light

2026 has not yet started but it has already managed to produce the first bad news: the light goes up

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There is one month left until 2026 begins and the January slope already has a clear protagonist: light. The electricity bill will start the year with the largest simultaneous review of regulated costs since 2020. The proposals of the Government and the energy regulator point to an increase that will affect all homes, regardless of what they consume. Without anesthesia. The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has put into public hearing its toll proposal for 2026 – the part of the bill that finances the electrical networks – and proposes a global increase of close to 4%. This update has two pillars: Transportation, which are the large electric highways, will increase by 12.1%. Distribution, which are the networks that reach homes and businesses, will increase by 2.5%. With these changes, the total money allocated to maintaining and expanding electrical networks will reach 6,608 million in 2026. In addition, to this increase we must add that of the chargesset by the Government. According to Five Daysthe Ministry for the Ecological Transition proposes increasing them by 10.5% to cover, above all, the cost of regulated renewable energies (Recore), which will grow by 37%. The fixed part is in charge again. The electricity bill is divided into two large blocks: The cost of energy, which depends on what each user consumes. Regulated costs (tolls and charges), which are always paid. This new year, the regulated part once again gains prominence. According to the specialized portal Tarifaluzhorathe combination of tolls and charges will increase between 2.8% and 4.8% for households. It may seem like a moderate increase, but it affects the amount paid even if consumption drops. Furthermore, the CNMC report estimates that domestic customers with PVPC 2.0 TD rate will see a final increase of approximately 0.6% on their bill, thanks in part to the slight expected growth in demand and the greater number of consumers among whom to spread the costs. A small print that worries the sector. As Cinco Días detailsthe Government has prepared its proposal for charges under the hypothesis that consumption will grow by 4.5% in 2026. This figure is not minor: the greater the demand, the more the regulated costs are diluted among users and the lower the impact per receipt. However, the problem is that the CNMC – which sets tolls – does not share that optimism. The regulator foresees an increase of only 2.3%. And here a delicate scenario opens up: if demand does not grow as much as the Government expects, the system will not collect what was expected. The tolls and charges are calculated on the basis that there will be more kilowatts consumed in 2026. If they are not ultimately consumed, there will be a lack of money to cover the regulated costs, which are already on the rise due to the Recore renewables, the expansion of networks and the adjustments from previous years. If we get ashy. The return of the tariff deficit is at stake. In other words, putting ourselves in the worst possible scenario, if revenues prove insufficient, Spain could return to a known scenario: tariff deficit. In other words, when the bill does not cover the costs of the electrical system, a hole is created that is financed as debt and drags on for years. It took Spain more than a decade to absorb the deficit accumulated between 2000 and 2013—more than 28 billion euros—and the sector fears a partial repeat of that cycle. A gap of just two percentage points between the demand forecast by the Government and the realistic estimate of the CNMC can make the difference between a balanced system or a stressed one. And all in a year in which tolls and charges will rise at the same time for the first time since 2020. And why will everything go up at once? Because in 2026 several impact factors coincide: More investment in networks to integrate renewables and electrification. Higher cost of Recore renewables, which must be compensated according to their contracts. The cumulative impact of the electricity blackout of 360 million, that the marketers still carry. Pending adjustments from previous exercises. 2026: a year that starts uphill. The electricity bill will be the first notice of a year marked by the structural increase in the cost of the electrical system and the need to accelerate investments that sustain the energy transition. More robust networks, more renewables and a more complex system imply higher operating costs. And, once again, it will be consumers who notice in January. Image | freepik Xataka | Spain needs to modernize its electrical grid, so the remuneration rate has increased. The effect will be noticeable in the next five years

The most unexpected treatment against cancer is LED light, and it is giving good results

