacity to move A large number of vehicles. The three lanes in the direction offer a capacity for 6,000 vehicles per hour, and their two railways would allow a cadence of 200 trains per day. It is a transport barbarity to connect Sicily, but the only thing about this bridge will be the central opening: 3,300 meters that would set a new world record for a suspended vain. Necessary. The start of the works is scheduled for this same 2025 and its estimated completion by 2032. As we say, after many comings and goings, the project is already officially underwayas the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure of Italy, Matteo Salvini, advertisement Last Wednesday. Finally, the cost will be 13,500 million euros and, as we read in New York TimesItalian minister and vice president, he is “absolutely proud of work.” Stating that “it will be an unprecedented public works in the world.” The justification of the bridge, as we read in Financial Timescomes from the side of the revitalization of Sicily. With this volume moved from the continent, the economy of one of the poorest regions of Italy can be promoted, where unemployment practically double The national rate: 13% compared to 6.5% of the rest of the country. But … necessary? The question is why, if a bridge between both territories was so important, something had been done. And, above all, why firm projects such as 2011 threw himself by land, arguing concerns about his price, about 5,000 million euros at that time and, in addition, about his real need. And it wasn’t the first time: Silvio Berlusconi He already proposed This project in 2005 for about 3.9 billion euros. Criticism. Many. There are few detractors of the bridge. This “unprecedented work in the world” faces opposition, environmentalists and even nature itself. The opposition, as New York Times states, considers that it is “an economic and social catastrophe” by diverting funds from other projects more necessary to build “a cathedral in the desert.” The animalists lo consider A disaster for local flora and fauna, as well as for a bird’s migration route. And when we say he has against nature, it is because those critics too comment that the area is prone to earthquakes that could make the bridge collapse. Even the ‘thing nostra’, the Sicilian mafia, said Be against the bridge in 2023. It has a trick. If you have so much against, if it is not clear that you will revitalize Sicily after a mastodontic investment, why do you go ahead with the project? During the NATO summit in June, Meloni declared that, due to the convulsive moment that is lived in several parts of the world, “there are many threats and hostile actors operating on the southern flank of the Atlantic Alliance.” In addition, he commented that “Russia projects more and more His presence in the Mediterranean” And this bridge would be a key piece, according to the Italian government, “in the context of NATO defense and security, facilitating the movement of the Italian and international armed forces in a context in which the Mediterranean is a geopolitically sensitive area.” And the trick? Well, like other NATO allies, Italy has beenOppromeded to increase its annual expenditure in defense Up to 5% of its GDP during the next decade, including 1.5% for strategic infrastructure. If the bridge is 13,500 million euros and include it in their proposals for “strategic infrastructure”, they would already be hitting a good bite to that 5% They must invest. Instead of armament or other elements, in a new bridge. Germany goes behind. “The Mestina Strait Bridge constitutes a fundamental infrastructure in relation to military mobility, taking into account the presence of important NATO bases in southern Italy,” they said in a report prepared last April, but Italy seems to be the only ones that will try to ‘put’ a renewal of infrastructure in that 5% of NATO. Germany, in a recent reporthas included in these defense budgets other 1 billion euros for the maintenance of ‘autobahn’, Your highway system. Forcing the machine. Returning to the Italian Bridge, and … Read more

The largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world was born by revenge

