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They no longer have helium and they have liquefied natural gas left for 11 days

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Taiwan has run out of helium. And has a reserve of liquefied natural gas for 11 days at best. It is a very serious problem that is of great concern to Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers. In fact, the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA) has asked the Government of the island that set up a strategic reserve of these two resources capable of guaranteeing their availability for a long period of time. The origin of this problem is the war between the US, Israel and Iran. These countries have agreed to a two-week ceasefire agreement, but Taiwan remains on the ropes. The blocking of Strait of Hormuz has disrupted the supply of helium and liquefied natural gas on which many Asian countries depend, and the Taiwanese integrated circuit industry is deeply dependent on these two resources. Taiwan cannot afford to have such a fragile supply chain More than 40% of Taiwanese power plants use liquefied natural gas. And chip factories need a stable supply of electricity to sustain their activity. Additionally, these facilities require the use of helium in several critical stages of the IC production process, and Taiwan currently does not have a helium reserve. The US and Japan have already created a strategic inventory of liquefied natural gas and helium, and TSIA has requested the Taiwanese government to do the same. There is a lot at stake. The production of cutting-edge chips gives Taiwan enormous relevance from a geostrategic point of view And the semiconductor industry is strategic for Taiwan for three fundamental reasons: it represents among 13% and 15% of the gross domestic product of the country; is the engine of its exports with a value close to 40% of the total; and finally, the production of cutting-edge chips gives the country enormous relevance from a geostrategic point of view. For this reason, it is crucial for this Asian country that TSMC, UMC and its other companies involved in the integrated circuit industry have the resources they need. TSIA has noted that Taiwan must diversify its energy sources: “We propose to the Government the need to continue diversifying our energy sources and the supply of critical materials to prepare for the uncertainty of the current situation (…) Our Association also supports the Government’s decision to reopen nuclear power plants to have a more stable energy supply as long as the processes meet legal requirements and safety is guaranteed.” Be that as it may, the underlying problem that Taiwan faces is that its economy, as we have seen, is deeply dependent on the semiconductor industry. And their supply chain is fragile. Very fragile. The Administration closed the last nuclear power plant in May 2025, and since then more than 95% of the island’s electricity depends on imported resources. The temporary ceasefire agreement reached by the US, Israel and Iran is likely to alleviate some of the pressure on Taiwan, but its integrated circuit industry is too important to allow it to be so sensitive to the international situation. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | We already know what the chips that will arrive until 2039 will be like. The machine that will allow them to be manufactured is close

EEEU vetoed the largest Chinese drone manufacturer. He did not expect that he would be left without the largest Chinese drone manufacturer

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In December 2025, the US government banned DJI, making it the Huawei of drones. It was an absolutely crazy idea.with American drone pilots themselves warning about the Trump administration’s terrible decision. To no one’s surprise, the play did not go well. what happened. Late last year, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided ban all drones and critical components of these small aircraft that were manufactured in foreign countries. The measure affected the import of new drones, remaining existing ones operational. But the government did not take into account a small detail: DJI is the main reference in drones worldwide and, literally, there are no alternatives. What is happening. Already in 2025, Greg Reverdiau, co-founder of the Pilot Institute in Arizona, conducted a survey in which 8,000 pilots participated. 85% made it clear that they could stay in business for about two years. From then on, without access to DJI drones, the outlook was unsustainable. Photographers Videographers Farmers Surveyors Emergency services Security forces Major figures in the industry make it clear that no one is going to replace the gap that DJI has left, whether in capacity, affordability, reliability or ease of use. The alternative. GoPro launched a drone, Karma, in 2018. It failed and was never heard from again. Companies like Parrot also launched consumer drones almost ten years ago, but today there is no trace of them. American companies like Skydio have pivoted completely towards defense, with drones worth thousands of dollars and million-dollar contracts with the US military. When asked if they intended to manufacture drones for consumption, the answer was a clear no. Goodbye to 90%. DJI dominated the US drone market with a 90% share, and there are no real alternatives to replace drones that are reaching the end of their useful life. With no possible DJI replacement in sight, the question is no longer who will take over, it’s how long the current fleet will last before volunteer firefighters, farmers and rescue teams run out of work tools. In Xataka | Best drones. Which one to buy and recommended models from 50 to 3,500 euros