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Currently there are many research groups that have a very clear objective: find a cancer treatment that is effective, specific and above all safe. Something that can be really complex because of everything that cancer hides behind it, but science continues to give us good news. The last one comes from the University of Texas and the University of Porto which have developed a technique based on tin oxide nanoflakes (SnOx) and LEDs that allows cancer cells to be destroyed with precision. The current problem. The therapy par excellence today in the fight against cancer, without a doubt It’s chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The first of these has numerous problems that have been tried to be corrected, such as low specificity, that is, it attacks both cancer cells like the healthy ones. And this ultimately produces many side effects that can cause you to not continue with the treatment. This makes the goal of science to seek specificity and for the treatment to attack only cancer cells. This is something that is being tried to achieve with immunotherapy and techniques like CAR-T which ultimately is part of personalized medicine for each patient and which offers a very specific selection of the type of cell to destroy. But science has not stopped here. The discovery. One of the techniques that appears to be promising is photothermal therapy (PTT). The concept in this case is quite simple to understand: inject nanomaterials into a tumor and then heat them using light. This logically causes a localized increase in temperature, which selectively destroys the cancer cells that have been marked before. The problem until now was materials and light. Many photothermal therapies require high-powered lasers, which are expensive and can damage surrounding tissue. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Porto have found the key to changing the rules of the game. A secret ingredient. The team has developed a new photothermal agent called nanoflakes that are made of tin oxide. After all, they are tiny sheets with a thickness of less than 20 nanometers and what is really ingenious is how they were manufactured. The really ingenious thing is how they made them. They started from a cheap and abundant material such as tin disulfide, which ironically is useless for photothermal therapy. In this way, through a ‘green’ and scalable process called electrochemical exfoliation with oxidation, which only uses aqueous media, they managed to transform the inactive tin disulfide into tin oxide that was already ready to fight cancer. And the light came. Once this material was available, all that was left was to expose it to the LED irradiation low-cost that emit infrared light at 810 nm. In this case we are talking about radiation that is very safe and does not damage healthy skin as can occur with radiotherapy, and it is also extremely cheap and accessible to everyone (even developing countries). Results. To test the effectiveness, researchers have tested cells in culture. The first thing they saw was that this treatment had no effect on healthy cells, that is, it did not destroy them. But the best comes when applying it to cancer cells results in a great reduction in the different colonies. Specifically, in skin cancer there was a 92% reduction in the viability of tumor cells, while in colorectal cancer this percentage dropped to 50%, but still maintained good results. And all thanks to an increase in temperature from 37 °C to 50 °C in 30 minutes that killed cancer cells. The future. This study not only presents a more efficient material, but validates its use with safer and more economical light sources. The researchers themselves point to the potential of LED systems for applications such as skin cancer treatment, which could theoretically be self-administered at home. This would be a great advantage for patients and would reduce the burden on health systems, although there is still a lot of research ahead to see if this therapy can be viable in a range that will surely not be less than 10 years. Images | National Cancer Institute Logan Voss In Xataka | Colon cancers are increasing alarmingly among young people. We have a suspect: sedentary lifestyle

On this island in Japan there is a traffic light that only turns green once a year, and not precisely to control traffic

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On the small Japanese island of Himakajima there is a traffic light which remains flashing amber or red all year round. Only during one day in May does it change its usual behavior and activate its green light (or blue, as they insist in Japan). This is not a fault. It was designed this way for a reason that goes beyond traffic control. An educational traffic light. The traffic light was installed in 1994 at the Himakajima East Port intersection, but not to regulate traffic. The island barely has 2,000 inhabitants and few vehicles circulate on its roads. The traffic light exists solely to teach children of the place how the urban signals work before they leave the island for larger cities. One less problem. According to explains the Himaka Road Safety Association, which promoted its installation, minors grew up without real experience with traffic lights. Before, they used small models in traffic safety classes, but the children themselves asked “what does a real traffic light look like?” account Kazuo Sugiura, former president of the association, to the local media Asahi. One day a year to learn. Every May, the traffic light is activated for a full day. Third and fifth grade students from the local school go to the crossing accompanied by teachers, parents and authorities. There they practice how to cross correctly: they wait for the color to change, look both ways and cross the zebra crossing with their arm raised, just as they would in any city in Japan. More difficult than expected. The children also discover that calculating the time they have to cross the pass is not as simple as it seems. “It was complicated because it turned red when I was trying to cross,” explained a third-grade student after practicing with her bicycle. The exercise helps them understand the real times of light change and develop security reflexes that they cannot acquire in their daily life on the island. An unexpected tourist curiosity. This little anecdote has gained notoriety beyond Japan. Every year videos and photos circulate on social networks showing the peculiar educational ritual. Some users even consult the local government website to find out the exact date of “green day” and witness the event, although it varies slightly each season. It is already part of the island’s identity. Once the annual training is completed, the traffic light returns to its flashing lights routine. It does not serve any practical function in traffic control, but it has ended up becoming a small symbol of how the community of this island prepares its children for the urban world. The rest of the year, Himakajima remains a quiet place known for its beaches and octopus dishes, with a traffic light that counts down the days until it can turn green again. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | Convenience stores were an emblem of Japan. Until the demographic crisis has revealed the dark side of opening 24 hours