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Before changing forever The history of transportation On two wheels, Soichiro Honda was simply a Japanese young man from the late 30s obsessed with the engines. He spent hours in the workshop trying to improve motor parts and creating designs that thought they could make a difference. His most precious creation was a motor piston made with parts of an old radio that, according to him, could Improve the performance of engines. How our partners say Motorpasion motorcyclein those years, Toyota was already The biggest Japanese company of the engine, so the young Honda decided to take his piston with the hope that they would hire him. However, there they did not receive him as the young Soichiro expected. According to He counted Honda himself in an interview for Japanese television: “I took my first pistons to Toyota. I was young, stubborn and dreamer. I thought the engineers would be impressed. But they laughed on my face: ‘This does not meet our standards.” Years later, Honda would remember that moment with a phrase that says everything: “They rejected me in Toyota … so I founded Honda“That” no “of Toyota did not demotivate him, on the contrary. He decided to continue on his own and demonstrate what he was capable of. “I grab my dreams with these hands” After that rejection, Honda did not lament in a corner “I returned to my workshop with my heart broken, but not empty,” he said. He sold to his wife’s jewels to be able to manufacture a prototype and continue working to transform transport. I slept little and spent so many hours in the workshop that he came to confess that “I worked until my hands bleed.” And yet, fate seemed to go against. During World War II, his small factory was destroyed by the bombings. Then, an earthquake razed it again. And what did Honda did? He sold the remains of what was left to Toyota and with that money he set up in 1946 the Honda Technical Research Institute. Such and as they tell in Motorcyclingthe war had left Japan in ruins, so thousands of people needed move in a simple and cheap way. Soichiro thought: If there are engines that are left over, why not put one on a bicycle? Thus their were born First motorized bicycles. They were not the most beautiful or the fastest, but they worked and helped move Thousands of people that before they could not go anywhere. “It was not glamorous, but it worked. And then, the failure ceased to be my enemy … and became my fuel,” Honda told his memoirs. Honda Dream Type D In 1948, Honda associated Takeo Fujisawaan entrepreneur who complemented Soichiro’s business vision. A year later, they launched their first motorcycle designed from zero per Honda motor: the Dream type da motorcycle that mounted a two -stroke engine of 98 cc and 3 hp. It was simple, effective and designed for day to day. As he said: “I grabbed an engine, I rode it on a bicycle, and something new was born.” That way of thinking – resolving real problems with simple ideas – was what ended up marking all its history and that of Honda. The (first) best selling motorcycle on the planet In 1958, Honda was already a recognized brand that built its own engines and assembled them on a small motorcycle that was razing sales: the Honda Super Cub. It was a total success. More than 110 million units have been sold worldwide. That makes it The best selling motorcycle in history. A year later, in 1959, Honda’s motorcycles landed in the US and from there to the world. Today Honda is in more than 160 countries, produces motorcycles in 35 factories distributed throughout 21 different countries. In 2025, they have overcome The 500 million motorcycles produced in total. Honda was always clear with his way of seeing life: “Do you know how that is achieved? Falling so many times that you already know how to get up even before touching the ground“. And everything, for a revenge. In Xataka | The world has been filled with SUVs and electric cars. The Honda Prelude is the confirmation that Japan will be salvation Image | Sling

China has already begun to install the largest hydroelectric turbine of its kind. It is a technical pulse in Himalaya

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Imagine to move a 32 -ton steel piece by a mountain road, fit it in a rock excavated and fix it with a tolerance of just a few millimeters. That is the challenge that China has just assumed in the Tibet (Xizang): mount the turbine IMPULSE more powerful ever built. A month ago we already counted how this machine was designed and how it was transferred to a remote enclave. Now it starts the really difficult: the assembly, with gigantic cranes, digital simulations and millimeter precision in a confined space. The first major component is already in place. As Global Times collectsthe assembly began with a key piece: a section of the water distribution ring, the structure that will channel the flow to the turbine. The installed section weighs 32.1 tons, is 3.1 m in diameter and 95 mm thick wall, and was placed with millimeter precision in the machine pit by a 400 -ton crane. That first lace marks the formal start of the installation and opens the nucleus nucleus assembly phase. A giant turbine, designed with watchmaking precision. The turbine of Datang Zala project It is an impulse unit of 500 MW – the most powerful of its kind. According to Xinhuahas been developed entirely in China by Harbin Electric Machinery. Integrate 21 hydraulic “spoons”, 6.23 m of outer diameter, 1.34 m thick and about 80 tons of weight. Altitude, space and steel. Move and fit each element in a large -altitude cannon forces fragment structures. The distribution ring (28 m × 25.2 m × 4 m) sE divided into 13 sections for transport and assembly. The equipment uses BIM/3D modeling, 1: 1 scale models in the highlands and a welding process with high strength steel developed with universities, to reduce maneuvers and ensure structural integrity. A key piece in the country’s energy strategy. Datang Zala is Tibet’s first hydroelectric project at 1 million kW leveland will be integrated as a relevant node of the network in western China. Its construction seeks to strengthen the renewable energy offer in the region and integrate a complex geographical area into the national system. Official data indicate that China adds More than 94,000 dams and 436 GW of installed hydroelectric capacity. The annual generation is 1.42 billion kwh, 57% of all its renewable production. Datang Zala fits that pattern: large infrastructure to ensure supply, reduce coal and stabilize the system with managerly hydraulics. Much work ahead. The installation of the turbine is only part of the process. Critical components, hydraulic connections and height operating tests are still missing. It is expected to start working in 2028. Of course, assembly and rehearsals will continue during the next months, and any deviation can delay the schedule. Images | Dongfang Electric | Datang Xizang Energy Development In Xataka | In Europe, gas and disused coal plants have unexpected suitors: technology companies

