lead

Lead has its days numbered in hunting. The problem is that no one really knows how to replace it.

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The practice of hunting is a ‘hobby’ that has been much discussed among different sectors of society in recent years, but beyond its ethical aspects, the European Agency for Chemical Substances and Mixtures has decided to intervene by pose the ban on lead in hunting ammunition. And this has raised a great debate between the hunting sector and environmentalists and researchers that require immediate measures, although at the moment it is in pause. The siege of Europe. This lead fence is not new, but since 2023 the European Union prohibits its use in wetlands for hunting waterfowl, a historic measure to prevent lead poisoning in ducks and other species that ate the pellets at the bottom of the lagoons. But now they want to go one step further, since ECHA has recommended to the European Commission a total veto by prohibiting the marketing and use of cartridges and fishing tackle that contain more than 1% lead. And to soften the blow, the European drafts have proposed transition periods that range between 18 months for large hunting and up to 5 years for small hunting. The role of science. For the Spanish scientific community, these grace periods are a luxury that ecosystems cannot afford. Specifically, 130 researchers from different institutions have signed a manifesto urging the Government to support the European restriction without any type of concession. That is, the ban applies immediately overnight. The arguments they offer focus mainly on the great toxicity that lead generates when it is left abandoned in the countryside, and above all they argue that there is no safe exposure threshold. That is, the only security we can have is when there is zero lead in the environment. Its impact. On the one hand, we have the environmental impact, since tons of lead end up scattered in the countryside every year due to hunting practices, poisoning fauna, especially scavenger birds that consume prey with pellets. On the other hand, we have a public health problem. In this case, there are several reports that exist warning about the nutritional risks of consuming game meat shot with this type of ammunition, recommending that children and pregnant women avoid its consumption due to the neurological data associated with lead. The hunters. Faced with the scientific urgency, they ask to hit the brakes on the application of these measures. Entities such as the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation (RFEC) and the Andalusian Hunting Federation (FAC) they argue that a sudden ban would be a death sentence for the sector and, by extension, for the economy of many rural areas. The problem that arises is that the alternatives to lead are not completely convincing, since, although there are options such as steel or bismuth, the hunting sector denounces that they are not validated at a toxicological level, they are much more expensive and, above all, that there is no large-scale production to cover the demand. Furthermore, the use of steel shot requires in many cases to adapt or change older shotguns, since they can damage the barrels due to the hardness of the material. This is why they ask for at least 10 years to adapt. A political battle. Right now the Government supports aligning itself with the hard line that comes from Europe, but the opposition parties, such as the Popular Party, ask for a fight in Brussels over get those decades of margin and funds for safe, alternative ballistics research. And right now the ball is literally in the court of Brussels and the REACH committee in charge of regulating chemical substances in the EU. Right now the only thing left is to open a space for debate that is not easy at all. Images | freepik In Xataka | Hunting has been printed on the Spanish national ID card for centuries. Now you have a problem: there is no relief

Someone has calculated which countries in the world have increased their military spending the most and there is a surprise: Spain is in the lead