the light of its streetlights and the posters

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Living in a big city is associated with living with a large amount of artificial light. LED street lightsscreens, signs, traffic… great light pollution that is undoubtedly one of the most visible traces of urban progress. But this is something that not only affects biodiversity or sleep, since a study presented in the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2025 suggests that it could also be linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Currently the towns are being left desolate, and the citizens are They are concentrating in the big cities because of the great job or training opportunities they have. But there are always different drawbacks, the noise being possibly very annoying (especially for sleeping and resting), but light is also something to explore. A few weeks ago the topic of the moment was undoubtedly the time change and why experts point out that winter time is the best despite the fact that it gets dark really soon. A debate that focuses on our circadian cycles and sunlightbut we must also take into account the great exposure to artificial lights that we have, especially in large cities. The study. The research, developed by the team of cardiologist Shady Abohashem, from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, analyzed data from 466 Boston adults without active cardiac pathologies. The researchers crossed their brain scans (PET/CT) with satellite images of urban night glow from the New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness. The result was quite clear in this case: the higher the levels of artificial light at night where they lived, the greater the stress-related brain activity and the greater the inflammation of the arteries. Two key indicators of cardiovascular risk, which undoubtedly set off all the alarms. If we put it into concrete figures, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease after five years is 35% higher than that of people who live in large cities. But looking at ten years, this risk stands at 22%. Its mechanism. In order to understand the reason for this data, we have to go to the brain. When this organ detects light at night (a time when in theory there should be complete darkness), the hypothalamic stress axis is activated. This response, maintained over time, can cause inflammation throughout the body and especially atherosclerosis, as has been shown in studies on chronic stress and cardiovascular disease. This phenomenon, Abohashem suggests, would explain how a seemingly harmless environmental factor could be integrated into the cardiac risk equation. Julio Fernández-Mendoza, expert in sleep medicine and author of the recent scientific statement of the American Heart Association on circadian and cardiometabolic healthsums it up like this: “Artificial light at night suppresses melatonin and disrupts the internal clock. This alters blood pressure, metabolism and endothelial function. This new study shows how this alteration can be observed even at the brain and arterial level.” More evidence. But this study is not isolated, since the idea is not new and there is already literature that supports it. For example, a cohort study with more than 400,000 people in South Korea already observed that living in brighter areas increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. The same thing happened in China with a study that detected that prolonged exposure to urban light increased the incidence of coronary heart disease in older adults. Besides, a published review in Sleep Medicine Reviews explains how artificial light can alter melatonin secretion, modify the circadian rhythm and activate low-grade inflammatory reactions in humans. In the end all the ingredients for us to expose ourselves to an alteration in our system. What can we do? Although the new work is observational and has not yet been peer-reviewed, its authors suggest concrete measures that could have a real impact: reducing unnecessary street lighting, implementing motion sensors in residential areas, choosing warm tones (less blue) and, at home, keeping bedrooms dark and free of screens before bed. In the end the idea is the one we have always repeated: maintain good sleep hygiene. Something that is achieved by avoiding looking at your phone minutes before going to sleep or even separating dinner from bedtime in order to maintain the best conditions for our brain. Images | Nao Ya DESIGNECOLOGIST In Xataka | Science has been trying to figure out the best time to go to sleep for decades. And you are already close to an answer

Wearing glasses against “blue light” is a thing of the past. The future is anti-recognition glasses