Google has signed the largest hydroelectric agreement in history. You no longer know where to get more energy to feed your AI

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Google closed on July 15 A historical agreement With Brookfield Asset Management worth $ 3,000 million to access hydroelectric energy for 20 years. This is the largest corporate cleaning of the world in this modality, which will allow technology to access up to 3 gigawatts of hydroelectric power in the United States. The magnitude of the problem. Artificial intelligence has triggered the energy consumption of large technology to levels never seen. According to The International Energy Agencyfor 2030 the United States will consume more energy by processing data than by manufacturing aluminum, steel, cement and chemicals together. There are studies that indicate that data centers could consume 945 theravats of electricity time globally that same year. Although of course, the same agency also concluded that the energy consumption of AI It is overestimated. What includes the agreement. The initial contract covers two hydroelectric facilities in Pennsylvania: Holtwood and Safe Harbor, which Brookfield acquired between 2014 and 2015. These plants will initially provide 670 megawatts of power, but Google will have the option of expanding the agreement to the 3 gigawatts through future updates of the facilities. At the same time, the company will invest 25,000 million dollars in data centers in Pennsylvania and neighboring states over the next two years. Why now hydroelectric energy. While previously technological ones focused on wind and lots, now They look for “firm” renewable energy sourcesthat is, they provide constant supply regardless of the weather or time. Hydroelectric energy fits perfectly in this category. Besides, Trump’s recent legislation He has maintained fiscal credits for hydroelectric projects until 2036, while those of wind and plot will lose these incentives unless they are launched before the end of 2027. The energy career. Google is not alone in this desperate search for clean energy. Meta signed an agreement for Buy the production of a nuclear plant In Illinois for two decades. Microsoft, Amazon and other technological giants also They are closing similar contracts. The pressure is such that these direct agreements have become a way that technology funds to new generation capacity, thus relieving pressures on electricity prices at home. What comes after. Google Plan Expand this model beyond Pennsylvania towards the Middle Atlantic and the US western environment. The company has already signed other pioneer agreements during the last year, including Geothermal energy No carbon and advanced nuclear. He is also working with the country’s largest electricity operator to use AI and accelerate the process of connecting new energy sources to the network. The arrival of AI in our lives has overcome any energy forecastand now it is the great technological ones that have to guarantee a constant supply of their AI at any price if they want the business to be profitable. Cover image | Greg Bulla and Nuclear forum In Xataka | The AI has folded the price of an ultrarrao metal. The problem is that we need it to store renewable energy

Industrial espionage is threatening the largest chips manufacturer on the planet: TSMC