Our brain is “rotting” based on infinite scrolling. Someone has left their cell phone for 14 days to see if there is a way back

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Today it is a reality that most of us live glued to a screen, and this is something that is documented in studies that point out, for example, that on average we review an average of 200 times the phone throughout the day, which is equivalent to looking at it approximately every five minutes. In fact, 46% of users consider themselves “dependent” on the device and 53% say they have never spent more than 24 hours without it. But what really happens in our heads if we decide to cut corners and return to the analog era? A test. To answer this question, CNN journalist Bill Weir decided to test this premise to commemorate Apple’s 50th anniversary. In this way, for 14 days Weir kept his iPhone in a box and replaced it with a basic phone like the ones we had 15 years ago, with which we could only send SMS with a non-touch keyboard and a low-resolution camera. From here the sensations he had were observed, but a group of scientists behind him were also monitoring his brain through brain scans. The results. After two weeks of disconnection, the journalist’s reaction times improved by 23%, and his brain activity also increased significantly, causing his brain connectivity to become more coordinated and organized. Subjectively, Weir experienced a much better recovery in his ability to concentrate and also noted a sharp decrease in the need to consume social media after the first week. The changes. It is no coincidence that the term “brain rot”, translated as brain rot, was crowned the neologism of the year in 2024 for the Oxford dictionary, since it is a concept closely linked to be swiping all the time with your mobile. And clearly the excessive use of smartphones and all the applications they contain is leaving a physical mark on our brain anatomy. It’s proven. MRI-based research, including a National Library of Medicine publication in 2023, they point out that problematic smartphone use is associated with a reduction in gray matter in the brain. And if we go into something more specific, it was seen that there was a smaller volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, the fusiform gyrus and the striatum. These areas are fundamental for emotional regulation, decision making and impulse control, making these alterations similar to those observed in addictions to harmful substances such as drugs. And supported. A study published in 2025 analyzed individuals for 72 hours without a mobile phone using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and the results indicated that withdrawal triggered brain activations identical to those of addictive withdrawal syndromes, followed by notable cognitive improvements. Digital amnesia. Beyond anatomy, our daily cognitive abilities are in free fall, and science suggests that the average attention time before an interruption has gone from about 2.5 minutes to about 47 seconds, blaming the accelerated digital pace here. And the culprit again is the smartphone, since a study published in 2017 analyzed to 520 participants and demonstrated that the simple presence of the smartphone on the table, even face down, consumes and exhausts our cognitive attention resources. This is why we should opt for better control of the time we dedicate to social networks or the smartphone in general, since the benefits of quitting are many. Images | freepik In Xataka | Smartphones are destroying our memories. The big question is whether we should care

It’s been more than 50 years since we saw the Moon like this. Artemis II has already left new historical images