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With the beating of war drums in the background, the invasion of Ukraine encystedthe tension climbing in the Middle East and Donald Trump feinting with removing the US from NATO at the same time required more investment military to its partners, in 2025 the world has chosen a clear path: spend more money on defense. Quite a bit more. SIPRI calculations show that global military spending increased by 2.9% last year to almost 2.9 trillion dollars. This increase is largely explained by the effort made in Asia, Russia and Europe, where an unexpected protagonist stands out: Spain. Despite the differences With the leadership of NATO and the loud friction with Trump, the reality is that Spain is one of the countries that has increased its investment most clearly and is already in the “Top 15” in volume of war spending. What has happened? Which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just published a study on military spending in 2025. It is a valuable tool because it helps us understand two things: how much the planet is investing in strengthening its war capacity and, more importantly, how that flow of money is distributed geographically. Reading it is particularly interesting in Spain for another reason: it shows that, despite the friction that Madrid has had with the White House and the address of NATO on account of military spending, Spain has made a notable investment effort. In fact, on the SIPRI list it stands out as one of the countries that has increased its defense spending the most, surpassing other European partners. Click on the image to go to the tweet. How much does Spain invest? If we base ourselves on the SIPRI data, 34,256 million of euros. The figure is important because of its scope, but above all because of the trend it shows: it shows that last year military spending increased by 50% in Spain. If we look back even further, to 2016, the increase is 122%. It is also the first time Since the mid-90s, the allocation for weapons exceeds 2% of GDP. If these data were not sufficient in themselves, they stand out even more when compared with the rest of the countries analyzed. Although the US, China and Russia lead the investment effort in terms of spending volume, when we look at the increase in spending there is only one nation that exceeds 50% of Spain. Which? Belgium, with an increase of 59%, although its level of spending is much lower than that of Spain (14.5 billion dollars). In fact, the increase in investment has allowed our country to position itself in the global “TOP 15”, behind Poland or South Korea and ahead of Canada. How is it possible? That jump is largely due to Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense approved a year ago and that, according to the ministrycontemplated an initial investment of 10,471 million already in 2025. However, the SIPRI tables reflect that Spain continues to dedicate much fewer resources to defense than other EU (and NATO) partners, such as Germany, France, Italy or Poland, which in the last decade has skyrocketed its spending. Why is it important? For what we mentioned before: 2025 will be remembered for many debates, but there was one in particular that grabbed headlines for months and made Spain stand out worldwide. Despite Trump’s pressure for NATO partners to increase their defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, Madrid claimed that it could meet its commitments with an investment of ‘only’ 2.1%. His position was not liked in the White House, but it ended up leading to a pact with those responsible for the Atlantic Alliance. How much does the rest spend? That is another of the readings that leaves the study of SIPRI. In general, its technicians estimate that military spending increased by 2.9% worldwide in 2025, to around $2.9 million. It is the eleventh consecutive year in which the amount of resources that the planet allocates to the war machine has increased and explains that today the “global military burden” (its weight with respect to GDP) reaches 2.5%, marking its highest level since 2009. Are there differences? Yes. That increase was not distributed equally throughout the world. While in the US military spending suffered an annual contraction of 7.5%, in Europe military spending grew by 14% to reach 864,000 million of dollars. The same trend continued in Russia (+5.9%) and Ukraine (+20%), immersed in a war since 2022, or China (+7.4%) and Japan (+9.7%). That the US distances itself from this trend is something purely circumstantial. If its war expenditure decreased in 2025, it was due to the change in policy regarding the military support offered by Ukraine. In fact, SIPRI recalls that the US Congress has already given the green light to a considerable increase in military spending for this year and it is not unreasonable that something similar could happen in 2027. Image | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Nobody saw it coming: Ukraine’s scariest drone doesn’t move, just waits for a Russian soldier to appear

