literally

Our computers are literally full, the problem is that it is almost impossible to extract it. Or we believed

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Gold is one of the metals with better electrical conductivity. For this reason, it is used in many electronic components, mainly in computers, but also in smartphones or sound systems. The problem is that extracting it from these pieces is very complicated and the cost it means does not compensate. Or we believed. Swiss researchers They have created a method to extract precious metal from a serum protein. Find gold in the trash. The components where gold is used most They are the PCB or printed circuit plates that we find in all types of devices, from computers to smartphones. It can also be found in processors, connectors and HDD hard drives. The problem, as we said, is that the existing methods to extract this metal are very complex and expensive. In addition, it is often necessary to use very toxic chemical components, although that does not stop that many Try it in your own houses. For all this, it is often not worth the effort to the small amounts that are extracted. The extraction process. Whey protein. Researchers at the Federal Polytechnic School of Zurich have managed to extract gold with a new more efficient, sustainable and cheap method. As? With serum protein ‘whey’ (yes, the Gym shakes). To do this, they submitted proteins to acidic conditions and high temperatures. These form nanofibers that are added to a gel and, after drying, forms a kind of sponge. It is not the first time we hear that Whey protein is used for similar purposes. A few months ago China managed to recycle the electric car batteries thanks to the glycine present in these shakes. Who was going to tell us that in addition to getting strong, it would serve to extract gold or recycle batteries. The method. The researchers used 20 computer base plates, from which they extracted all metal parts and dissolved them in an acid bath that ionized the metals. The next step was to submerge the sponge in the solution. Although there are other metals that adhere to the fibers that form it, the researchers discovered that gold ions adhere much better. Once “captured”, the sponge is heated and the ions are released and can melt to create a gold peep. Cheaper. The 20 motherboards resulted in a 450 milligrams gold cupcake with 91% purity (the remaining 9% was copper), or what is the same: 22 korates. At the current price of gold, La Pepita would have a value of about 35 euros. It is not much, but the researchers affirm that the cost of the materials and energy necessary for extraction is 50 times less than that of gold obtained. The next step is to climb this technology to be able to apply it to the market. Images | Eth zurich In Xataka | Our dependence on lithium batteries is worrying. These are the alternatives that aspire to replace them

A country has literally found the bomb -proof solution to the large electrical blackouts: Ukraine