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Looking at the Moon again as we are seeing it now is not something that happens every day. More than half a century after the Apollo era, Artemis II has completed its lunar flyby and it has already left a visual trail that returns us to that type of trip that we believed almost from the past. At this time, with the mission progressing as planned, NASA points out that the Orion ship would have already left the lunar sphere of influence and would have begun its way back. How we knewthere has been no lunar landing, but what we have seen during these hours, those images captured by the crew, places us again in front of the Moon from a manned perspective that we have not seen for decades. From here, the key is what this overflight has left us. During their passage through the lunar environment, the Artemis II crew has photographed the Moon at different phases of the journey, capturing both surface details and broader scenes of the surrounding space. All this material is already being organized and published by NASA in your multimedia repositorywhere you can consult images, videos and other content of the mission. We are not talking about a specific selection, but rather an archive under construction that will grow over time. The Moon as we had never seen it again Among the material that NASA has already begun to disseminate there are especially powerful scenes, with the Moon dominating the frame and the Earth visible in the background in some shots. The image conveys the scale of the trip very clearly.with our planet reduced to a luminous sphere in the face of the massive presence of the satellite. In the photographs published by the agency, this play of distances is well appreciated, but also the contrast with the surroundings, that completely black background that surrounds the scene. This is where the images gain strength, because they not only show two celestial bodies, but also the relationship between them seen from a position that very few humans have reached. If we look closer, what appears is an enormous level of detail. In photographs taken during During the flyover, large craters, ancient lava flows and structures that run across the surface such as cracks and reliefs can be clearly seen.. The Artemis II crew described these formations as they observed them, also pointing out differences in brightness and texture that help to better understand the composition of the terrain. It is not just an aesthetic issue: each of these details provides information about the geological history of the Moon. The craters on the eastern edge of our satellite Our planet, in the crescent phase, passing behind the Moon Dark spots of ancient lava on the Moon There are moments of the flyover that go beyond the still photography and that help understand the complete sequence of what happened. During the passage through the far side of the Moon, the ship was temporarily without communication with the Earth, a planned section in which one of the most unique moments of the trip also occurred: the so-called “Earthset”, when our planet disappears behind the lunar horizon from the perspective of Orion. Later, when communication was resumed, “Earthrise” arrived, the moment in which the Earth appears again on the other side. These events occurred within a very measured sequence of observations which also included an eclipse seen from the ship. The Moon completely eclipsing the Sun Another image of the total solar eclipse captured by the Artemis II mission Astronauts also use glasses to view eclipses, just like we would on Earth! Here we see the astronauts capturing images through the windows of the Orion spacecraft Not everything we’ve seen happens outside the ship. Part of the disseminated material also allows us to look inside Orion and understand how this section of the journey was experienced from the inside. In the images shared by NASA you can see the crew working in a compact space, surrounded by screens, controls and onboard systems. There are no grand gestures, but a constant sense of activity and coordination, with the astronauts documenting what is happening as they continue with the flight plan. Although the ship has already left the lunar environment behind and is moving towards its return, there is a part of the mission that begins now. All the material collected during the flyby, as we say, will be analyzed in the coming days by the scientific teams, which will seek to extract information from the images, audio and data captured by the crew. As explained by NASA, these observations will be reviewed in detail once the data download from Orion is complete. Meanwhile, the agency has already made part of this content available to the public on its multimedia platform, where the images can be consulted in high quality. Images | POT In Xataka | Artemis II has five different hot sauces on board: the reason is a radical change in what we consider “space food”

When he finishes he will steal the last advantage that the US had left

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It is estimated that around more than 80% of the planet’s oceans remains to be mapped in detail, and in many areas we know less about the seabed than about the surface of the Moon. Still, that unknown environment is key to some of the world’s most advanced technologies. Also for war. The invisible map. I had a few days ago in a extensive Reuters report that China has been mapping the planet’s ocean floor for some time and that, when it is finished, it will have the last tactical advantage that the United States had left: knowing better than anyone else the terrain where the quietest war of all will be fought. For decades, American superiority under the sea rested not just on more advanced submarines, but on something much more intangible: a deep knowledge of the ocean environment. Now that balance starts to change because Beijing is building, step by step, a detailed image of that invisible world that conditions every movement underwater. A global network. What at first glance seems like oceanographic research is actually a global scale operation which combines dozens of vessels, hundreds of sensors and years of data accumulated in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Arctic. These ships travel repeated routes, scanning the seabed and collecting key information on temperature, salinity and currents, factors that determine how sound propagates underwater. It is not a trivial detail, it is crucial because, in underwater combat, seeing does not matter so much: what is really key is listening better than your opponent and hiding from them. The “transparent ocean”. Here is possibly the crux of the whole thing. radiography that Beijing is carrying out. Because the heart of the strategy is the idea of ​​creating a species of “transparent ocean”a network of sensors capable of monitoring what happens beneath the surface with an unprecedented level of precision. The reason: although not everything is in real time, even delayed data allows build models that anticipateFor example, where a submarine can hide or how to detect it. In other words, China not only wants to sail better, but reduce uncertainty which has always protected these ships, transforming the ocean into a much less opaque and much more controllable space. Military power. They remembered in Reuters that one of the keys to the Chinese advance is how it is using universities, scientific institutes and civilian ships to build this knowledge base without openly resorting to military means. This fusion between civil and military allows it to operate more freely in international waters, accumulating strategic information without raising the same level of alert that a direct naval presence would cause… although the result is the same: a database that can be translated into operational advantages in the event of conflict. The end of a historic advantage. There is no doubt, all this effort aims to a clear objective: erode one of the greatest strategic advantages the United States has had, its dominance of the underwater environment. If China manages to match (or even surpass) that knowledge, it will be able, a priori, deploy your submarines more effectively, detect those of the adversary and monitor critical routes such as the approaches to the Pacific or the Strait of Malacca. It is therefore not a race of boats, but of information, and in this field the one who best understands the bottom of the ocean will have the initiative. A new balance. Taken together, the Chinese strategy reveals a profound change in the nature of naval power: one where it is no longer enough to have more ships or better weapons, but rather dominate the environment in which they operate. By systematically mapping the seafloor and deploying sensors at key points, Beijing is preparing the ground for a competition in which the advantage will not be visible, but yes decisive. And if that process is completed, the United States could find itself for the first time in decades without its traditional superiority in the most difficult domain to control: the one that cannot be seen. Image | RawPixel, Youth Daily News In Xataka | There are two global superpowers fighting to gain a foothold on the coast of Peru: the United States and China. In Xataka | It’s not that China is serious in the Pacific, it’s that space has revealed the size of a dizzying naval domain