Asturias’ odyssey to lead offshore wind

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It has long been thought that the biggest challenge of wind energy offshore (navy) was on the high seas. However, the real challenge is not taming the wind or waves, but rather manufacturing, storing and moving steel giants on land. For a wind turbine to float in the Cantabrian Sea or the North Sea, it first needs to be born in a “factory port”. In short. Under this premise, the Port Authority of Avilés (APA) has just hit the table in the WindEurope Annual Event 2026the reference summit recently held in Madrid. As reported by local mediathe Asturian delegation has come with a clear objective: to consolidate its port as an undisputed industrial node in the European wind value chain. These are not empty declarations of intent. The directors of the APA, Ramón Muñoz-Calero and Manuel Echeverría, took advantage of the forum to hold strategic meetings with giants in the manufacturing of turbines, towers and cables, such as Taihan Cable, Prysmian and ArcelorMittal, as well as global engineering companies of the caliber of Ramboll, DNV and OHLA SATO. Avilés no longer wants to be just a transit point for goods; Its goal is to become ground zero where wind energy offshore takes shape before setting sail. The war for space. But wanting to be a giant means dealing with giant problems. Manufacturing for offshore wind requires manipulating foundations and “monopiles” that can reach 120 meters in length, 12 in diameter and weigh 2,500 tons. This gigantism generates an immediate logistical crisis: lack of space. Moving and assembling these enormous cylinders requires massive esplanades and ultra-resistant infrastructure. In fact, according to The New Spainnot just any dock serves this purpose; Very specific technical characteristics are needed capable of withstanding brutal demands, both in total weight and weight per support points. To prevent this bottleneck from slowing down its expansion, Avilés is on the offensive to gain square meters. In statements collected by Port NewspaperMuñoz-Calero has been blunt: “We are part of the industrial and innovation ecosystem of Avilés and we not only contribute to greater industrialization, but we are in a position to promote it.” The port solution involves two major strategic moves: the acquisition of the industrial land freed by the former ArcelorMittal Coke Batteries and the development of new expansion areas in El Estrellín. The rebirth of the Iberian “hub”. Within the framework of WindEurope, the president of Puertos del Estado, Gustavo Santana, highlighted the country’s potentialremembering that Spain has 46 ports of general interest, an ideal network for renewable deployment. The Government has imminent aid on the table: 212 million euros from the Port EOL-Mar program of the IDAE to adapt docks and drafts, in addition to a ‘Horizon 2030’ plan that will inject more than 1,000 million euros into sustainability. Avilés’ demonstrated muscle. If Avilés raises his hand to ask for funds and investments, he does so protected by his resume. The bet of the Aviles enclave is not a promise for the future, but a reality forged from steel and tons. According to data provided by local mediathe port’s track record is overwhelming: since January 2012, they have shipped more than 18,000 pieces for thirty onshore and offshore wind farm projects. This growth has been driven, in large part, by the success of local company Windar Renovables. The climax of this activity was experienced in 2022, when the port broke its absolute record by moving 140,000 tons of wind traffic in a single year. The Asian lifeguardWhat is happening in the Asturian docks transcends the local; it’s a question industrial geopolitics. For decades, the West lived under the mirage that the future was only in software, abandoning heavy industry. Now, Europe has taken a “bath of reality”: energy sovereignty depends, ultimately, on knowing how to smelt metal. This revolution covers the entire Asturian coast. A few kilometers from Avilés, in the Gijón port of El Musel, China has seen his opportunity. The landing of the Asian giant Dajin Offshore – which has joined forces with the Asturian group Zima to build a plant – shows that technology and the eastern financial muscle can be the oxygen ball that the Asturian auxiliary industry needs to lead again. Not in vain, the Asian country today builds 74% of the planet’s renewable energy. The industrial clock against the bureaucratic clock. Asturias, which has been trying to digest the mining and steel conversion for three decades, has before it the historic opportunity to abandon its role as a simple “quarry” to become a center of high added value. Offshore wind promises reindustrialization, highly qualified employment and a leading role in the European green economy. However, the success of this transformation will not be measured solely by political intentions or memoranda signed in offices. The real litmus test is in institutional agility and territory management. The international demand is there and cargo ships are already waiting on the coast. Now, the only question is whether the bureaucracy will be fast enough to ensure that, in the docks of Asturias, there is enough space and strength to sustain the full weight of Europe’s energy future. Image | Port of Aviles Xataka | Asturias has been digesting the reconversion for three decades. Now China wants to return him to the path of industrialization

China wants to lead all technological conversations and is clear that this involves 6G. He has stepped on the accelerator