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It is no secret: espionage is very present in The semiconductor industry. It is in other sectors and we can be sure that a strategic industry such as integrated circuits It is not at all immune to him. On this occasion “the victim” is the Taiwanese company TSMC, The largest integrated circuit manufacturer of the planet. And, curiously, this plot of industrial espionage does not arrive at any time. And this company is about to start the large -scale manufacture of chips using its most advanced integration technology: The 2 Nm. What we know at the moment is that, According to Reutersthe Taiwanese authorities have arrested three TSMC employees because they have allegedly stole commercial secrets of this company. As we can expect, behind this detention is TSMC itself, as He has revealed The Taiwan Superior Prosecutor’s Office in a statement. According to Nikkei Asiathose responsible for this company have realized that two employees and a former employee have been made with critical information about the photolithography of 2 Nm of TSMC. This information is very valuable. In fact, it could be used by a competitor to optimize its own semiconductor manufacturing processes. The research has not yet determined whether this stolen information has reached another company, but United Daily News ensures that researchers have registered the offices of the Japanese company Tokyo Electron. At the moment this last signature has not confirmed or denied anything. Other industrial espionage frames that have given much to talk Our next protagonist is Asml. This Dutch company is the only one that is currently capable of manufacturing teams of extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) that are necessary to produce avant -garde chips. At the end of 2023 Peter Wennink, the then general director of ASML, confirmed that a Chinese origin employee had abandoned the company in 2022 after being recruited by Huawei with the purpose of revealing this Chinese company secrets of the Dutch firm that a priori could compromise their business. According to the Dutch medium, Russia has something important in its favor: it has spies inside Asml This event was so serious that those responsible for ASML decided to include it in their 2022 annual report and Wennink was forced to Give explanations In a meeting with investors. According to this executive, the information stolen by the former Chinese employee It was partial. In fact, he described it as “one piece in a puzzle whose box is not in your power.” This Wennink statement rightly reflects The titanic complexity that have the most advanced lithography equipment produced by ASML. At the end of last year this company starred in another plot of espionage. Again as “victim.” The Government led by Vladimir Putin intends to have a prototype of UVE lithography equipment capable of manufacturing 130 Nm chips ready in 2026. And in 2028 another similar one trained to produce integrated 7 nm circuits. A priori it is difficult to believe it, but, according to the Dutch medium USRussia has something important in your favor: it has spies within ASML. Like China. In fact, one of them, a former employee of Russian origin, He has been arrested and is accused of stealing critical commercial secrets. The last plot of industrial espionage that I propose that we review is starring the South Korean company SK Hynix and the Chinese company Huawei. In mid -April 2024 a former employee of Chinese sk Hynix origin It was stopped at a South Korean airport when he was about to enter the country. The accusation that was cernia about it was very serious: it was suspected of having stolen confidential information about semiconductor manufacturing processes Used by SK Hynix to give it to Huawei. This employee decided to print 3,000 pages of technical documents, and that movement gave it away because it aroused suspicion immediately within the company. He faces 18 years in prison. Image | TSMC More information | Reuters | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | South Korea fears US reprisals. To avoid their old lithography equipment, they take dust on a warehouse

