manufactured

the new NASA material that would allow resources to be manufactured directly there

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To the Moon, and to space in general, you have to travel light. Every extra kilogram represents a huge cost of fuel. Therefore, the ideal is to obtain as many resources as possible directly at the destination. moon dustknown as regolith, can be a good source of metals for construction and oxygen for fuel and life support. However, to obtain all these materials the rock would have to be melted. The result is something similar to lava, which corrodes much of what is in its path. The process cannot be carried out inside any container or oven; but, luckily, a team of NASA scientists has found the ideal material for encapsulate the molten rock. 6 months of testing. The discoverers of this new material They spent 6 months investigating candidate substances to obtain a material that resists the corrosion of molten lunar dust. After that time, they found something interesting. By mixing scandium oxide with moon dust and heating the mixture red hot, a new material was obtained. They compared it to a list of more than a million materials analyzed by X-rays and the composition did not match any of them. It was totally new and, as they saw later, its properties were ideal. Property analysis. Since they were dealing with a new substance, these scientists decided to analyze its chemical properties from scratch. Thus, you can see not only its advantages, but ways to optimize them even further. Once this analysis was completed, they proceeded to make a mixture of eight basic oxide components, including scandium, with lunar regolith. The reaction was started by subjecting the mixture to 1,593ºC. The initial mixture is a pink powder that changes to beige when the reaction is complete, so it is very intuitive. All advantages. The material obtained by heating the regolith and oxides is ideal for manufacturing the containers in which the extraction of metals and oxygen from the lunar rock is carried out. It has been proven to have great resistance to corrosion, but at the same time great thermal stability. Therefore, that type of lava would not cause damage. On the other hand, it is true that scandium is expensive, but not as expensive as platinum that is normally used for this type of purpose. It would be ideal in future lunar colonizations. Other applications. This type of materials can also have applications in aerospace engineering. For example, it can be used to make coatings for jet engines, as it is also a lighter, less dense and better insulating material than the coatings normally used. These engines reach very high temperatures, so it is important to coat them to prevent them from overheating or burning other parts of the aircraft. SpaceX, for example, has used shielding in each of the Starship engines in previous versions. In version 3 the external piping system has been optimized and a thermal protection system has been inserted into the motors themselves. Be that as it may, it is clear that these types of coatings are essential. Having a material with so many advantages would also be very useful in this area. Image | POT In Xataka | Elon Musk says it will take 1,000 Starships and 20 years to build the first sustainable city on Mars

the IMEC chip laboratory has manufactured the first qubit with ASML’s High-NA machine

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Manufacture a qubit, the physical device that implements the minimum unit of information in the quantum computersit is not at all a piece of cake. There are several types: superconductors, ion traps, neutral atoms or ions implanted in macromolecules, among other variants. Not all of them are equally complexbut all are difficult to produce and manipulate. In fact, the ideal is to be able to manufacture them on a large scale in order to make possible the arrival of quantum machines equipped with many more qubits than the current ones. The first step in this direction was taken by Intel and QuTech, the research institute specialized in quantum computing that belongs to the Technical University of Delft, in the Netherlands. At the end of March 2024 they announced that they had managed to produce the first qubit industrially and using the same processes and technology that is currently used for manufacture semiconductors. However, it is now IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center), the most experienced laboratory in the development of new integration and nanotechnology technologies that we have in Europe, which has signed a very important milestone: has managed to manufacture a qubit using extreme ultraviolet (UVE) and high aperture (High-NA) photolithography equipment from ASML. Currently this is integrated circuit manufacturing machine most advanced that exists. Caressing the dream of industrial manufacturing of qubits for quantum machines IMEC’s ​​main laboratory resides in Leuven, Belgium and has collaborated closely with ASML for more than four decades. Thanks to this collaboration you have access to the most advanced lithography equipment of the Netherlands company. The qubit produced using ASML’s High-NA equipment is a silicon quantum dot spin type. These qubits are very interesting because they are considered the most promising candidates for industrial scaling. In fact, as IMEC assuresthey are known as “the qubits of industry.” IMEC has shown that the manufacturing of these qubits is largely compatible with the production of CMOS chips The really relevant news is that IMEC has demonstrated that the manufacturing of these qubits is largely compatible with the production of integrated circuits using CMOS technology (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor or complementary metal oxide semiconductor). And therefore it is possible manufacture them in conventional semiconductor plants. An important note: CMOS is the transistor manufacturing technology behind virtually all modern chips. Sofie Beyne, the director of this project at IMEC, maintains that “We can leverage decades of semiconductor innovation and repurpose the entire silicon scale-up ecosystem, taking quantum devices beyond laboratory experiments into large-scale, fabricatable systems. This is where silicon-based qubits have a clear advantage.” Experts who research in the field of quantum computing they are convinced that having machines with millions of qubits will lead to the arrival of error correction technology, which is the holy grail of these computers. Broadly speaking, silicon quantum dot spin qubits confine an electron within a silicon nanostructure, so that the spin state of the trapped electron is used to store quantum information. This architecture requires that the spaces between the different doors be minimal in order to reduce environmental noise and minimize errors. Be that as it may, what is really important is that IMEC has managed to manufacture a network of qubits with spaces of just 6 nm. Thanks to the nanoscale of this component, millions of qubits could theoretically be integrated into a single chip. Image | IMEC More information | IMEC In Xataka | China has reached one of the holy grails of quantum physics. So says Peter Zoller, father of quantum computers