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Chenoa said that “when you go, I come.” In the technology sector it can be applied to many things, and one of them is the development of 6G by China. In 2018, the commercial deployment of 5G was taking its first steps, but in China there was already talk of the next generation. In the last update of the Five Year Plan they reconfirmed that 2030 was the deadline for network deployment, but now they are going one step further because 6G is not a simple improvement in communications. This is a geopolitical issue and a technology that will be ubiquitous. Completing phases. It was during the Annual Conference of the Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing where experts and representatives of the technology and communications industry presented an ambitious route for the development of the 6G network. Over the last five years, China has been patenting technologies related to the sixth generation and it is estimated that it accounts for approximately 40% of all global 6G patent applications. This is a very important step because, for example Huawei has already achieved something similar with 5G and that implies that everyone who wants to use that technology has to pay certain fees to the Chinese company. It also attracts talent and reinforces the internal industrial ecosystem for what is considered “a comprehensive industrial chain” in the country. It is something that has been bearing fruit, with a first phase in which companies have been collecting information and “materials” and a second phase for 2026 in which they project integrate more than 300 key 6G technologies into a functional prototype. AI from the ground up. Something key about this technology is that it is not simply something that will allow a connection with lower latency and higher speed. That is relevant, of course, since it is estimated that speeds above 100 Gbps will be achieved with a delay much less than a millisecond (in 5G, the figure is about 1Gbps), but in 6G what matters most is that it will be a system that will have artificial intelligence integrated into each layer. This is, perhaps, the most ambitious of everything that has been discussed in the forum. Unlike 5G, which has had to adapt to the capabilities of artificial intelligence and robotics, 6G has been designed with AI from the ground up. This implies that each network unit (stations, terminals and core networks) will have built-in AI computing power. In short: they will be systems that, in addition to allowing 6G connection, will have the capacity to operate AI agents locally. The idea is not to have to depend, for certain tasks, on data centers that are sometimes long distances away. In addition, it is being proposed that the network be ubiquitous – that it be everywhere -, being a system that can operate on land, air, space and sea. It sounds tremendously ambitious, but we are talking about a technology that will coexist with plans to take data centers into space. Mass adoption. As we pointed out a few days ago, China wants to carry out the deployment by 2030, but this ‘launch’ of 6G will not be for the consumer. Once the network is deployed and seeing that it is viable to promote the technologies they want to develop (robotics, physical AI, remote computing or autonomous driving, for example), it will be the consumer’s turn. It is something that will arrive by 2035, but here we should not be too optimistic. It won’t be easy. Although it sounds great to have devices in your pocket and at home that achieve that speed without the need for a cable connection, you have to keep something in mind: although 5G has been with us for more than six years, is still taking its first steps. We have 5G devices, yes, but there are several problems. One is that, many times, 5G is not “real” or does not reach the speeds it could. On the other hand, coverage is essential, and it is something that varies by neighborhood. In a report from a few months ago, the European communications giant Ericsson pointed out that Europe has a problem. While other countries have deployed the millimeter band, most European countries have prioritized the medium and low bands. We have a lot of coverage (there are the covered territory maps), but we have less speed and more latency. And if it is not resolved, the deployment of 6G will be useless. At least Europe has spoken out and He doesn’t want the play to be repeated.. Vital. And this, as we say, is essential because you will already be sensing that 6G is not only more speed: it is the wireless technology on which we want to shape the immediate future. have the superiority It is a geopolitical advantageand China is not the only one in this battle. China may have ZTE and Huawei, but South Korea has SK Telecom and Samsung. They want to have a functional 6G network by 2028, something in which they also Japan and the United States are involved. In any case, it is evident that we are going to start talking a lot about 6G in the short term because all the powers are moving. It will not be easy and the vice president of ZTE himself has commented that there are obstacles such as the supply chains of essential components and the cost of deploying a 6G network, but that as it is a technology that unites communications, AI, the aerospace industry and, above all, the military, it can make countries focus on this development. In Xataka | China was not supposed to be able to produce 7nm chips without ASML machines. It already has two companies capable of doing it

Germany has a plan to lead the world in nuclear fusion. And it has committed to doing so in the 2030s