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Facial recognition has been on our phones for years and is increasingly being implemented in more places. Airports, police investigations and even apps that want to implement it to prove that we are human. More and more systems they want to see our faces and concerns about privacy are increasing. The first invention to protect us from mass surveillance is here and comes in the form of glasses. ID Guard. It is the name that Zennia company that sells glasses online, has put its new lenses. They have a pink coating that reflects the infrared light used by many facial recognition systems like Apple’s FaceID. When we try to unlock the iPhone with them on, the eyes darken and that means the system is not able to verify the user. The problem. They count in 404media The problem with this technology is that it only works with systems that use infrared light. That is, we can still be identified through a normal photo. Most facial recognition systems that we can find on the street, for example those at airports or those used by the police, use normal cameras. New concern. We have been using biometric data to access mobile phones for years. However, unlike the fingerprint, our face is much more accessible and with the emergence of AI, Recognizing each other is easier than ever. There are services like PimEyes or Lenso.ai that recognize faces in just seconds simply from an image. Zenni’s glasses are a response to this new concern, although perhaps they arrive too soon, and they still have to solve the problem of recognition with normal cameras. Doxing. It is a type of attack in which a person’s private information is revealed. When we talk about mass surveillance we think of systems run by governments and authorities, but it goes beyond that. A “doxing“It is when, for example, someone records you, uploads the video to the networks and identifies you only from your image. We have recent cases such as the infidelity that was revealed by the kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert or that of that man who stole a child’s cap during the US Open. Video surveillance. There are many countries that have implemented massive video surveillance systems. The country that comes to mind before this mass surveillance thing is Chinabut there are many more places in the world full of cameras. In Europe we have the case of London, which has almost a million cameras installed in its streets. In United States, police are using facial recognition to arrest suspects (and making mistakes) and in The European Union approved the use of facial recognition in 2024 by the authorities. Image | Karola G, Pexels In Xataka | To what extent is it legal to use smart glasses like Facebook’s and record everything and everyone on the street?

Spanish scientists have created a material that swallows 99.5% of light. And it is great news for renewables

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At first glance they look like invisible needles, thin to the extreme and tiny like a thousandth of a human hair. A group of Spanish researchers has created ultra-black nanoneedles that absorb up to 99.5% of the solar radiation they receive, a record figure that not only sets an optical record, but will increase the efficiency of solar thermal plants. Made in Euskadi. The discovery comes from the Thermophysical Properties of Materials group at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). There, the researchers have designed a surface composed of copper cobaltate nanoneedles—a mixed oxide of copper and cobalt—with exceptional optical properties. Its ultra-black tone and its resistance to humidity and high temperatures make it ideal for solar tower receivers. According to tests, the material achieves an absorption of 99.5% of sunlight, surpassing black silicon (95%) and carbon nanotubes (99%). “We are looking for ultra-black materials for more efficient solar towers,” noted researcher Íñigo González de Arrieta. A change for solar energy. In concentrating solar thermal power plants (CSP), hundreds of mirrors reflect and concentrate sunlight towards a central tower. There, heat is used to melt salts that retain thermal energy and allow electricity to be generated even when the sun has already set.The key is to take advantage of each photon: if the receiver material reflects part of the light, that energy is lost. And this is where the new nanoneedles come into play. Until now, the most used material was black silicon, with an absorption level of 95%. The new nanoneedles, on the other hand, could raise that figure significantly and, with it, make solar thermal energy, one of the most promising clean sources in countries like Spain, more competitive and profitable. Beyond the blackest black. Carbon nanotubes seemed unbeatable: dark as a vacuum, capable of trapping almost all light. But they had an invisible enemy: the heat and humidity deteriorated them quickly. The copper cobaltate nanoneedles, developed by the Basque team, endure what their predecessors could not. They withstand temperatures above 700 degrees without losing effectiveness and, in addition, they are more stable. In solar towers, that difference can translate into more energy and less maintenance. A real impact. Dr. Renkun Chen, from the University of California, San Diego, is collaborating with the Basque team and the United States Department of Energy to study the feasibility of applying nanoneedles to industrial solar plants. “We observed that these nanoneedles performed better than the carbon nanotubes used until now, and that their performance increased when coated with zinc oxide,” Chen explained.. However, González de Arrieta himself clarifies that there is still some way to go: the next pilot-scale tests will determine if the process is economically viable and if the material can be produced industrially without losing its optical properties. Darker, brighter. Ultrablack nanoneedles are an example of how nanotechnology applied to energy can have a direct impact on global sustainability. The UPV/EHU team plans to continue developing new compounds with better thermal and optical conductivity, designed to withstand the challenges of future solar towers. Promoting this renewable energy offers many advantages: it is totally clean and can also be used when the sun does not shine,” recalled González de Arrieta. And if everything goes as expected, the future of solar energy could be, paradoxically, darker than ever. Image | Flickr Xataka | In the midst of a trade war, there is a battle that China has already won: that the world depends on its new energy