It is manufactured in Extremadura combining hydrogen and CO2

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Green hydrogen is no longer a distant promise for the future in Spain. The European Commission has selected the Extremadura T2X project within the third auction of the European Hydrogen Bank, awarding community support to this strategic initiative. In short. This proposal is the first in Europe that manages to pour green gas directly into the distribution network. This historic achievement places Extremadura as an undisputed benchmark in the European energy transition race. The project is promoted by the German promoter Turn2X, which had already inaugurated its first global plant in the Cáceres municipality of Miajadas in 2024. In depth. To achieve this milestone, the Miajadas plant uses a disruptive technology known as Power to Gas (P2G). As detailed pv magazinethe process consists of combining 100% renewable hydrogen with biogenic carbon dioxide, which in this specific case comes from a nearby bioethanol plant. Through the well-known Sabatier reaction, high purity synthetic methane gas is obtained. This renewable natural gas (RNG) is transported to industrial customers via existing pipeline infrastructure. The gas has already been tested successfully injecting fluidly into the Gas Extremadura distribution network. The industrial objective of this advance is clear: decarbonize sectors where electrification is very complex, such as steel plants, the ceramics industry or the maritime sector. Technical level. The T2X project —managed by TURN2X Asset Co II EXTREMADURA SL— will deploy an electrolysis capacity of 9 megawatts. According to local mediathe forecast is to produce around 6,390 tons of renewable hydrogen throughout its first ten years of activity. Once the subsidy agreements are signed, something that is expected to occur in the last quarter of 2026, the initiative will receive a fixed European premium of 0.62 euros for each kilogram of certified hydrogen produced for a decade. From that moment on, companies have a maximum period of five years to put the facility into commercial operation. Additionally, to ensure source power is truly clean, Turn2X has sealed an innovative agreement power purchase agreement (PPA) with Axpo Iberia, the entity that will supply renewable electricity generated by Aquila Clean Energy. The weight of Extremadura. The choice of the Extremaduran community is not the result of chance, but rather responds directly to the numerous hours of sunshine that the territory offers. Added to this, according to the statements of the regional Executive collected by theEconomistthe strategic location of the region right on the route of the future European hydroduct, which will cross it from north to south. Due to this initial success, the Turn2X project, which is already in the production phase, has proposed an industrial expansion that is currently in the public information phase. The German company has even initiated environmental procedures before the Board to build a second facility in the town of Miajadas. This ecosystem is rapidly being strengthened with the talent of pioneering local companies; Recently, the Minister of Economy visited Eficae, a firm in the region with ten years of experience and 22 professionals, which has already managed to mobilize more than 2,000 million euros in energy investment. Finally, there is good news at the national level: those projects that have passed the technical requirements but remain in the reserve of the European fund will be eligible for aid, since Spain will contribute an additional 440 million euros under the ‘Auctions as a service’ mechanism. A real starting point for Europe. The agreement signed by Turn2X demonstrates with tangible facts that green hydrogen It is no longer a simple promise to become an industrial reality with proven economic viability. This emerging industrial fabric is a fundamental magnet to attract investments that generate wealth and high-quality employment in the region. Today, Spain and, in a very particular way, Extremadura, are no longer just a promising testing laboratory; have been consolidated as the real starting point for Europe to move firmly towards true and sustainable energy independence. Image | Turn2X Xataka | In Extremadura they have managed to produce 100% renewable natural gas: they only needed sun and plant waste