Has Samsung been left behind in the mid-range battle?

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He Galaxy A57 Samsung’s is possibly its best mid-range phone, but before it hits stores (it will do so on April 10), it’s time to compare it with its main rivals. We have done it within Samsung’s own catalog with the Galaxy A56but now it’s the turn of another best-selling mid-range mobile: he Google Pixel 10a. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel 10a – 7 years of New Updates and Features, 30+ Hours of Battery, Camera Assistant, Gemini Live, Pixel Security – Fog Gray, 128GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The differences between the Galaxy A57 and the Google Pixel 10a When the largest screen is carried by the thinnest mobile At the design level, both phones are quite continuous with respect to their predecessors. Samsung’s phone has a slightly larger screen than the Google Pixel 10a: specifically, we’re talking 6.7 inches vs. 6.3 inches. We are not facing a huge difference, but one that you can notice when watching videos or playing. Here comes the curious thing. Although the Google phone has a more contained diagonal, It is a thicker and heavier mobile. You have the exact measurements and weight in the comparison table at the end of this article, but what you have to keep is that the Galaxy A57 is thinner and lighter, but also larger. We can expect good image quality and a similar refresh rate of 120 Hz from both screens, but yes, There is a significant difference in maximum brightness in favor of the Pixel 10a. Indoors it may not be too noticeable, but it can be relevant if you are one of those who uses your cell phone a lot outdoors. Processor and memory configurations If we talk about processors, both manufacturers are betting on their own chip for their mobile phones. The Pixel 10a uses the Tensor G4, which is the same chip that the entire family used Pixel 9. Samsung, on the other hand, is betting on Exynos 1680 for your new device. We have not yet been able to test it and see how it performs, but both processors are manufactured in 4 nanometersso we can expect that there will not be a huge difference in performance. If we talk about RAM, this mid-range Google mobile only has 8 GB. The Galaxy A57 also starts from this same configuration, although it does allow us to choose a version with 12 GB of RAM. Neither of these two devices excels in this aspectespecially if we take into account that many Chinese manufacturers already start from 12 GB in mobile phones of a similar price range (such as the POCO X8 Pro Max). Lots of AI in both cases. Also years of updates It is not something exclusive to these two phones, but both the Galaxy A57 and the Pixel 10a stand out at the software level. Google phones are the ones that always offer the purest Android experienceideal if you hate bloatware and you want to have the news of this operating system as soon as possible. All added to the fact that Gemini is very well integrated, so much so that you can use Google Nano locally. In the other corner we have Samsung and One UI. It is one of the most polished Android-based custom layers that does not have too much. bloatware. In addition, it is also very customizable at its core, even more so if we start messing around with Good Lock. All added to the fact that, in addition to having Gemini, It also has Galaxy AI. This AI handles some functions such as image erasing very well. Then there is also the issue of updates. With these two phones, whichever one we choose, we’ll have enough power for a while: the Galaxy A57 has six years of guaranteed updates for the seven years of the Pixel 10a. Having one more camera is not always better If we start to compare the cameras of both devices, what draws the most attention is undoubtedly that the Pixel 10a has a smaller sensor. Now, let’s get this topic out of the way quickly: the “extra” sensor that the Galaxy A57 has is a 5 megapixel macro camera. We haven’t tried it yet, but it does perform similar to that of the Galaxy A56it’s not something we’re going to use a lot. The other two cameras on Samsung’s new phone are, by numbers, relatively similar to those of the Pixel 10a. However, if their performance is also similar to that of their predecessor, we can expect that, in general terms, Google’s phone offers better results in almost any scenario. In fact, as we told you in our analysis, the Pixel 10a has one of the best camera systems in this price range. The price: spending more time in stores works in favor of the Pixel We come to one of the key points of this comparison, which is the price. If we stick to the RRP, both play practically along the same lines: the Galaxy A57 starts at 529 euros, while the Pixel 10a started at 549 euros. What’s happening? That the latter has been in stores for some time now and that makes it easier to find it on sale. To get the Galaxy A57 at a lower price, we have to wait. However, we are facing an excellent purchasing moment for the Pixel 10a. We can find it right now for just over 466 euros at MediaMarkta very interesting price if we take into account everything that the mobile offers. In summary: which mobile phone to choose based on your needs Why choose the Galaxy A57 The Galaxy A57 is Samsung’s best mid-range phone. The problem is that, at launch, perhaps it does not offer enough to justify the outlay of almost 530 euros. However, it does have several interesting points: Manageable and very light: It does not reach 180 grams and is only 6.9 … Read more