The world’s largest passenger plane does not stop breaking

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Airbus has to the, for the moment, the largest passenger plane in the world: the Airbus A380. This bug is able to transport in its entrails up to a maximum of 853 passengers (in very specific conditions). In fact, only the Antonov AN-225 He shadowed him, but he was neither produced in series nor currently exists, since It was destroyed during the Ukraine War. The A380 is, in short, a huge and very important passenger plane for certain airlines, but has a problem: it does not stop breaking. A complex machine. That is what a plane is, and more if we talk about one like this. So that Let’s get an idea Of its complexity, the Airbus A380 is made of four million individual components manufactured by 1,500 companies distributed throughout 30 countries. Inside the fuselage there are inserted 19,000 screws that join each of the three main parts, in addition to the 4,000 screws used to join both wings. It has 220 windows, 16 doors and only exterior paint weighs 531 kilos, there is nothing. Airbus A380 of Air France | Image: Maarten Visser with license CC by-SA 2.0 The problem. That does not stop breaking. According to slide from Bloombergsince 2020 (the plane flew for the first time in 2005), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has issued 95 aircraft directives for the Airbus A380, twice as many as received by Boeing homologues: the 787, 777 and 747. Among the problems mentioned are the breakage of the axis of the landing gear, cracked joint Evacuation ramps. Some of these problems come from time to time These aircraft passed on land during the pandemic. These directives are, in a nutshell, corrections, inspections or modifications that must be carried out in an aircraft or a component to solve potential security problems. Its fulfillment is mandatory and not only can not only put the safety of passengers at risk, but to assume sanctions or the disqualification of the plane. Lufthansa’s first Airbus A380 | Image: WO St 01 With license CC By-SA 3.0 Keep it or … keep it. The Airbus A380 is 20 years old. As a general rule, airplanes usually withdraw Once between 25 and 30 years old. What does that mean? That the Airbus A380 is too young to remove it and too old to keep it at the same time. The underlying problem is that there is no alternative: The Airbus A380 ceased to occur in 2021so airlines that need a large capacity for long journeys should look for an alternative. Airbus It is not capable To produce the A350s, the largest aircraft of the Airbus catalog after the A380, with enough quickly to meet the demand. The supply chain, in particular everything related to cabins and engines, still having pandemic problems. He Boeing 777xBoeing’s proposal has not stopped having problems. The plane was going to be delivered to customers in 2020, but it has been delayed so much that the first deliveries are not expected until at least 2026. Image | KRZYSZTOF KACZALA WITH CC BY-SA 3.0 License A bottomless well. Airlines therefore have some airplanes whose maintenance will go to more. Reviewing these aircraft not only consumes an absurd amount of time (60,000 hours distributed among all workers, according to Bloomberg), but a lot of space in facilities that are not precisely abundant. That a plane like this failure is a high expense: not only have to be repaired, but to delay flights, relocate passengers, etc. All sum. Be that as it may, Airbus intends to continue operating and offering support: “Airbus undertakes to provide full technical assistance to customers to ensure that they can optimize operations with their A380 fleets, and this will continue while the plane remains in service,” they say from the company. The largest fleet. Emirates is, by far, the airline that has the most Airbus A380: 116 aircraft of which 21 are on land. The operator intends to continue using them at least until the end of the next decade (the investment has been high and few planes move so many passengers at once). Singapore Airlines and British Airways are followed from afar with 12 units each. Other operators, such as Qantas, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways also have some units, but intend to replace them with A350 at the beginning of the next decade. Cover image | N509FZ licensed CC by-SA 4.0 In Xataka | Europe has a message for tourists who are going to fly: prepare for a summer of delays and historical cancellations

China is building the largest telescope in the world. The question is why he is doing it in secret