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Germany is very serious about nuclear fusion. The state of Bavaria, the company specialized in the development of type nuclear fusion reactors stellarator Proxima Fusion, the energy company RWE AG and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) have agreed to collaborate in the development and implementation of the first fusion power plant of type stellarator of Europe. And, presumably, the world. Its strategy seeks to bring this facility into operation in the 2030s with the purpose of demonstrating a net energy gain. This simply means that the reactor should be able to produce more energy than it consumes. Alpha, which is what this demonstration fusion reactor will be called, will be built in Garching, very close to the IPP facilities. However, this is not all. And Alpha will be used to test the technological solutions that will later allow the construction of Stellaris, the first commercial plant of stellarator type fusion energy. The latter will be hosted in the town of Gundremmingen. If the organizations involved in this project achieve their goal over the next decade, Germany will consolidate itself as a world power in fusion energy. Germany firmly believes in ‘stellarator’ fusion reactors Experimental nuclear fusion reactors stellarator They represent a very solid alternative to tokamakas ITER either JET. And they are not exactly the result of recent research. In fact, both designs were designed during the 1950s. He stellarator It was designed by the American physicist Lyman Spitzer and served as the foundation on which the plasma physics laboratory at Princeton University (USA) was built. The design tokamakHowever, it was devised by the Soviet physicists Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm and Andrei Dmítrievich Sakharov based on ideas proposed a few years earlier by their colleague Oleg Lavrentiev. Both reactors were designed with the purpose of confining very high temperature plasmaand, curiously, during the 50s and 60s the design stellarator received great support from the scientific community in the West due to its enormous potential. ‘Tokamaks’ require that magnetic fields be generated by coils and induced by the plasma itself However, when Soviet and American scientists published their results and compared them, they realized that tokamak design performance was one or two orders of magnitude better than that of the stellarator. From that moment on, this latter design was largely marginalized. The most obvious difference between one and the other lies in their geometry, but it is enough to investigate a little about both to realize that the reactors stellarator they still have a lot to say. type reactors tokamak They are shaped like a toroid (or donut), and stellarator They have a more complex geometry that resembles a donut twisted on itself. However, the fundamental difference that exists between these two designs is that the reactors tokamak require that the magnetic fields that confine the plasma be generated by coils and induced by the plasma itself, while in reactors stellarator everything is done with coils. There is no current within the plasma. This means, in short, that the latter are more complex and difficult to build. In Europe we have a type fusion reactor stellarator extraordinarily promising: Wendelstein 7-X. It is installed in one of the buildings of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald (Germany), and its construction was completed in 2015. The first tests carried out in this fusion reactor between 2015 and 2018 went as planned, so in November of this last year an important moment arrived in its itinerary: it was necessary to modify it to install a water cooling system that was capable of more effectively evacuating the residual thermal energy from the walls. of the vacuum chamber, as well as a system that would allow the plasma to reach a higher temperature. The work that required these modifications was successfully completed in August 2022. And in February 2023, the Wendelstein 7-X reactor reached an important milestone: it managed to confine and stabilize the plasma for 8 uninterrupted minutes in which it delivered a total energy of 1.3 gigajoules. During the last two years everything learned in the development and the first tests carried out on this machine has been used by Proxima Fusion. In fact, its founders come from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. If Alpha goes well, commercial fusion energy will be a reality before the end of the next decade. This is the true purpose of Proxima Fusion. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Interesting Engineering In Xataka | An alternative to ITER in nuclear fusion is being cooked in France: a commercial ‘stellarator’ reactor

China is clear about who should lead the advances of its best AI and robotics companies: Generation Z

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Those who now enter the labor market find themselves with a rival that is difficult to beat: they have no agreement or need for rest or fulfillment. In addition, it does the tasks of junior profiles quite well: artificial intelligence is limiting the landing of Generation Z in the offices. in the United States, we have seen it in the UK and also in the Big Four that make up the Madrid skyline. Replacing those who start working with AI has been revealed as the West’s formula to boost productivity… from the point of view of the bosses. If you have to fight with her and validate her, not so much anymore. But it is by no means the only way, nor does it happen to everyone. In fact, China is betting just the opposite: it is turning Generation Z and millennials into heads of areas as strategic as robotics or artificial intelligence itself. They are not just any young people: they are true galacticos, their best assets. Give me someone young. As collect TechAsiaa trend is emerging in China: that of hiring millennials and young people from generation Z for positions with high-level technical profiles in large AI and robotics companies. The best example is Vinces Yao Shunyu: at 28 years old he has already been at OpenAI. A couple of months ago he returned to his native China to become the chief scientist of Tencent. He now reports directly to the CEO. Shunyu’s is just the tip of the iceberg of this new organizational strategy of Chinese companies. There are other cases, such as that of Luo Jianlan, formerly of Google since a year the chief scientist of AgiBot. Or of Dong Haochief scientist at PrimeBot after earning his PhD at Imperial College. By the way, OpenAI and Meta have copied the recipe: the first with Polish Jakub Pachocki and the second, with the Chinese Zhao Shengjia. They are scientists, but they could just as well be professional footballers: none of them are over 35 years old. Why is it important. When thinking about a boss within a modern business structure of a certain size, it is inevitable that team management, meetings and bureaucracy come to mind. However, this strategy of Chinese big tech is deliberately different from what we have in the West and is based on three reasons that SMCP explains: Institutional separation of research vs. product. A chief scientist looks to the future, he does not manage human teams or budgets. Competitive advantage in a saturated market, allowing you to build your own technologies without depending on third parties. If you have the best at home, you don’t have to ask for permission or sign abroad. The top youth asset. AI is evolving by leaps and bounds and with this movement, China is ensuring that it has those who have been at ground zero of the great milestones of recent years: elite universities or laboratories of renowned institutions such as OpenAI, Google or Princeton. China is a world source of engineers. That China is a country of engineers is no secret: it is a plan that has been underway for 4o years. In fact, now he has opted to go one step further and accelerate doctorates. The Chinese labor market is already showing signs of some saturationwhich has also brought diversification, changing routes to avoid even setting foot in the university in its new bet on FP. In any case, having an army of almost six million engineering professionals gives you an advantage with AI. And it has more than enough: it has engineers to export. Without going any further, the vast majority of signings of the Meta superintelligence team from last year they are Chinese. But young engineers who stay at home have an opportunity beyond joining a leading company in the sector: leading it. Disclaimer: a chief scientist is not a CTO. It is worth remembering a difference between positions that are often confused: a chief scientist is not the director of technology. While the first profile investigates, explores and plans in the medium and long term without touching products or marketing, the second manages teams, designs architecture and meets business objectives. Confuse both profiles or mix them, as the SMCP remembers what Alibaba or Baidu did, ends up subordinating science to the urgency of the market. In any case, it is a fragile position in a company that is not clear why it is needed. In Xataka | China looks at VET: why more and more generation Z students prefer trades over university degrees In Xataka | If Spain wants to imitate China and be a “country of engineers”, this map reveals the extent to which it has a problem Cover | and Hyundai Motor Group and cottonbro studio