Marcos Llorente has an eccentric and disturbing relationship with light. And science has things to say about it.

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Marcos Llorente is news. Again. And not because of football or anything remotely related to sports. It is because a video of almost four minutes recorded (and published) by the RFEF during the Red concentration in which the man from Madrid reveals some of his “healthy” habits, practices that include the use of red lights inside the house or glasses with yellow lenses to filter blue light. Opinions that highlight its eccentric appearance and raise the eyebrows of the experts. What has happened? That Marcos Llorente has become news beyond the sports pages. And he has done it on account of a video published by the RFEF in which he does not talk about techniques, his play on the field or how he sees the National Team facing the next World Cup. No. What he’s talking about is his personal health routines. More specifically those related to light and sight. What exactly did he say? First of all, at home you only use certain lights. “During the day I don’t turn on the light because either I’m always in the garden or, if I go into the kitchen or living room for anything, light comes in through the windows,” explains in the video under intense reddish lighting. “When the sun goes down, this is the light I have throughout the house. What this lamp does is bring that red and infrared into the room and makes it more similar to the light outside.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. Is there more? Yes. The man from Madrid elaborates on an accessory that has been seen on him on other occasions and it has also caused people to talk: the yellow lens glasses. “They are for when you are, during the day, indoors. Outside you should never wear glasses of any kind. They should always give you the sun’s rays in your eyes and skin, without anything interfering. And red glasses, with the red lens, what they do is filter all that blue light that lamps and televisions or telephones have.” And why all that? For health. Or at least that is what the footballer maintains, who defends that what he does transcends his role as a footballer. “I feel very good. All these things I do are for health, not for football. What happens is that in the end one thing is linked to the other. I think that when I leave football I will continue with this and surely I can do it more perfect,” concludes the man from Madridwho during the video shares other of his habits, such as going outside before dawn or starting the day with coffee and “two or three tablespoons” of butter. What do the experts say? Whatever Marcos Llorente says, the effectiveness of the filters is debatable to say the least. In an article Published a few years ago, the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology already insisted that “blue light from screens does not affect the eyes or cause blindness.” The report was actually launched after a study “of dubious scientific origin” created alarm with “unfounded conclusions” about the supposed impact that this light can have on eyesight. “Although blue light is often associated with computers and phones, the largest source of blue light is sunlight. Exposure to blue light from screens is much less than the amount of blue light we are exposed to from the sun. Additionally, it is no more harmful than sunlight,” comment Dr. Rahul Kurana, spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Do the lenses work? Ophthalmologist Sara E. Hernández is blunt in statements collected by The Vanguard: “There is little or no effect of lenses or glasses with a yellow filter on visual performance, measured in terms of best corrected visual acuity, compared to lenses without a blue light filter.” There are studies, such as It is published in 2013 in Journal of Human Kineticswho after carrying out tests with colored lenses found that there are no “significant differences” in issues such as visual acuity or depth perception. Where does this come from? Concerns about blue light and the benefits of filters are not new, as remember the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology itself, and have been expanding as the use of screens and LED lights spread. They have spoken on the subject users, academics and collegiateincluding the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which in 2017 published an article written by Celia Vilmont and reviewed by Dr. Khurana that begins with a blunt statement: “There is no scientific evidence that blue light from digital devices can cause damage to the eyes.” Now Marcos Llorente becomes the new greatest exponent of these theories, despite the paucity of evidence scientific. Is it something new? More or less. The RFEF video is new, but it is not the first time that Llorente has made headlines for his opinions on topics that have nothing to do with football. In his day it was for the use of glasses and now it is also for his statements about the chemtrails. His words achieve notoriety for several reasons. The first, his status as a footballer. The second, the speaker that you have beyond your personal networks, such as the official account of the National Team or media in which share his extra-sports comments. Images | RFEF In Xataka | Some Nordic cities are putting red lights on their streetlights. It looks like a horror movie, but it makes sense