is left out of the elections and reopens the debate on its verification

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Carrying your ID on your cell phone is no longer a hypothesis, it is a reality in Spain. The official application MyDNI allows you to identify yourself with legal validity on a day-to-day basis, replicating in digital format several of the uses of the physical document and relying on systems such as the QR code verification. On paper, the approach is clear: simplify identification without losing guarantees. But when this technology leaves the controlled field and enters more demanding contexts, questions arise. And that is precisely what just happened. The point of friction has not taken long to appear, and it has done so in one of the environments where any identification system is most stressed: elections. The Central Electoral Board has agreed suspend the use of MiDNI and MyDGT in electoral processes until “it is guaranteed that the control of the verification of the identity of voters by these systems is sufficiently secure.” The measure responds to a request from the Popular Party, which had warned of “doubts and social alarm” around how identity is verified in these applications, especially in the absence of additional mechanisms. A digital advance in the face of its first major trust test To understand where that point of friction appears, you have to look at how the system is designed. MiDNI allows you to display on the screen a version of the document with basic data such as name, photo and ID numberelements that the Central Electoral Board itself had considered valid to identify the voter. But it also offers an additional level through a QR code that gives access to the complete DNI and whose validity is temporary. This code acts as a real-time verification mechanism, since it connects with the National Police servers. In practice, however, it is not always used and there is no general system at the tables to check it. Until now, in fact, the Central Electoral Board itself had maintained a more flexible criterion. According to El Paíshad already rejected a similar request from the PP before the elections in Castilla y León. Interior also defended that this interpretation fit with the flexible criteria that the Board itself has been applying to facilitate voter identification, to the point of allowing voting with an expired DNI or without documentation if the members of the table know the voter personally. The change in criteria, therefore, does not come after incidents reported at the tables, but rather as a result of reopened doubts about how identity should be verified with these applications. The case does not mean the end of the digital DNI, but it does introduce an important nuance in its development. MiDNI continues to be part of the identification digitalization process in Spain and maintains its role in different face-to-face uses. At the same time, its landing in a context such as the electoral one has reopened the debate on how identity should be verified in especially sensitive environments. The suspension agreed to by the Central Electoral Board is proposed as a temporary measure until this aspect is resolved. Images | MiDNI Portal In Xataka | Carrying your ID on your cell phone is very easy. You just have to take advantage of your next visit to the police station

Europe has just measured how much wind potential Spain has left. The answer is an overwhelming first place