Marie Curie died 92 years ago. Your personal notebooks are still buried under layers of lead for a good reason

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If you visit the basements of the National Library of France (BnF) and you want to look at some of the bibliographic gems that are kept there, you will most likely be forced to respect a series of measures, such as wearing gloves or handling the books in perfectly controlled conditions. The objective is obvious: protect the volumes. From you, from excessive exposure to light, from degradation. Things change if what you want to read is one of the notebooks that Marie Curie scribbled in her laboratory. In that case it is you who they must protect. Literally. The fact that there are dangerous publications may be a controversial statement that may or may not be shared, but in the case of the folios handwritten by the famous Franco-Polish scientist, it leaves little room for debate. Despite Madame Curie He died in 1934, almost 89 years ago, his notebooks continue to cause concern among archivists. and it is quite normal so be it. When Marie Salomea and her husband, Peterinvestigated in their laboratory with uranium, little was known about the potential damage of radiation, so they did not apply the basic safety measures that govern any radiological task today. So things—supports the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)— “no wonder his workspace and notebooks became contaminated.” Pierre and Marie Curie, in the laboratory, around 1904. To avoid possible risks, the handwritten notebooks are kept in the basements of the National Library of France inside special boxes, made up of several layers of lead. Not only that. As detailed in 2021 by the BBC networkthe French institution requires researchers who want to handle the notebooks in person to first put on some protective suits specials and, of course, that they sign a document in which they exempt them from any responsibility. Is such misgivings justified? When reading requires a special suit For their research, which led to the discovery of polonium and radium, the Curies accumulated, crushed and manipulated enormous quantities of minerals containing uranium in their laboratory. He knowledge about natural radioactivity It was very recent at the time and the couple, who contributed to their research, were unwittingly exposed to its harmful effects. Themselves and, of course, all the material they used. Including notebooks of notes. To understand the conditions under which they worked, it is good review the notes by Marie, collected by Philipp Blom in ‘The years of vertigo: Europe, 1900-1914’: “One of our joys was entering the workshop at night; everywhere we saw the faintly luminous silhouettes of the capsule bottles containing our products. It was a beautiful sight and always new to us. The glowing tubes looked like dim fairy lights.” It was not strange, they say, that the pair of scientists carried flasks with polonium and radium in their coat pockets or kept them in their desk. Marie herself ended up dying in 1934 from a aplastic anemia which was probably caused by his frequent exposure to radium samples and polonium. “Taking into account the half-life of 1,600 years of the radius and the sensitivity of current radiation detectors, it is also not surprising that this contamination is still detectable today,” comments the ACSH in an article dedicated to the topic. The experts, BBC specifiescalculate that given that on average radium atoms take about 15 centuries to disintegrate, it is not unreasonable to think that the notebooks should remain in their lead box during that period. The National Library of France is in any case not the only one to preserve Curie’s notebooks. The Wellcome Collection It also has a volume, digitizedwith notes on experiments and radioactive substances and sketches. The volume dates from between 1899 and 1902 and was written in Paris. To avoid scares in 2014 The Aurora firm examined the material and concluded that it was contaminated with radius-226. The ACSH states in any case that the volume “does not represent an appreciable risk.” Fortunately, the notebook can consult now from homeonline, or even downloaded in PDF. The theme of “the contaminated notebooks” of Curie generate so much interest that it even has your own entrance on the website Marie-curie.eu, focused on the figure of the two-time Nobel Prize winner, and numerous articles have been written on the subject. Notebooks are not the only ones in a similar situation. The BBC explains that the house south of Paris where Marie Curie worked until 1934 is also affected by the radiation levels generated during her experiments. The block has even earned the ironic nickname of “Chernobyl on the Seine”. When he was buried in Paris Pantheoneven Marie Curie herself ended up in a lead sarcophagus almost an inch thick. Image | Aurora In Xataka | In 1968 a man had the idea to create the first tablet in history. The problem is that he was decades ahead of his time. In Xataka | The first hard drives in history were gigantic. Then a miracle happened: miniaturization