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In the select club of first level astronomical observatories, all projects They are advertised to hype and saucer decades in advance. China instead is building a gigantic telescope of 14 and a half meters on the Tibetan plateau without having officially announced it. US suspicions. An article of Wall Street Journal He has raised the hare. A telescope of that size would not only rival the most powerful observatories in the West, but, if it was terminated in time, it would temporarily become the largest terrestrial optical telescope in the world. The question that, according to the Journal, resonates in Harvard’s halls and NASA is not whether they are building it, but why they do it stealthily. The clues that arrive from China. Robert Kirshner, Emerrito Professor of Harvard and leader of the thirty -meter telescope, The American project that Spain now wantsit has been one of the main detectives in this plot. The clues, although discreet, are overwhelming: In January, the state company Nanjing Astronomical Instruments published on social networks that it had gained a tender of 22 million dollars to build the dome of a telescope with a mirror of 14.5 meters In April, some students who visited a scientific institute mentioned in another publication that the researchers had shown them the configuration of the mirrors for a telescope of that same size An outstanding Chinese astronomer declared state media that one of its objectives was to finish “the 14.5 meter telescope” before its retirement Beijing has adopted a low profile. The anomalous thing about this case is that Chinese institutions also do not celebrate their technological sovereignty with the usual triumphalism in this type of project. China, which does not hesitate to celebrate other space milestones, here has opted for a low profile. A clear trace of tenders. Technical documents are scattered, but paint a clear image of an advanced development project. The main test is the tender of its most visible component: the dome. A public announcement of the Chinese Academy of Sciences He was looking for offers for the “Project to Acquisition of the Dome of the Optical/Infrared Telescope of 14.5 m”, with a deadline set for November 2024. On the other hand, a memorandum of China National Astronomical Observatory It justifies the purchase of infrared detectors, describing the project as “a great astronomical telescope to achieve the top of science and technology.” In parallel, published job offers For “the general purpose of the general major caliber in construction in our country.” I even looked for personnel for the system engineering file managementan unequivocal sign that the design phase had given way to the construction. Why not announce it then? Matt Mountain, president of the Aura organization, which manages the Observatorios Hubble and James Webb for NASA, raises two hypotheses. The first is military: A telescope capable of obtaining crisp images of a galaxy to millions of light years can also observe with an unprecedented resolution The spy satellites of other nations in space. The domain of heaven is not only scientific, but also strategic, as We have been seeing in the Earth’s orbit For years. The second hypothesis is a long -term play for technological leadership. Mountain describes it brilliantly: “Astronomy is the entrance drug for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.” Investing in inspiring projects such as a giant telescope is the best way to encourage a whole generation of young people to study Stem races, ensuring that China can overcome the United States in the coming decades. The biggest telescope for a while. To understand the magnitude of this project, you have to put it in context. The Hubble space telescope mirror measures 2.4 meters; The Webb, 6.5 meters. The four largest optical telescopes on Earth are around 10 meters in diameter. If China completes its 14.5 meter telescope soon, it would dwarf all existing observatories until the new generation They will see the light. Precisely these days the thirty -meter telescope (TMT) has been on everyone’s mouth (TMT) that the United States was going to build in Hawaii. After becoming one of the victims of Trump’s science cuts, the Government of Spain has offered 400 million euros To be built on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands. Although its final location is yet to be decided. Image | Universidad de Pekín In Xataka | For the first time we have pointed to heaven with a 3,200 megapixel camera. In just 10 hours he has done several years

The world’s largest hotel is not in Las Vegas or Dubai. It is in Malaysia and has 7,351 rooms

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He is at the top of a mountain, does not presume luxury and does not even reach four stars. But the First World Hotel It has something that no other hotel can say: 7,351 operational rooms. It is officially the major of the planet in this regard. This was certified by the Guinness book of records In 2015, and it is claimed by the website of the First World Hotel. The complex is in the heart of Resorts World Gentingin Malaysia, and today it is organized in three towers: Tower 1, Tower 2 and Tower 3/Y5. From there you access direct nodes such as First World Plaza, Skyovenuethe covered park Skytopolis Indoor Theme Park or the Genting International Convention Center. A city inside a building: how a hotel with more than 7,000 rooms is managed Sometimes, stars deceive. One would expect the world’s largest hotel to be also one of the most luxurious. But the First World Hotel is not sold like this. In Malaysia, The stars are assigned by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac). There are no butlers, but strict cleaning and automated check-in, in addition to an accreditation “Clean & Safe Malaysia” with 100%score. Once inside, the logical question is: And now what? In those mentioned First World Plaza And Skyovenue there are stores, restaurants, an attraction park covered And even a convention center, all under ceiling. We also find the Skytopolis Indoor Theme Parkwhich is one of the jewels: more than 20 attractions in 400,000 square feet, open all year without depending on the weather. To eat fast and cheap are the Coffee lobby and The Junctionwhere the Nasi Lemak wrapped in banana leaves It is announced as “probably the best of Genting.” Managing something like that does not have more staff, it will have a system. The First World Hotel works as a machinery: check-in in kiosks, digital keys from the app, strict rules on furniture and non -transferable reserves. Everything is specified by the hotel itself: you cannot move furniture or enter with appliances. When you manage more than 7,000 rooms, any exception can discourage the gear. Spa and gym? They exist, but are not in the First World Hotel. They are in him Genting Grandanother of the resort hotels, and the access is paid for the guests of the First World. Why in Malaysia and not in a large tourist capital? Because this is not an isolated hotel: it is a piece of a project born in the sixties. The founder of the group, Lim Goh Tong, imagined in 1965 a resort on the mountainfresher than Kuala Lumpur and with entertainment for families. The company itself tells it in its corporate profile and in the official history of the group. From there came resorts World Genting, with casinos, shopping centers, parks and hotels for all pockets. The First World fulfills the strategic function of hosting in mass. He does not need to be in a capital, because the resort is already a city. Since Guinness recognized himthe data of the 7,351 rooms has attracted even more curious. Continues ahead of colossi like the MGM Grand of Las Vegaswith “almost 5,000 rooms” According to the chain itself. The striking thing is that he succeeds without luxury suites or premium services: he does it with compact rooms and an operation designed to function as a gigantic gear. No one has yet taken the title. And that says a lot, not only the size, but of the viability of a model that, despite it seems impossible, continues to work every day. Images | Genting Group In Xataka | In Madrid there were no economic hotels left, but there was a “virgin” space for tourists: polygons