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If we look at the sky and our plains, the country is an undisputed giant. According to official data from the Wind Business Association (AEE)wind energy is already the first source of electricity generation in our country, covering an impressive 24% of national demand. With more than 31,600 megawatts (MW) of accumulated power distributed in 1,412 wind farms, Spain has consolidated itself as the second country in Europe (only behind Germany) and the sixth in the world in installed power. However, behind this success of “emptied Spain” a broken bridge hides. The wind blows and the blades turn, but we lack the cables to bring that clean energy to the cities and factories where it is actually consumed. And right now, when bureaucracy threatens to suffocate the sector, Europe has just put on the table a report that shows that what we have built to date is just the tip of the iceberg: the margin for growth that Spain has left is not only large, it is overwhelmingly higher than that of the rest of the continent. An overwhelming first place. The confirmation has come directly from Brussels. The Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission has just published the second edition of the report ENPRESSO 2. This scientific document does not make estimates on the fly: it measures the feasible technical potential of onshore wind energy in Europe with a very high geographical resolution of 1 square kilometer. The results position Spain as the leader of the entire EU by a very wide margin. As the expert Joaquín Coronado explains:the figures are stratospheric. In the reference scenario, Spain reaches a technical potential of 183.9 gigawatts (GW) of installable capacity and 415.4 TWh/year of generation. More than double that of Romania and Sweden, the next in the ranking. If we cross this with our current capacity, the conclusion is stunning: the ceiling is very far away. How do we lead with such advantage? The merit of this first place is even greater if we understand how it has been calculated. The European Commission report has applied very strict filters For an area to be considered suitable: the mills cannot be more than 5 kilometers from a road, nor more than 3 kilometers from the electrical grid, and must respect minimum distances from population centers (1 km) and protected areas such as Natura 2000. After passing all these demanding filters, 5.8% of the Spanish territory is available and suitable to house wind turbines. As Coronado explainsour low relative population density in those areas where it is windier gives us a brutal competitive advantage. We are much less sensitive to changes in separation distances (so-called “setbacks”) than densely populated countries such as Germany, France or Poland. Even if Europe forced us to move 2 kilometers away from towns (the most restrictive scenario), Spain would still retain 52.8 GW of potential. It’s not all lights. The energy expert warns of a purely internal problem: “regulatory heterogeneity.” While national regulations establish a separation distance of 500 meters for populations, there are autonomous communities such as the Balearic Islands, Navarra or Valencia that require 1,000 meters, and others such as the Basque Country or the Canary Islands that request 400. This regulatory fragmentation means that the real potential varies drastically depending on which side of the autonomous border the wind blows. The bureaucratic infarction of a “full” network. At this point in the x-ray, it is time to address the elephant in the room. As we have explained in Xatakathe Spanish electrical system suffers a serious administrative “thrombosis”. The network is not physically collapsed, but administratively “full” and underused. Panic broke out when the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) was forced to delay the capacity maps until May because 90% of the nodes appeared in red. Faced with this bottleneckthe CEO of Red Eléctrica, Roberto García Merino, defends himself by remembering that they have 1.5 billion ready to invest, but the paperwork delays works that barely require a year of physical work for up to a decade. As if the internal traffic jam were not enough, we come across France’s external plug, whose pyrrhic interconnection (2.8%) isolates us and forces us to throw away cheap energy to protect its nuclear industry. The risk of dying of success. Spain finds itself at a historical crossroads. We have the climate, the soil, the wind and the endorsement of the EU. If we add to this wind potential the 19 GW of reversible hydraulics already in the pipeline, Spain has in its power to develop the most competitive emissions-free electricity mix in all of Europe. But to achieve that future, heat maps and reports from Brussels are not enough. It is necessary, as experts point out, to homogenize legislation between communities, compensate local populations and, above all, urgently expedite permits to build the network. As a summary from the sector: “The plans are very nice, but they have to be built.” Image | Carlos Teixidor Cadenas Xataka | Macron believes that Spain has “a problem” with renewables. What it really means is that they are “competition”

Are the 200 euros difference worth it or has Apple been left behind?