ChatGPT seemed like the untouchable king of AI. Over the last year Google has eaten up almost all of its lead

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Apple and Google have closed an agreement historic for the next generation of Apple Foundation Models to rely on Gemini models and Google cloud technology. In other words, the expected new Siri It will take Google’s artificial intelligence technology underneath. Beyond the news, the agreement places Google in a position that it has been pursuing for years: that of, finally, being the main winner in this latest AI cycle. The agreement. Quick context: The AI ​​race has led Apple to lean on Gemini to reinvent Siri. Since he announced Apple Intelligence In 2024, Apple showed that it needs OpenAI for advanced responses from Siri (given by ChatGPT) and third parties like Google for functions such as Visual Search. Following the new agreement, it is confirmed that the next Apple Intelligence features will be built on Google’s cloud and its Gemini models. A victory for a Google that has been achieving the unthinkable with its AI model since last year. ChatGPT no longer competes alone. Until just a year ago, talking about AI was talking almost exclusively about ChatGPT. The rest of the competitors were minority alternatives intended for very specific uses such as development environments, image generation, or rich web browsers. Gemini is making the picture change, ChatGPT seemed to be everything in AI, it is no longer. From blow to blow. Google is managing to position Gemini as an alternative to ChatGPT by hitting the table. With Nano Bananaforced OpenAI to update its image generation models, since the distance between them was abysmal. With Antigravity it is a before and after for personal programming projects. Google is pressing the accelerator with your flash modelskeys to one of the greatest demands of the average user: response speed. Muscle and checkbook. Google plays in another league compared to OpenAI when it comes to cash generation. AI is not its main business model, it operates its own data centers and has complete control of the hardware necessary for its development. OpenAI depends on agreements with giants like Microsoft and Amazon, and you are going through hell to become profitable. Earn a lot of money, but the numbers still don’t come out. A clear strategy. Google has a well-defined strategy and a key that none of its rivals can compete with: it is the distributor of the most used mobile operating system in the world. Billions of smartphones that land on the market every year and that, just a year ago, They arrive with Gemini as the default assistant. Google had the user base, it just needed the product. Now that you have it, the question is how long OpenAI can hold off Gemini’s dam. Image | Xataka In Xataka | OpenAI fully enters health for a simple reason: ChatGPT is already our front-line doctor (although we don’t want to admit it)

We still don’t know if humanoid robots will be the next great technological revolution. Yes we know that China will lead it