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It happened a few hours ago. Among the multiple calls that the Spanish Government has received from countries, worrying about the emergency situation after The national blackoutone did not go unnoticed. Zelensky, president of Ukraine, called Pedro Sánchezand not only to show your support, but to provide all the necessary help. After all, if anyone knows about blackouts, that is the nation of the East. They have learned to survive in the dark and Russian bomb proof. The devastation of the electrical system. From the beginning of the large -scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has directed a good part of its attacks against infrastructure Ukrainian energy. Last summer, Ukraine had lost and in just three months More than nine gigawatts of generation capacity, more than a third of the one it owned before the war. According to Ukrenergo dataThis would be equivalent to the total demand of countries such as the Netherlands at peak hours, or even the sum of Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Winter. All state thermal plants were destroyed and all hydroelectric plants had suffered damage to missiles or drones. The strategy of Russian attacks was clear: it was not only sought to destroy military capacity, but to break the soul of a society through forced darkness, interrupting the most essential: Heating, running water, elevators, communications, operating rooms or the simple possibility of maintaining an organized civil life. Today, and according to the UN agency for refugees, More than 60% From the country’s electricity generation capacity it has been destroyed or useless. In a country where winter is not only a station but an existential threat, running without energy is running out of heating, without water, without communications. For millions, electricity represents the last bastion between dignity and precarious survival. Survive blackouts. He told the last July the BBC that the blackouts in Ukraine had become a presence as constant as the war itself. In cities such as Odessa, Kyiv or Zaporizhzhia, electricity was an intermittent luxury, a resource that appears and disappears under the buzzing of the generators or the sepulchral silence of the fallen network. In that context, electricity ceased to be just a comfort to become the threshold between life and death. Cases like Tetiana’smother of a child with serious disabilities, who lives that truth every day: her son depends on breathing machines, feeding and receiving medication. Without stable supply, his life hangs from a thread. In your home, prolonged blackouts (sometimes twelve hours a day) force to constantly feed a gasoline generator that, in addition, must stop every six hours so as not to overheat. When your child convulses, the minutes without mobile or ambulance coverage are transformed into torture. In words to the British environment“You can die if you don’t receive oxygen. I am missing words.” Thus thin is the line between chaos and survival. Scheduled cuts. In August of last year there was a substantial change in the struggle of Ukraine to the blackouts. A Mondayhundreds of missiles and Russian drones fell on the nation. First the electricity was cut, then the water. That day marked the Greater Russian air attack against Ukrainian energy infrastructure since the beginning of large -scale invasion. The bombing continued the next day, raising the number of deaths to twelve and leaving millions of people throughout the country. The largest private energy company in Ukraine, DTEKmade a decision: Apply scheduled cuts In multiple regions: Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk. On the periphery of the capital, the neighbors began to live with six hours of blackout followed by two hours with electricity, in the early morning. A rhythm that allowed planning (even if not resting). Loading with energy. The result of the situation is that Ukraine has learned to live with the blackouts. What would have paralyzed the country before, today faced with Decentralized solutions. In Kyiv, the so -called “invincibility points” offer citizens electrical charge and the Internet during the cuts. But many do not even go to them: they have made portable batteries an object as essential as mobile phone or keys. Most shops, from street stalls to shopping centers, already have their own generators. In fact and as we said, that buzz of its engines has become the usual soundtrack of the blackouts. Examples Told the CNN Maksym Holubchenko, a 25 -year -old barista in the capital, that his cafeteria remains open thanks to one of those generators. However, it does not supply to cover all the demand: in winter you can maintain the operation, but in summer they must turn off the air conditioning and parts of the coffee maker so as not to overload the system. Adaptation is not comfortable, it is simply the result of an urgent need, and a resistance without alternatives. For Inna, an 87 -year -old woman from Odessa, the current situation arouses ancient echoes. “I already survived World War, so I have some experience … I bought candles,” He reported. His story underlines a painful paradox: a modern, European country, with full integration ambitions in the West, forced to technologically retreat, to depend on the rudimentary to face the essential. The candles, thermos, the portable loaders, the calendars marked by electric cuts … make up a new normality born of the energy siege. Go to the bank without light. Before prolonged blackouts caused by Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, the National Bank of Ukraine has also launched the Power Banking Projecta network of autonomous bank branches designed to operate without depending on the electricity supply. These “unwavering” offices will be equipped with generators, special communication channels, ATMs, additional and effective personnel available, allowing citizens to access essential services such as money withdrawals, payments, transfers, currency change and financial advice even during prolonged cuts. In addition, a “National Roaming System” Between ATMs, with unified limits and without commissions between banks, initiative already adopted by entities Like Oschadbankto guarantee equitable cash access throughout the country. Broken as a resistance symbol. In short, Ukraine applies preventive cuts Not only … Read more

It is literally from another world

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Names Like BugattiFerrari or pagani They usually occupy the first positions in the most expensive car lists in the world. However, there is a vehicle whose cost far exceeds Ferrari 250 Gto that, according to Forbesit was sold for 51.7 million dollars. However, despite all that luxury exhibitionfirst engineering and leather, none of the current supercoches has yet surpassed a car made in 1971 that does not appear in auctions and can not even drive on earth. Lunar roving vehicle (LRV) was the first convertible electric off That only astronauts have had the privilege of driving and their test track was nothing less than the surface of the moon. There were no luxuries, but it is still the most exclusive Far from being a whim of millionairesthis vehicle was designed to survive in a completely hostile environment, without air, without roads and with a much lower gravity than the land. The most expensive car in history ended up being a lunar buggy that changed space exploration forever and whose price places it at an unattainable level for any other car. He Lunar Roving Vehicle It was developed by NASA and manufactured by Boeing and Delco Electronics for Apollo 15, 16 and 17, and only four units were built, although only three arrived at the Moon; The fourth was reserved for spare parts. This simple car was an authentic miracle of technology for its time. It was a Electric SUV of four motor wheels, each with its own independent engine. In 1971 he already had the same traction technology that some currently use luxury electric cars. However, unlike the exclusive Bugatti or the McLaren, the LRV never exceeded 14 km/h, although its maximum speed was 18 km/h. Its speed was limited for security reasons. 384,400 km away of the closest workshopany caution is little. This speed limit was only disabled in 1972, when astronaut Eugene Cernan managed to reach 18 km/h during the Apollo 17 mission, establishing the Lunar speed record. Good luck speed radars They have not yet reached the moon. The LRV did not have a conventional steering wheel, but a joystick -type command that allowed control and speed. It worked thanks to two non -rechargeable batteries of 36 volts and could travel up to 90 kilometersmore than enough for the objectives of the Apollo missions. With 3.10 meters long and 1.80 meters wide, the LRV weighed only 210 kg empty, but was able to transport twice its weight, including two astronauts with their scientific costumes and equipment. Among its technological innovations, the Lunar Buggy had front and rear cameras, a navigation gyroscope and a remote controlled television camera from Houston. As he collected The avant -gardethanks to LRV, astronauts of the Apollo 15 mission They could explore 27.8 kilometers of lunar surface, greatly expanding the scope of scientific research. The most expensive car ever built The development and construction of the lunar Roving Vehicle was a colossal investment. In 1971, its cost amounted to 38 million dollars, a figure that, adjusted to inflation, is equivalent to approximately 281 million dollars in 2025. This means that the Lunar Buggy cost almost the triple of the 100 million dollars that cost the development of the Bugatti La Vaiture Noirewhich ended up selling at an auction for 16.3 million dollars, widely exceeding any other known supercar. The three units that arrived at the Moon with the three Apollo missions remain parked there since the 70s. NASA did not contemplate its return due to the excess weight it would add to the lunar module takeoff. Thus, these vehicles, with a current value close to 300 million dollars each, are still parked on the lunar surface converted into unique pieces in the history of engineering and space exploration. The equivalent to Your parking ticket It would be an invoice of about 93,000 million euros, which is what the NASA budgetedFor the Artemis missions that will take man again to the moon. All that China forward And they parquer your double row electric lunar rover. In Xataka | This 1,000 hp electric supercar is a wheel vacuum. And to demonstrate it they have put it to do the pine In Xataka | They are founders and ultra -ups, but they have not always driven luxury supercoches: a review of the cars of the Tech millionaires Image | Wikimedia Commons (Nasa/Dave Scott, NASA LRV Stowage, Alejandro Migl)