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Xiaomi has released not one, not two, but three tablets that once again embrace the quality-price ratio that we have seen so many other times within the brand. Therefore, we are going to stop a little to see if they really are as attractive as they seem at first glance, and what better way to do it than by comparing the Xiaomi Pad 8 with the iPad Air M4since Xiaomi usually uses Apple as a reference, mentioning the brand in its presentations. Can it compete head to head with the iPad? Let’s see it. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links iPad Air M4 (128GB, 11-inch) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The differences between Xiaomi and Apple tablets Big differences in screens While it is true that in any case we are talking about tablets that offer good image quality, both Xiaomi and Apple have small peculiarities. All Xiaomi tablets come with an 11.2-inch screen that offers both a 3.2K resolution and a 144 Hz refresh rate, thus achieving greater fluidity when navigating the menus, when we want to play a video game or even if we read an article on a website. The Xiaomi Pad 8 Mate adds a very interesting feature, and that is that this model has anti-reflective treatmentwhich means that if you are going to use it outdoors, the sun will not reflect as much on the screen. Instead, the iPad Air M4 is available in two sizes of 11 and 13 inches respectively. While it is true that it also includes a good Liquid Retina screen, the refresh rate remains at 60 Hz, so it does not offer the same fluidity as the screens of Xiaomi tablets. In short, if you are going to use the tablet at home, you will have a good experience with any of them, even if the Xiaomi screens offer better fluidity. Things change if you are going to use it outdoors: the iPad Air offers a maximum brightness of 500 nits, which is a fairly fair figure. Xiaomi tablets raise that figure to 800 nits, so in these cases it is better to bet on Xiaomi tablets, especially the Pad 8 Pro Mate if we are going to use it a lot outside the home. Processors and operating systems What are you going to use the tablet for? If you want to buy one of these tablets to watch multimedia content, you will have a good experience with any of them. But If you want to play demanding titles, choose the iPad. Because? Basically because it comes with a more powerful processor than Qualcomm, even allowing you to move console games. Not all models of the current generation of Xiaomi come with the same chip: the Xiaomi Pad 8 incorporates the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, while the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro and 8 Pro Mate come with the Snapdragon 8 Eliteone of the most powerful processors in Android devices. Instead, the new iPad Air comes with the M4 chipa processor that is capable of moving many titles, as we have seen many other times in Apple computers. On the other hand, both brands have different operating systems. Xiaomi tablets come with Android under the customization layer HyperOS 3while the iPad Air M4 comes with iPadOS. The choice is very particular, but we can mention two things: HyperOS has better artificial intelligence functions, since Apple Intelligence It’s still a little green. iPadOS has some very interesting productivity apps, such as Final Cut Pro. Depending on the use we are going to give to the tablet, we may be interested in making the jump to one operating system or another. If we want artificial intelligence functions, right now Xiaomi tablets offer better options. On the other hand, if we want to play, study or work with the tablet, we may be more interested in opting for the iPad. All RAM and storage configurations Depending on the model we want to buy, we can find very different RAM configurations. The Xiaomi Pad 8 and Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro are available in two versions of 8 and 12 GB, and the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro Mate and iPad Air M4 are only available in a 12 GB version. Take into account the RAM memory It is important in the era we are living in when it comes to artificial intelligence. The more a device has to process AI locally, the more RAM it will need to avoid being fried. Various storage configurations are also available, although here Apple offers a more interesting option: The Xiaomi Pad 8 is available in two versions of 128 GB and 256 GB. The Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro adds a 512 GB version. The Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro Mate is only available in a 512 GB version. The iPad Air M4 can be purchased in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB versions. In this case, the interesting thing about Apple is that it offers a configuration with double the storage than the Xiaomi models. If you are going to save a lot of photos, videos or files, especially if you want to use the iPad as an alternative to a computeryou may be more interested in the 1 TB model. In the case of Xiaomi tablets, with the 512 GB configuration you can get by for a while, but you may fall short in the long term. What your batteries say Although at the moment we do not know too many details about the battery of the iPad Air M4, Apple has mentioned that its theoretical autonomy is up to 10 hours of browsing, which means that it does not vary too much compared to previous generations. The three Xiaomi tablets come with 9,200 mAh batteries, but with different fast charging: 45W for the Xiaomi Pad 8 and 67W for the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro and Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro Mate. Taking all this into account, The strong point of … Read more