Data centers shooting the light of light in the houses

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Spain is betting very strong for the development and creation of new data centers. The AI ​​boom has infected our country, and although that attracts investment and economic capital, it can also lead to serious problems for consumers. Especially a very clear one: that we pay more for the light. Spain, care with data centers. In recent months we have seen how Data centers construction projects grow In our country. It is estimated that in the Community of Madrid there will be a power of 1.7 GW in 2030, which is paradoxical, because it is the region with greater energy deficit in Spain and the one that is staying with a good part of these projects. Aragon, in another league. Aragon has so many projects of data centers that He showed his disappointment When he knew that the reinforcement of the electricity network for those facilities throughout Spain will be 3.8 GW. Those responsible for the Aragonese government described the figure of “scarce”, especially considering that this region has projects that projects that projects that projects that They would exhaust that capacity alone. The US teaches us (worrying) future. A Bloomberg investigation It reveals how in the last five years the creation of new data centers is making the light invoice rise remarkably. Those centers, previously dedicated to expanding the cloud infrastructure and now totally focused on the AI ​​boom, are behind that increase in light invoice. Energy consumption is triggered in these facilities, and ends up affecting electricity prices in surrounding regions. Prices that almost quadruplic. In 2020 Baltimore residents paid average $ 17 per MW/h. In 2025 that price is $ 38 per MW/h. In Buffalo the thing is even worse, and prices have tripled in five years: they have gone from $ 11 to 33 per MW/h. In the areas of the United States close to large concentrations of data centers, the wholesale price of electricity has risen up to 267% In the last five years. LMP are nodes of the electricity grid that determine the wholesale price of electricity. Almost three out of four have seen price increases when they are close to data centers. Those who are in farther areas have come to see their reduced prices. Source: Bloomberg. Unequal climb. The study reveals how wholesale electricity prices in the US have increased significantly in recent years, although it is true that these increases have been applied unequally at the geographical level: certain areas have seen modest increases, but others have seen how the light of the light was fired and grew up to that aforementioned 267%, close to quadruple. The condemnation of data centers. 70% of the points at which price increases were recorded are less than 80 kilometers of data centers with significant activity. It is a fact that makes it clear that the impact of these data centers on the light of the residents is clear. And this goes to more. Current estimates, Indicates Bnefprevent the energy demand for data centers in the US will double for 2035 and will be the largest increase in energy demand since the 60s. Thus, in ten years that demand will represent 9% of the total. At the global level, the data centers are expected to consume more than 4% of the electricity consumed in 2035. If those facilities were a country, they would be the room in energy consumption, only behind China, USA and India. Perfect storm. The demand is also linked to the rise of cryptodivisas, the impulse of manufacturing in the US and the “electrification of the economy”, which includes areas such as electric vehicles or domestic heating systems. The withdrawal of traditional mining facilities in areas such as Baltimore has only aggravated the economic problem: there is less energy supply and more demand, which makes prices again increase. The world already knows what comes over and is reacting. What is happening in the US is already causing reactions in other countries. Holland: Water and energy needs made the Amsterdam City Council in 2019 imposed A moratorium for the construction of new data centers. Singapore: also established a pause for the creation of this type of facilities between 2019 and 2022, although the government made clear which would be more selective in future projects. Ireland: In 2024 the country reached a worrying milestone. Data centers They already consumed more than households. 5% of the country’s total consumption went through in 2015 to 18% in 2022 and 21% in 2023. Household consumption represented that year 18%. The solution: that the Big Tech pay that invoice. Public service companies in the US such as Dominion Power are clear that “data centers should pay the full cost of their energy consumption.” Large technological ones know very well that these facilities raise an extraordinary energy demand, and They are investigating solutions like him Use of SMR reactors for their AI data centers. The idea is interesting, But complex. Supply and demand. Spain faces a future in which energy supply and demand could be unbalanced as it is already happening in the United States. If data centers begin to impose more and more load on the network, it is reasonable to think that the cost of electricity increases and causes the least desirable effect for users: the rise in the light invoice. Renewables could help mitigate the problem, but only If the network is capable of absorbing Both the new generation and the new mass demand of the data centers. Image | Microsoft