The United States had not manufactured its most critical uranium for 20 years. He has just resurrected his production with an old metallurgy trick

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In the hills of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, lies a place that carries the weight of contemporary history in its foundation: the Y-12 National Security Complex. According to the files of the US Department of Energy (DOE)these facilities were born in 1943 as a vital cog in the Manhattan Project. However, for more than two decades, the halls of its most advanced nuclear processing sector had remained in a prolonged dormancy. Today, that industrial silence has been broken. The United States has just ended a long gap in its domestic processing capabilities. The milestone that marks this rebirth is as visual as it is forceful: the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has successfully manufactured its first “button” of purified enriched uranium, an achievement that opens a new era in the American nuclear deterrent. In short. From the NNSA have confirmed the restart of uranium purification at the Y-12 complex. It is not a sudden step; This achievement comes months after, in September 2025, the start of the project will be authorized electrorefining. This is the first authorization of its kind since the opening of the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility 15 years ago. More in depth. The new process allows installation slam the door definitively on the old Y-12 plants. For years, uranium processing depended on complex chemical treatments that were inefficient and, above all, posed greater risks for workers. The new era abandons these legacy systems in favor of much cleaner and safer technology. A strategic milestone. According to the statement from the NNSAthis purified uranium is a critical material that will support unavoidable national security missions, from the production of nuclear weapons to providing the fuel needed for the reactors of the United States Navy’s aircraft carriers and submarines. This effort is not a coincidence, but respond directly to the security and defense guidelines promoted under the mandate of President Donald Trump. Added to this military strategy is a pressing need for independence of resources. In November of last year, the US Geological Survey (USGS) added uranium to its final list of 60 critical minerals. This government directive has a clear objective: to shield the country against the risks of interruption in global supply chains. The “magic” of electrorefining. The secret behind this renaissance is called electrorefining. Although it may sound like science fiction, it is based on well-established commercial processes commonly used to purify everyday metals such as aluminum, titanium or copper. The method was originally developed by the prestigious Argonne National Laboratory and later perfected by the Y-12 development team itself. A simple process (at first glance). To understand how it works, the magazine Science Direct explains it in a simple way: The process uses an electrolytic cell where two electrodes are immersed in a chemical solution. One of them acts as an anode (where the impure recycled material is placed) and the other as a cathode. Through a controlled electrical reaction, metal ions travel to the cathode, where the pure metal is deposited, while the impurities fall to the bottom as an “anode sludge.” The result: An astonishing 99.9% purity. The format: An NNSA spokesperson He explained that the process It first generates “purified uranium crystals,” which are then melted in a furnace to create the compact, secure, high-purity uranium “buttons.” Additionally, Nikolai Sokov, senior researcher at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, explained that this innovative technology allows recovering and recycling uranium from various byproducts. Along the same lines, this method drastically reduces the waste generated compared to old chemical treatments. The weight of history: environmental debt. No story about the Y-12 complex would be complete without looking at its darker side. The background documents of the US Department of Energy rreveal the heavy inheritance of the Cold War. During the 1950s and 1960s, facilities used massive amounts of mercury for lithium separation. The ecological toll was devastating: an estimated 700,000 pounds (more than 317,000 kilos) of mercury were lost in the buildings and the surrounding environment. Today, to contrast technological advancement with the mistakes of the past, the top priority of the Environmental Management (EM) program at Y-12 is the cleanup of this mercury. He DOE informs that it is being built the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility. Scheduled for 2027, this plant will be capable of treating up to 3,000 gallons of water per minute. This vital infrastructure will allow older, more contaminated facilities (such as Alpha-2 by 2029 and Beta-1 by 2030) to be safely demolished without mercury ending up in the nearby Upper East Fork Poplar Creek. A process of metamorphosis. Audrey Beldio, NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator for Production Modernization, summed it up forcefully in the statements. project startup: “Electrorefining revolutionizes the processing of enriched uranium.” With uranium flowing again into Y-12, the United States is not just abandoning aging infrastructure. It is sending a clear message to the world: after twenty years of lethargy, the US nuclear sector has taken a leap towards a future where technological efficiency, the safety of its workers and the reliability of its arsenal are once again the spearhead of its defense policy. Image | HeUraniumC Xataka | While the West does not decide on nuclear, China already has a reactor 100 times more efficient than traditional ones