The Canary Islands have seven islands, but only one has escaped from the hordes of tourists. His secret is on earth, literally

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The Canarian archipelago is officially seven islands: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro. In addition, we have four islets and a series of Roques (next to a centenary dispute for tiny lands, although that It is another story). The curious thing about the islands is that almost all, to a greater or lesser extent, have ended under the influence of mass tourism. With the exception of one, whose nature gave an “advantage” over the rest: iron. Shine without looking for it. Ironthe smallest, western, less visited and better preserved from all the Canary Islands, has begun to attract the attention of a time to this part, although surely, despite many stores. First was the Netflix series Iron in 2019 the one that put it on the audiovisual map. Later, during the pandemic, he once again occupied headlines in half the world. The reasons: to be one of the first territories of Spain in get out of confinement In June 2020, and for having registered alone A COVID-19 case during the health crisis. Thus came the international recommendations that placed it between the Best destinations in Europe In 2021, but the island continues as is, it has barely changed its leisurely way of life, or its resistance to the transformations that did shape the rest of the archipelago in recent decades. His secret is a paradox: What does not have He does it more strong to the hordes. The island of “No”. The peculiarity of the island resides in what it has decided Do not have: Without chain hotels, without tourist complexes, without elevators or buildings of more than two floors, the island also does not have extensive beaches, although it possesses A network of puddles (natural pools) of an incomparable beauty. Here its geography is key, since reaching it outside the archipelago already implies at least two journeys (by plane, via Tenerife or Gran Canaria, or in Ferry, via Tenerife), since there are no direct international flights or maritime connections from the peninsula or abroad. With just 11,000 inhabitants And a surface that is equivalent to half of Ibiza, the traffic is very small and the sensation remains to be in a territory where modernity has barely touched essential things. And yet, since 2018, iron almost completely self-abused with renewable energies, thanks to its hydro-eolic power plant Gorona del Vientoconsolidating itself as a world reference in sustainability. Indomitable nature. While the major islands of the Canarian archipelago face a growing social resistance to the Mass tourismIron has deliberately adopted a radically different model. Instead of joining the urbanization spiral, direct flights and mass tourism, the island has opted for a strategy of leisurely growthintegral sustainability and an intimate bond with nature. Arising from the ocean 1.2 million years ago For violent underwater eruptions, the island displays an abrupt and wild geography where impressive cliffs, volcanic boilers and dense laurisilva forests coexist with undulating meadows, centenary pine forests and abrupt black rock costs that make it a paradise for hiking, contemplation and, ultimately, an unstable instance. To get an idea, in 2023 Just 20,300 visitors They arrived on the island (in contrast to the more than 6.5 million that Tenerife receivedFor example). Sabinar Tourism to last. There is more, of course. As we said before, since 1997, iron develops an ambitious Sustainable Development Plan which has oriented its tourist model towards a way of traveling with limited impact, focused on the valuation of the natural environment and local culture. They have been created Seven Visitors and Museums CentersInfrastructure has been improved without breaking the landscape balance (the first asphalted road came in 1962 and even today there is only one traffic light), and activities that privilege contact with the environment have been encouraged. In this regard, Davinia Suárez Armas, insular director of Tourism and Transportation, summed up the BBC The spirit of the island: grow without deteriorating the quality of life of residents or compromising their natural resources. In fact, it is possible to travel in less than an hour from the warm coast of the South to the Capital of Valverdecrossing microclimates ranging from arid plains to humid fog forests, where more than a hundred endemic species thrive, including criticism El Hierro giant lizardwhich motivated the entire island to be declared Biosphere Reserve in 2000 and Geoparque in 2014 for Unesco. Resistance symbols. Among closed curves, volcanic landscapes and pastures whipped by the wind, it appears The pasturewhere the most famous trees of the enclave grow: the Sabinares twisted for centuries of Alisios winds, turned into living symbols of the Herreña resistance. In that sense, self -sufficiency has been part of the island DNA since the arrival of The bimbachesBerber people settled around 120. Without rivers or natural lakes, they learned to collect water from the fog, especially from legendary tree Garoéwhose location is traveled today through the Water route. Plus: this 16 -kilometer circular path San Andrés connectsthe tallest town on the island, with deposits, aljibes and remains of primitive hydraulic technologies, all witnesses of a history marked by water scarcity and migratory waves, especially towards Venezuela. The Virgin Downfour -year party dedicated to the Virgen de los Reyes (who, according to tradition, ended the Great drought from 1741), keeps that spiritual legacy that mixes need and faith alive. Self -sufficiency. In 2014, the island opened Gorona del Vientothe pioneer central that combines wind and hydraulic energy thanks to its privileged geography. The system pumps desalted water from a coastal deposit to a volcanic boiler at 700 meters of altitude when there is a surplus of wind, and releases that flow in times without wind to generate electricity with hydraulic turbines. In August 2015, he first managed to supply the entire island for four hours. In 2024, he beat a global record: 24 consecutive days operating exclusively with clean energy, which avoided the emission of 13,708 tons of CO₂ and the consumption of more than 4,500 tons of diesel. Yet, Climate change … Read more