The light bill has shot up to 267% in the US

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“I could not keep paying such an invoice,” says a woman from Baltimore. In the areas of the United States close to large concentrations of data centers, the wholesale price of electricity has risen up to 267% in the last five years. To anyone’s surprise, consumers are assuming these costs in the light bill. Short. An exhaustive Bloomberg analysis He has crossed the prices of 25,000 points of the American electricity grid with the location of the country’s data centers. The result is devastating: more than 70% of the nodes that registered large price increases are less than 80 kilometers from a Data centers cluster. AI and the price of light. According to the International Energy Agency, the electricity consumed by data centers will double up to 945 twh from here to 2030overcoming the demand for entire countries like France or Japan. The AI ​​will be the main engine of this increase. While large technological ones defend that their data centers bring investment, high quality jobs and tax revenues that benefit the adjacent communities, the residents of these large energy monsters have been suffering less debated consequences. A matter of supply and demand. The energy demand of the AI ​​data centers is so high that it is carrying the auctions of electrical capacity at record prices. The phenomenon is especially visible In the accounts of the largest network operator in the United States, PJM Interconnection, which covers 13 states. In its last annual auction, the load of the data centers fired the sale of PJM capacity In 7.3 billion dollars, 82% more. The reason is simple: energy demand grows much faster than the ability to generate new electricity. But the consequences go beyond simply encouraging the installation of new energy sources. The wholesale price that electricity pays to guarantee the future supply affects both the invoices of the companies and the households. David against Goliath. To understand the conflict at street level, it is enough to travel to Virginia, home of the largest concentration of world data centers. It is estimated that Between the 3rd and 40% of world Internet traffic Go through your servers. Here, the Dominion Energy electric company expects demand to grow 85% by 2039. If they were not the data centers, the growth would be only 10%. But here they are, so new infrastructure will be needed, such as high voltage towers and electrical substations, which will have to be paid. And who pays? Today, these expenses are distributed among all the clients of the electric company, from a small apartment to the gigantic data center. It does not happen only in the US. Although the epicenter of the crisis is in the United States, due to its leadership position with AI, the problem is global. Technology companies seek to expand their infrastructure throughout the world, and voltage in electrical networks is replicated. In the United Kingdom, the greatest demand from data centers could Electricity prices more expensive 9% by 2040. In Malaysia, the government has had to Increase electrical rates of the data centers as the new facilities test the country’s supply capacity. The social cost of technological progress. Data centers are not born by spontaneous generation. Someone has to build and maintain them, which generates employment. In Virginia, they contribute 9,100 million dollars to state GDP. The career of giants such as Microsoft, Amazon or Google is reviving investment in renewable energy and more efficient chips. But as long as the electricity grid does not supply and the light invoices continue to rise, the debate on the cost of AI for citizens will continue to fueling. Image | Rawpixel In Xataka | Google has finally revealed how much electricity and water consumes its AI. Estimates could not be more wrong

Science has reviewed everything we know about sleeping well. The most important thing is the most obvious: light