A single company is going to buy 20% of all the footwear manufactured in Mexico. Their goal: confront China

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These are not easy times for the footwear industry in Mexico, a sector that generates tens of thousands of jobs, moves million-dollar investments and has its headquarters in the state of Guanajuato. main bastion. In a market highly conditioned by Asian competition, the local industry has experienced setbacks and job lossstaying far below of its production capacity. With this backdrop, the sector has received curious news: a single Mexican company is willing to buy 20% of all national production. Shoe addict. Grupo Coppel is a heavyweight in the Mexican economy. He holding companywhich a year ago announced its plans to invest almost 700 million of dollars in the country throughout 2025, has a long experience in the financial services and retail sector, with hundreds of points sales distributed throughout the country. All in all (and despite its enormous size), it is surprising the advertisement what it just did: in 2026 the company plans to buy no more and no less than 42 million pairs of shoes produced in Mexico. That’s a lot of shoes, right? Yes. To be precise, this is one million more pairs than those already purchased in 2025. However, the figure is striking for another reason. With this enormous volume of purchases, Coppel will account for a fifth (about 20%) of all formal national footwear production. The operation is part of a “strategic alliance” reached with the Chamber of the Footwear Industry of the State of Guanajuato (CICEG) and, according to calculations from the firm itself, will allow “contributing to the livelihood” of the more than 100,000 families that depend directly on the footwear industry in Guanajuato. “This alliance promotes the growth of our companies and strengthens the Mexican footwear industry in an environment of legality, transparency and respect for market rules. By choosing the formal national supplier, you contribute to the construction of a more solid and competitive sector,” celebrated a few days ago Juan Carlos Cashat, president of CICEG. For shoe manufacturers in Guanajuato, the news is a valuable breath of fresh air. Footwear ‘made in Mexico’. His output It is far from that of countries like China, India or Vietnam, but Mexico is a prominent footwear manufacturer. In fact there are rankings that place it as the tenth worldwide and second in Latin America, only behind Brazil. In 2024, the country’s companies produced around 214 million of pairs of shoes, which explains why the sector contributes million dollars to the Mexican GDP (especially in Guanajuato, the heart of the sector) and also maintain thousands of jobs. Despite this footprint, the sector has not had easy years. “The impact of the pandemic was severe. Before 2020 we had 64,000 jobs registered with the IMSS. During the pandemic that figure fell to 49,000,” recognized two years ago the CICEG. Since then the situation has changed, but the sector stay away to be at 100%. Beyond market fluctuations, the industry has had to deal with competition from low-cost merchandise from Asia. Click on the image to go to the tweet. The Government, to the rescue. The data quoted by the local press are eloquent. In 2022, Mexico imported 136.4 million pairs of footwear valued at 1,843 million dollars. Two years later, the Import Trade Balance showed that this flow had already reached 185.5 million pairs with a value of 2,163 million dollars. On average each pair cost $11.6. The problem was not so much the arrival of products manufactured in Asia as the competition it exerts on national firms, especially due to suspicions of price manipulation. To clear up doubts, the authorities responded with an investigation antidumping and in September 2025 they decided to impose a system of compensatory duties on imports from China. It was not the only support from the Government to the industry. In November the Executive advertisement a Textile and Footwear Promotion Plan to finance small and medium-sized businesses. The objective: inject around 6.5 billion dollars to improve the competitiveness of the industry and reactivate 50,000 jobs, recovering part of the lost production muscle. How does the future look? Optimistic. At least that is what the CIEG recognized in December. “Despite a challenging economic and commercial environment, the industry in Guanajuato is beginning to show signs of recovery, especially in terms of employment and productive capacity,” indicates the sectorwhich recalls that between the month of September and October it registered a small rebound in employment. The increase was modest (256), but it is the first recovery “in many years.” The employers’ association also detected a change in the international market. “Total imports remain high, with more than 141 million pairs imported from January to September 2025, although relevant progress in the fight against unfair practices stands out,” celebrates CIEG“Imports from China, corresponding to tariff items with quota, decreased by 81%.” Images | Irfan Simsar (Unsplash) and Phil Desforges (Unsplash) In Xataka | Mexico City is already noticing the economic effect of the World Cup: it is losing homes and gaining Airbnb apartments