It has rained so much that Spanish legumes are literally rage

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A phytosanitary alert. Most of the time everything starts like this: a phytosanitary alert and chaos. In this case, the alarm He has launched it The Junta de Castilla y León and the reason has been the rage and Mildiu. We do not know if 2025 will be the worst year for legumes in Spain, but of course it will try. What happened? That the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development Spanish and Leonesa “He has issued A phytosanitary alert aimed at farmers in the region, especially those who cultivate legumes “before the detection of rage (disgust) and Mildiu. It is no accident. The abundant rain of recent months creates the perfect conditions for these two diseases to extend like gunpowder. They are two diseases of fungal origin that cause lesions in leaves, stems or pods. And, in general, they greatly reduce the performance of the bushes. What does the alert entail? In general, a series of recommendations. The Board asks farmers to monitor their plots actively, make an individualized diagnosis if they find visible symptoms of the disease and manage it according to the Technical Support Protocols which facilitates the Ministry. But is it really a problem? Yes. Having fungi of this type belling at ease for some of the main agricultural areas of the country is always a problem. But as if that were a little, it is a quite bad year for legumes. And the best example is the chickpeas. In good part of the country, chickpea plantations They go with great delay. In general, the chickpea has to be more than 100 days in the countryside and “this year, hopefully, will pass 60”. In fact, Just a couple of weeks ago“the plant would have to measure a span and still without sowing” because the accumulation of water on the grounds made it unfeasible. This is a problem because The norms of common agricultural policy obliges to farmers to plant legumes. So we find crops under developed by meteorology and that are widespread for an administrative issue: there is only a plague to round the argument of an economic and productive crisis of a considerable size. To this we must add that our largest chickpea supplier (Commercial war through) It is the United States. And what will happen? It is a good question. Except that implode the international market, consumers are not likely to notice all this. After all, Mexico, Canada and other countries They are in conditions to compensate for our legume needs. At the productive level, The thing is more complicated: As I said, the PAC makes exposure to a bad legume harvest high. And that will complicate the life of a good part of a sector that, After years of droughtI hoped to recover normal this 2025. All scenario are on the table, but what seems clear is that lthe processes of Fielding of the field will accelerate. Image | Shelley Pauls | Aemet In Xataka | It has rained 143% more than normal this March. Although it does not seem like it, for the Spanish field it is also a problem

“With Spherex we will literally map all heaven”