China begins to build the largest dam in the world. His neighbors fear that they use it as a “water pump”

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The Pharaonic works They are not easy. Tell them The Linethe gigantic Horizontal skyscraper that he was confident years ago and that more and more and more. China, however, does not raise your foot from the accelerator and, every little time, it surprises us with some megaestructure. Now, and after a long planning, they have announced the beginning of the construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. And neighboring countries have shouted in the sky for a reason: the possible use of water as a throwing weapon. A monster. China has the largest dam on the planet. The three throats is the largest energy plant in the worldit is so huge that GROUNDS EARTH ROTATION With a refueling, and it is estimated that it has a production capacity of 88.2 million MWH per year. Impressive, but will soon be in a second place because they are preparing an even bigger dam. A set of dams, rather. Located on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Lto new biggest in the world It will have the capacity to generate 300 million MWH per year, you can cover the energy needs of 300 million people each year and “only” will cost 130,000 million euros. That impressive capacity will be possible thanks both to your turbines as to the use of the energy generated by the two -kilometer unevenness presented by the river in certain areas and a construction with five cascade dams. “The project of the century”. The area is one of the richest in hydroelectric resources in the world, and the idea is to drill between four and six tunnels of 20 kilometers in length through a mountain to divert half of the river flow to achieve 2,000 m³ per second and take advantage of all that force. It will not be a simple operation due to the conditions of the area and at the cost of the project, and that is what has led to China’s prime minister to qualify it as “the project of the century”. As we read in The GuardianLi Qiang made the statements during a ceremony in the region to commemorate the beginning of a construction that was announced in 2020 and has Aroused numerous criticisms. Out of China, yes. Risks. First, for natural reasons. Is found in the Tibet area And it is one of the most regions seismically active of the planet. It is where the Indian and Eurasian plates contact and where numerous earthquakes are given every year, some with important magnitudes. In fact, a recent earthquake already damaged five hydroelectric dams in the area, and the weight of accumulated water itself is another factor that can trigger earthquakes, As has happened. On the other hand, human reasons. Apart from the consequences that an earthquake of that magnitude can have for the local population, it is not the first time that displaces a population to build a dam. These population movements is something that fear Tibetan groups that claim to have no visibility on the plans of the Chinese government. And, when they have complained about other hydroelectric projects in Tibet, they have been repressed by the authorities. The area could not be more geologically complicated. Either at the geopolitical level And geopolitics. India and Bangladés too They look at the dam With the arched eyebrow. He Brahmaputra It is essential for agriculture and access to drinking water of millions of people along the river and fear that dams seriously alter their flow. It is something that would directly affect the agriculture and food security of these people and already They drop That the project is a strategic tool from China to exert pressure on neighboring countries, by being able to control or modify water flow at will. Neeraj Singh Manhas is the special advisor for South Asia in the Parley Policy initiative (organization that seeks to solve conflicts through diplomacy) and in statements to BBCHe commented that “China can always use water as a weapon, blocking or diverting it.” Even if they do not do it on purpose, it would not be the first time that a accidentlike him collapse In cascade of the Banqiao dam and another 61 dams in 1975, an event that caused 85,000 direct deaths and displaced 11 million people. “Water pump”. In addition, it is something that can go against the direct interests of India, which aims to build a hydroelectric dam on the Sang River (one of those feeding on the Tsangpo). Apart from the fact that the flow of the river can affect the energy interests of India, there are voices that warn about the possible use of China as a “water pump.” PEMA KHANDU, Minister of Arunachal Pradesh -a state of the Republic of India -, commented In a recent interview that the dam “can cause an existential threat to our tribes and a half visa. It is quite serious because China could use this as a ‘water pump’. Suppose that, suddenly, they release water: all our Siang belt would be destroyed, finished with tribes that would see how all its properties would be destroyed”. Nothing to worry about. From the Chinese government have always been rejected Those criticisms, ensuring that they do not seek “water hegemony” or intend to get benefits at the expense of their neighbors. On the other hand, it is alleged not only that the project will generate employment in the region, but will cover the energy needs and encourage something that China is advancing by leaps and bounds: he Renewable sector. In addition, the Prime Minister said that these concerns about ecological conservation have been taken into account when planning the project to “avoid environmental damage.” We will see what it is, but it is evident that the dam will be built and the intention is that it is operational in record time: by 2030. Images | Yogho, Guganij In Xataka | China is moving whole buildings at the same time to build underneath. Because? Because it can