part of the Mac mini will be manufactured in the US

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It’s not every day that Apple can announce that one of its products will begin manufacturing in the United States. The company, whose supply chain has been supported for years in Asia, has confirmed what part of mac mini will be produced in Houston later this year. We are not talking about the iPhone or its best-selling laptop, but rather its most affordable desktop computer, a model that, according to estimates by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, represents less than 1% of total sales. Still, the movement is symbolic and comes at a time when domestic manufacturing is once again at the center of the industrial debate in Washington. The announcement is specific. Apple will begin producing the Mac mini at a facility in north Houston later this year. Manufacturing will take place at a plant operated by Foxconn, the same industrial partner that already assembles the company’s advanced AI servers there. “Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing and we are proud to significantly expand our presence in Houston with Mac mini production beginning later this year,” said Tim Cook in the official statement. The company presents the move as an expansion of its industrial presence in Texas and as part of its commitment to strengthen operations on US soil. What’s in Houston. The complex in the north of the city is not starting from scratch. Over there Foxconn It already assembles the advanced servers that Apple uses for its artificial intelligence services, including equipment that incorporates logic boards produced on site and shipped to data centers within the United States. The campus will have two buildings: one operational for servers and another, described as a large warehouse, which will be converted into about 220,000 square feet of space for the Mac mini. The pressure and the tariffs. The step is part of Apple’s commitment to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, a promise the company made following President Donald Trump’s threats to impose a 25% tariff on products manufactured abroad. As we can see, these types of spending commitments occurred in a context of pressure to increase domestic investment, in exchange for tariff exemptions. Limited movement. Sabih Khan, Apple’s chief operating officer, explained to The Wall Street Journal that production in the United States is designed to cover local demand as the line gains capacity, but that thousands of units will continue to be manufactured in Asia. Additionally, the Mac mini represents less than 5% of global Mac computer sales and less than 1% of total sales, according to estimates by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. And something very important: there is also, for now, no plan to move the manufacturing of the iPhone to the country, the product that really supports the bulk of the business. Texas was already part of the map. Before the Mac mini, the Mac Pro had been the flagship of Apple computer manufacturing in the United States. Since 2013 it has been assembled in Austin and in 2019 the company reiterated its commitment to that facility, relying on American suppliers and a tariff exclusion for certain components. More than a radical change, the decision represents a calculated adjustment. Apple expands its manufacturing presence in Texas with a product of moderate scope, in a context in which supply chains remain international. Images | Apple In Xataka | NVIDIA was founded by three engineers, but only Jensen Huang remains CEO: “I wish I had kept some shares”

There is a material on which the future of the iPhone and AI depends. And almost everything is manufactured by the same Japanese company.