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NASA has put a new space observatory in orbit: Spherex. This cone -shaped telescope has the mission of creating a complete and detailed map of the sky in infrared light every six months, complementing the observations of the powerful James Webb space telescope. Panoramics of the observable universe. Spherex are the acronym of spectro-pHotometer for the history of the universe, efoch of reion and ices explorer. With its ability to observe the full sky in 102 different infrared colors, the space telescope will complement the findings of the Webb, whose specialty is the deep and detailed observations of specific regions of the universe. In NASA Words: “We will literally map all heaven in 102 infrared colors for the first time in the history of humanity.” Another launch by Spacex. Spherex took off on March 11 In a Falcon 9 rocket to enter polar orbit. He did it from the Vandenberg base of the space force in California next to the Punch Mission, also from NASA. Punch (Polarimeter to Unify The Corona and Heliosphere) are four small satellites designed to study the outer atmosphere of the sun, its crown. Specifically, how the solar wind is generated, responsible for geomagnetic storms that can affect astronauts, satellites and terrestrial infrastructure. Unraveling cosmic inflation. One of the great Spherex telescope objectives It will be to study what happened in the first moments of the universe after the Big Bang: an exponential growth phenomenon known as cosmic inflation. Spherex will map the distribution of more than 450 million galaxies to understand how this event ended up influencing the current structure of the cosmos. Colors and signs of life. Thanks to its infrared spectrograph, Spherex will divide the light captured in hundreds of colors to measure distances, chemical compositions and the historical evolution of the brightness of the universe. In addition to creating the most detailed and colorful infrared map of the cosmos to date, the telescope will look for vital molecules for life, such as water and carbon dioxide, hidden in interstellar clouds of gas and dust inside our galaxy. Why a cone. Spherex’s cone -shaped design is not just aesthetic. It is a passive cooling system that does not need electricity or refrigerants to maintain the cold ship, which will allow it to detect the weak infrared emissions of distant objects without thermal interference. Despite its global vision of the cosmos, Spherex will capture light from galaxies never observed individually, giving clues about objectives of interest for more detailed studies by the Webb and other space telescopes. Images | POT In Xataka | The European Hera probe has just sent us its first photos for the story: we orbit Mars

The European Central Bank has been fighting for five years to literally create a “European Bizum”. Now has taken a key step

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Europe wants to have its own instant payments system. That would allow the dependence of the great market leaders, Visa and Mastercard, and strengthened the European financial ecosystem. And the plan begins to take shape with Bizum as a great protagonist. Bizum is looking for allies. As they point out In Electomistthe idea is to unify the payment systems that are currently working in the various countries of the European Union. Bizum, protagonist in Spain, has its twin schemes with Bancomat Pay in Italy and Sibs in Portugal. All of them now pose to be interconnected with a specially relevant reference. Wero, the German Bizum. The Instant Payment System It has been since summer 2024 being the great alternative in France (where they used Paylib), Germany (Giropay), Belgium and Luxembourg (Payconiq) and Holland (ideal). This project of the European Payments Initiative (EPI) is taking shape, and it can precisely be the other great component of that fusion of instant payment systems in Europe. The ECB wants a European bizum. Sources close to negotiations indicate that the project is on the table. To get ahead, we would have that giant of the instant payments that for years has tried to boost the European Central Bank (ECB). A long -sought project. Five years ago the European Commission He started looking that “European bizum” with the launch of the aforementioned EPI. In the project 16 great banks of Spain, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands participated. A year later the figure amounted to 31 entities. The objective, offer a unified payment solution with a payment card and a digital purse. But that has gone through problems. The initiative was promising, but the slowness of its implementation and the excessive budget necessary to achieve this caused several banks to withdraw from the project. As indicated in the economist, the Spanish bank had to contribute 300 million to the initiative, something debatable if we consider that Bizum has existed since 2015 and has a massive acceptance. Spain, Portugal and Italy teach the way. Last year Bizum, Sibs and Bancomat Pay began working on connecting their platforms and making possible instant payments between these countries in the same conditions as to the national scale. It was also the result of the Bizum Union to the European Association of Mobile Payment Systems (EMPSA), which was the consortium of southern Europe. That alliance brings together 43 million users, of which 28 belong to the Spanish system. Germany, France and Belgium were looking for something similar. Something similar happened with the EPI and Wero, which interconnected the mobile payment systems of Germany, France or Belgium and wanted to become the European Payment System. Now both consortiums have approached positions and according to the sources mentioned there are options to end working on an interconnection of all systems. This looks good. It is not clear if the conversations will end with a single European system – will Bizum be called? Wero? – Or if at the moment we will work on that interconnection of all these applications separately, but of course these efforts can be the principle of something great and important for the European panorama of instant payments. It is already known. Union is strength. In Xataka | The arrival of the digital euro is inevitable: let’s say goodbye to anonymity

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