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There are a lot of companies determined to sell us the idea that, in the not too distant future, everyone we will have a humanoid robot at home. We have many doubts that they will be the revolution that they promise (and there are reasons for this), but in China they have it very clear. Patents. They count in South China Morning Post that Morgan Stanley has published volume 3 of its series ‘Robot Almanac‘, which details some key data on the state of the humanoid robot industry. China is far ahead when it comes to patents, having registered 7,705 patents in the last five years, while in the United States they have registered 1,561, almost five times less than its technological rival par excellence. Dependence. It’s not just about patents, China has another key advantage and that is that its production lines are much more efficient from a cost point of view. This causes the rest of the companies that manufacture humanoids to depend on them if they do not want their production costs to skyrocket. The cost of building a supply chain in which China was left out would raise prices exponentially. The report estimates that manufacturing the Tesla Optimus Gen 2 without China’s participation would raise the cost from about $46,000 to $131,000. Obsession with robots. Humanoid robots from companies like Unitree or Deep Robotics have been in the public eye for a long time. We have seen them participate in the first robotic olympics, fight, play soccer and how dance corps in macro concerts. They are appearances clearly focused on going viral, showing their capabilities to the world and, ultimately, making people see them as something cool and want to buy one. However, although humanoids take all the spotlight, they are only the tip of the iceberg of a strategy that goes much further. Personified AI. In English it would be ’embodied AI’ and it is the approach that China has taken in his particular AI career. The government included the term in his job report this year, which highlights its strategic importance. More than large language and software models, China wants AI that is present, whether in the form of humanoid robots, drones, autonomous vehicles or industrial robots. Speaking of industry, guess who has 51% of all industrial robots in the world. Exactly: China. Industrial robots. According to data from Financial TimesChina installs 280,000 robots a year in its factories with a clear objective: automate to achieve greater efficiency and power continue being the factory of the world. Now that workers’ salaries are higherthe way they have found to remain competitive against markets like India or Bangladesh is automation. Image | Andy Kelly in Unsplash In Xataka | I have asked for water from the first humanoid robot working in Beijing. It’s a weird vending machine.

According to scientists, global warming will most likely lead to an Ice Age

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We usually imagine the climate change like an endless ascending line: more heat, melted glaciers and more acidic oceans. However, science has just put on the table a hypothesis that is not very intuitive: under certain extreme conditions, global warming does not end in hell, but in a real freezer. And the plankton, which seems harmless, has a lot to say in this regard. The identified. A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and the University of Bremen has identified an instability in the carbon cyclea “glitch” in Earth’s climate operating system, suggesting that an ocean that is too warm and depleted of oxygen can trigger massive global cooling. The geological thermostat. To understand this finding, we must first look at how the Earth regulates its temperature in the long term. The classic mechanism is silicate weathering. Which basically means that when there is a lot of CO₂ in the atmosphere along with heat, it rains more and this rain dissolves the silicate rocks, dragging the carbon and the nutrients it stores to the sea, such as phosphorus. That’s where plankton uses that carbon to build their shells and, when they die, they sink, trapping CO₂ on the seabed. And although it may seem like good news that they store this gas that is seen as a great enemy on the seabed, the fact of reducing its concentration It means that the temperature drops. A paradigm shift. Until now, scientists saw this as a stable “thermostat”: if it is hot, the system works to cool the environment, and if it is cold it works less intensely. But now something radical arises: the thermostat has a catastrophic failure mode. According to their simulation models, when the system is coupled to the cycle of marine nutrients and biological productivity, the regulation can be unstable. And this is where the ideas of a future ice age begin. The plankton trap. For researchers, if we continue with extreme warming on our planet, erosion will increase to bring nutrients to the ocean. Something that will undoubtedly be appreciated by the phytoplankton and the algae that will accumulate it and when it dies, it will create an area in the water where there is not a hint of oxygen. In an ocean without oxygen, phosphorus once again dominates sea water which will create a vicious cycle where the algae They will consume large amounts of oxygen. The result is that the ocean floor begins to ‘suck’ CO₂ from the atmosphere at breakneck speedwhich is much faster than volcanoes or human activities can replenish it. The result is clear: a thermal collapse that can lead to a severe glaciation similar to what the Earth has experienced in the past. We had other fears. Right now on the table we had the suspicion that the collapse of the AMOCthe ocean currents that move water between various locations, will lead us to this situation. And they have a very important function: moving warm water from the tropics towards the north through the surface and cold, dense water towards the south through the depths. Something that a priori regulates global temperature. Global warming. A priori, anyone might think that continuing to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is the solution to this. But the authors issue a warning: geological times are not human times. We are talking about a mechanism that operates on scales of hundreds of thousands of years, and that is why it will not cool the planet either in this century or the next. In fact, researchers suggest that if this mechanism were activated today, it would be an excessive correction that will occur long after we have suffered the consequences of global warming. The fragility of the system. The carbon cycle is not a simple scale that stays in balance, but is quite dynamic and complex. This is somewhat difficult, since it can easily become unbalanced. The idea that the planet can “overreact” to heat by causing extreme cold reminds us that the Earth has regulatory mechanisms that are indifferent to the survival of human civilization. Images | Javier Miranda Alberto Restifo In Xataka | The Earth is entering climate collapse with its first point of no return. Our only salvation is technology

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