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More than 100 years ago two Japanese textile companies called Fukushima Boseki Co., Ltd., and Katakura Seishi Iwashiro Bosekisho they joined forces to become Nitto Boseki Co. Ltd, also known as Nittobo. A century later we have encountered a giant on which a critical material for the future of our chips depends: glass fabric. Technological glass artisans. The Japanese company was the first in industrially producing carbon fiber. They did it in 1938, almost right at the same time as Owens Corning Fiber Glass in the US. Later, in 1969, they developed the “crystal fabric” or “glass cloth” (glass cloth), a material that began to be used in printed circuits Hello, T-glass. That material evolved and in 1984 they launched their T-glass, an even more specialized glass fabric that began to be used as a substrate in chips of all types. This material is different from the common fiberglass like that used in surfboards or in insulation solutions. Thus, it has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion, which ensures its good performance even when the chips are operating at maximum performance. Japan, we have a problem. As indicated on Nikkeiexperts warn that the lack of this material has become a major obstacle to chip manufacturing and the advancement of AI in 2026. Nittobo is practically the only company in the world capable of manufacturing this glass with the necessary quality. Its glass fabric is extremely thin, bubble-free and heat-resistant, which has made it a fundamental part of chips such as those used in iPhones. Apple, in fact, was one of the first major technology companies to reach an agreement with Nittobo to use this material. Everyone loves Nittobo. The good performance of this material has now made companies like NVIDIA, Google or Amazon also demand T-glass for their chips, and that has generated a worrying competition due to inventory that is quickly depleted and it is not clear that it can cope with demand. Apple asks for help. The situation is so tense that Apple has sent some managers to Japan and has even asked the Japanese government to intervene to ensure supplies from Nittobo. Once again the objective is to guarantee the launch of its key products, and at Nikkei they point directly to the expected foldable iPhone. The fiberglass fabric is a critical layer on the chip substrate and ensures that everything works perfectly even under heavy workloads. Source: Nikkei. Capacity will grow, but not immediately. At Nittobo they know very well what the situation is like, but they can’t do anything to remedy it, at least in the short term. A company executive quoted in Nikkei indicates that “if we do not have additional capacity, it means that we do not have additional capacity no matter how much pressure is put on Nittobo. The way I see it, the situation will only improve significantly when Nittobo’s production increase becomes a reality in the second half of 2027.” Looking for alternatives. Apple and Qualcomm are looking for plans B, and their initiatives to find new suppliers in China or Taiwan are already underway. However, the demand for the quality of this type of material is very high: an error in the quality of the glass of the chip substrate cannot be repaired, and would ruin entire batches of components. AI causes chaos again. We already saw it with memories: the AI ​​industry needs immense quantities of DRAM and NAND memory chips, and that has now meant that the rest of the world is suffering from a huge rise in prices. The same thing is happening with this glass fabric: AI chip manufacturers have an exaggerated demand for this material, which harms the rest of the “traditional” chip manufacturers and, therefore, the users. bad business. And as happens with memories, in the end the material is sold to the highest bidder, which are usually companies like NVIDIA that have exceptional profit margins. That leaves consumer electronics manufacturers in a vulnerable position and with declining sales forecasts. Nittobo does not want to saturate the market. And as happened with the memory market, Nittobo does not want to oversize its business in the face of this demand and prefers to be cautious. Japanese suppliers already suffered losses from overstocks in 2022, so they are now reluctant to expand their factories aggressively. It is precisely the same speech that Micron made, which already suffered from excess inventory after the pandemic: although they could now manufacture more memory chips, for them that means risking history repeating itself. In Xataka | A thousand-year-old mystery allowed us to put nanotechnology into modern screens. Today the discovery has a Nobel Prize