There are only 20 fateful kilometers left on the Gobi border

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China and Mongolia have been trying to solve one of Asia’s costliest logistics problems for more than a decade: getting coal and metals from Mongolian mines to Chinese steel plants. without using eternal truck caravans. The solution: a railway corridor between the mines of Tavan Tolgoi and the Chinese network capable of transporting up to 50 million tons of cargo, such as declared the Mongolian president. The project carries on the table since 2012 and, after delays and stoppages, the first part was completed. In 2025 the second phase started: a cross-border link of just 19.5 kilometers in length at the Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod pass whose completion is scheduled for 2027. Let China be capable of remodeling a train station in one night but it takes 22 months to build only eight kilometers, anticipating the technical and orographic challenges it faces. Context. Mongolia owns some of the largest reserves of coal and copper in the world. deserves special mention Tavan Tolgoione of the largest unexploited coking coal deposits on the planet, with an estimate of 6.4 billion tons of this resource. Copper and gold also works well in Oyu Tolgoi. In fact, has a projected production by 2030 of 500,000 tons of copper per year. But Mongolia is landlocked. China is historically the largest importer of Mongolian coal. As? With lines of trucks crossing the desert. From an environmental and economic point of view, the switch to rail makes the most sense but it has fine print: the Mongolian railway network It has 1,815 kilometers of Soviet gauge trackof which the majority are part of the TransMongolia line that connects Russia with China. The network is practically single track, with limited capacity and vulnerable to snowfall in winter and Gobi sand in the southern section. Trans-Mongolian crossing the Gobi Desert. PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ Why is it important. Because this fully completed corridor will close a strategic logistics chain for China at a time when there is tension in the supply of critical raw materials. Without going any further, he already faced a Australian coal veto a few years ago, having to seek supply in Russia and Mongolia. Mongolia also gains by improving its coal and metals export infrastructure. As declared the Mongolian governmentthe average export volume will go from 83 million tons to 165 million per year, which represents an increase of 1.5 billion dollars. Of course, it reinforces its dependence on China: It already exports 90% of its raw materials. First phase. The history of the Tavan Tolgoi–Gashuun Sukhait railway is checkered to say the least: it began in 2012, when Mongolian Mining Corporation announced a railway from Ukhaa Khudag to the Gashuun Sukhait border crossing, with completion scheduled for 2015. With the earthworks very advanced, the work became entrenched both due to economic and political problems how to choose what the track width should be. Work resumed in 2018 under new management. Finally, the line will be inaugurated in 2022 233.6 kilometers long crossing the Gobi Desert (258 km with auxiliary infrastructure), with 16 bridges and designed for loads of 25 tons per axle. According to Tavantolgoi Railway LLC and collected by AFPthe price of a ton of coal fell from 32 dollars to 8. The pending critical phase: the border. The Mongolian railway reaches the border from 2022, but the critical thing remained: coal could not cross to China by train. The main reason for being is pure engineering: Mongolia uses the Soviet width of 1,520 mm and China uses 1,435 mm, the international standard width. At the Gashuun Sukhait pass there was a physical gap that required the transshipment of goods, with the delays, costs and inconveniences that it entails. They are going to solve it with a double track widthwhich extends both the Mongolian and Chinese lines, thus allowing trains from both systems to enter the area without transfers. This cross-border link will have a main road 19.5 kilometers and includes bridge structures between 8 and 31 meters high, necessary to bridge the topographic gap between the two sides of the border. The Chinese side is being built by the state-owned company China Energy Investment Corporation and on the Mongolian side, Tavantolgoi Railway LLC. A corridor full of challenges. The delay of the railway corridor project due to financial and political issues is just the tip of the iceberg of other challenges it has faced, ranging from the engineering problem of the track gauge to the extreme climate of the Gobi: the Mongolian section passes through one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, with temperature ranges ranging from -40 °C in winter to more than 40 °C in summer. It is no longer that it is uninhabitable, it is that it affects the structure of the road itself. In Xataka | 125 kilometers of water separate 140 million inhabitants. China is going to solve it with a mega railway tunnel In Xataka | China has built the highest bridge in the world and has done what it must: turn it into a show Cover | Marcin Konsek and KUA YUE

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