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In a saturated world of ‘life and gadgets that promise a perfect break, since face mask until Mantas with weightscience reminds us that the key to have a good sleep quality It is not in the product that appears in Tiktok, but in have a good sleep hygiene. And this happens to synchronize with our internal biological clock, what we know as the circadian rhythms. A concept on which it continues to be investigated and that allows us to know how our body is scheduled to sleep. The issue in this case is that modern life, with its artificial light and its chaotic schedules, It is the main enemy of these rhythms. And therefore of ourselves. A business. The market that exists around products that promise to help us have a better rest, the truth is that it generates billions of dollars a year. A figure that is logical, since nobody wants to spend the night and be the next day asking for coffee for the corners. And to avoid this we many times turn to whatever we see that they tell us that it works. However, many of these remedies are not only ineffective, but can be counterproductive. Andrew Mchill, a scientist specialized in circadian rhythms of the Oregon Health & Science University, warns That failed attempts can discourage people to seek professional help, worsening the situation. The solution. If we stick to science, the solution is completely free. The key is in Understand and respect our internal biological watches. A system of ‘watches’ that is present in each cell of the organism and that needs to be synchronized with the ‘central clock’ of the organism that is in the hypothalamus and specifically in the supraquiasmatic nucleus. To do this, this nucleus receives light signals that come through the eyes by the optical nerve that allows you to synchronize vital body functions such as the sleep-vigilia cycle and the production of hormones such as melatonin, which, which it is increasingly important Beyond allowing us to reconcile the dream such as repairing the data in our body. With a small nuance of basic physiology, Melatonin production It is suppressed or inhibited due to light collection. At the time the environment darkens, the pineal gland begins to release melatonin. And his mismatch has consequences that go beyond morning fatigue by affecting cognition, mood and reaction time. The contrasts. One of the keys is in the light as we have said, especially in the blue wavelength. This makes the daytime light rich in these blue tones, Synchronize our circadian rhythms throughout the day. But when the night comes and we are on the couch watching the last Instagram or Tiktok reos this blue light of the screens makes our body end up dislocating. Literally, with this constant exposure to the blue light we are indicating the body that is still daytime and that has to be underway and not decay. Something that ultimately triggers the hated insomnia. A study of Global Health Institute of Barcelona (ISGlobal) He warns that overexposure to the “blue light” of electronic devices alters our sleep-vigilia cycle when interfering with melatonin production. The solution, according to experts, is to seek contrast: expose ourselves to natural light during the day and reduce exposure to artificial light at night. A simple outdoor walk or work near a window can make a big difference. At night, it is advisable to lower the intensity of the lights, turn off the screens or use applications that adjust the color temperature to warmer tones. Or even bet on red lights that does not interfere with melatonin production. Meals. Our digestive system also has its own schedule, causing hormones that cause or inhibit hunger, digestive or even Insulin itself also works by rhythms. This makes eating on the undo, especially late at night, alters these watches and can cause digestive problems, an increase in body temperature and an increase in glucose levels, which makes sleep difficult. And it makes enough sense. When the end of the day is approaching and the sun begins to wear, the body begins to prepare to sleep, reducing insulin, which is a fundamental hormone to control blood glucose levels. In the event that we give us a binge during the night, we are causing these insulin levels to have to rise compulsively when the body is going down. Something that completely dislocates to the body. The recommendation is to follow what you have surely heard: “Breakfast like a king, eats like a prince and dinner like a beggar.” The last meal of the day should be at least three hours before bedtime. The consistency. Sleep The right time is as important as the amount of hours we sleep. Our body has an optimal sleep window, which varies according to our chronotype (if we are “evening” or “morning”). However, work and study schedules often force us to ignore our biological clock. The Spanish Sleep Society (SES) He insists on the importance of maintaining regular sleep schedules, even on weekends, to keep our circadian rhythm synchronized. The generalized use of alarmrs is proof that most of us live in conflict with our constant biology. Seek help. Something very important in these cases is to seek help from professionals in the event that the biological clock is completely uncontrolled. In many situations, exogenous melatonin can be administered at high doses accompanied by a plan to improve sleep hygiene. But beyond this, Mayic Mayic It offers different tips that can be obvious how to create an adequate rest environment, exercise regularly, control food and especially establish the most appropriate relaxation routine. Although clearly getting away from the screens and maintaining an adequate schedule is the most recommended so that we can finally sleep peacefully. Images | Shane In Xataka | Something is stealing our dream and they are not just the screens. A neurologist helps us understand what is really happening

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