China built the largest high speed network in record time. Now you want something more difficult: improve it

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China has already shown that you can do what no other country has achieved: display in record time The largest high speed network on the planet. But it is not enough to have it. The new challenge is even more complex: to improve it, make it more efficient, more connected, more useful for the economy. And that demands less colorful, but equally ambitious decisions. To grow quickly to grow well. Between 2021 and 2024, China added 10,000 Kilometers of track to your high speed network. The figure impresses, but it is no longer what defines success. The Ministry of Transportation has made it clear that the current objective is not to extend the railway map without pause, but to squeeze its potential. In fact, The country has set As a goal to reach 50,000 operating kilometers before the end of 2025. The network adds 48,000 kilometers, more than 70 % of the world total, and connects 97 % of cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants. Millions of travelers, but there is still a margin of improvement. Only in the first half of 2025, Chinese high -speed trains They transported 2,240 million people. The figure impresses, but the authorities are not formed. The objective now is to make this system more comfortable, more predictable and better coordinated with the rest of the transport ecosystem, from the urban metro to airports. High speed yes, but also logistics. China wants its high -speed trains to cease to be just a solution for travelers. The new approach includes routes adapted to the transport of goods, interconnections with airports and sea nodes, and improvements to integrate the system into the production chain. What is at stake is no longer only mobility, but the country’s competitiveness. Beyond traditional rails. While the current network is kept, China develops new generations of trains, such as magnetic levitation. These advances do not seek to replace what is built, but prepare for a future where speed, autonomy and sustainability are key. The country has already tried prototypes that reach 600 km/h In cities like Qingdao. Figures that impress. Security that holds. Moving millions every day with punctuality is an achievement. Doing it without major incidents, for years, it is even more. China has built a network that not only runs quickly, but aims to resist earthquakes, storms and overloads. According to Xinhuasince 2012 no serious accident has been registered in the high speed network. Centralized planning. Faced with chronic delays that affect many countries, China has maintained a clear strategy: centralized decisions, sustained investment and state control of the process. It is not a perfect model – there are errors, cost overruns and debatable decisions. But its results in deployment and integration are difficult to ignore. A mature network, a major challenge. As we have seen, the Asian giant continues to expand its network, especially towards interior and less connected regions. However, it is no longer just about adding cities to the map. The real challenge is another: to ensure that a gigantic infrastructure works better and better, with less margin of error and more logistics demands. The stage of the big deployments is giving way to the stage of precision. Images | N509FZ (Wikimedia Commons – CC by-SA 4.0) | N509FZ In Xataka | China has not only created the world’s broader high -speed network: it wants to operate it at 1,000 km/Hy has taken a new step

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