the incredible secrecy with which the first iPhone was manufactured

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What was it like working on the iPhone original? The question has surely been on the mind of every technology enthusiast: after all, we are talking about one of the greatest advances in technological consumption of the 21st century. And it is one that has an answer. It was given by Terry LambertApple engineer, a few years ago on Quora. Lambert was part of ‘Project Purple’, a top secret project in which it was only possible to work if one accepted not only endless days, but also an environment in which secrecy was absolute. So much so that Lambert had to sign a confidentiality agreement (NDA) not only to guarantee that he would not tell anything about that project: he signed it to be able to know the name of the key project. That was just the first of obsessive security measures who managed to protect that secret until the end. Lambert was responsible for about 6% (in number of lines) of the core code of OS The first thing he said is that when he was offered to work on that project, they took him to an area of ​​the headquarters where everyone dressed in black: that in itself was an unmistakable sign that something top secret was being worked on. Working blind, almost literally In fact, Lambert joked that if you wanted to create a cute Apple Halloween costume, all you had to do was put on a black sheet, cut out a couple of holes for the eyes, and go “secret project“. During that project he never saw the iPhone for which he was programming and debugging code: “I could only see the machine that did the remote debugging, not the actual device, but it was obviously a system based on ARM architecture.” After signing the NDA that allowed him to know the code name of the project – and of course he couldn’t discuss anything with anyone, including his family – he would end up working on something that he wasn’t even sure what it was, especially since Apple maintained completely independent groups in which they worked on small objectives that They did not allow us to know what they were working on on the whole. Another thing Apple does is give different code names for different groups. Or what is the same: you could be working on the same project as another person or group without knowing it. Neither debate it nor comment on it. Another engineer named Jerry Wang who also answered that question on Quora indicated how in fact he, who also worked on the documentation of that device and worked with the operators that launched the iPhone in the United States, did not know the project as ‘Project Purple’, but as ‘M68’. From that moment on he had access to a “secret laboratory” that was inside the main laboratory. Only a select few had access to that secret lab, but “you never got to see the design of the product, because when you’re doing that initial work, it’s all Plexiglas prototypes.” A curious detail: Lambert confessed how the cables used to “talk” to those pre-production units were, indeed, purple. In Xataka | In 2007, Steve Jobs went on stage with an iPhone that barely worked: he was saved by a script that did not allow even a detour Image | Xataka

It looks like a conch, in reality it is a “sound technology” manufactured 6,000 years ago in Neolithic Catalonia

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When we think of the Neolithicthe truth is that we imagine the use of polished stone tools, how they began to flirt with ceramics or how they killed each other. But to this we must now add the acoustic engineeringwhich seems to have also been somewhat dominated thanks to the conch shells. Something that happened right here in Spain. The investigation. It was the University of Barcelona that was able to confirm that twelve sea shells found in the sites of Catalonia They were not leftover food or decorations, but rather sophisticated musical and communication instruments that are capable of producing a powerful and modulable sound similar to that of a modern horn. Something that can be considered the first musical instrument in history. This finding has been published in the scientific journal Antiquity and suggests that these shells Charonia lampas They were modified by the locals themselves to become what is now called one of the “oldest sound production technologies known to man.” The shells. Without a doubt the protagonists of this study and that have been dated between the end of the fifth and the beginning of the fourth millennium BC. That is, about 6,000 years ago. Some pieces that have been collected from different locations in Catalonia such as the Gavà variscite minessettlements in the Penedes and the Llobregat basin. But beyond how old they are, their technical intention also stands out, since these conch shells were not collected to eat the mollusk. Science suggests that they were collected already empty and collected for their size and ergonomics to be used as a musical instrument. From this raw material, the tips were precisely removed from all the pieces to create a mouthpiece to generate the sound. The idea in this case was to have the right size to be able to carry it with you and have an adequate sound. Testing the sound. Beyond having the conch on the table, we also wanted to know what prehistory was listening to. To do this, they chose the eight conch shells that were in good condition and blew through them. The result was very spectacular: when blowing through them, vibrating the lips in the same way as is done with the current brass instruments (like a trumpet or trombone), the shells came to life. The resulting sound was powerful, stable and with a timbre similar to that of a French horn. But although it may seem that he only had one note available, the reality is that by inserting his hand into the shells he could lower the pitch and change the note. And even if the tongue was articulated, the texture of the sound was modified. In this way, in prehistory they not only made an instrument, but also had the possibility of ‘playing’ with the sound. A telephone. Beyond their musical capacity, these objects fulfilled a vital function as long distance communication tools. The study itself points out that in a world where there were logically no telephones or WhatsApp, trumpets served as a communication system to coordinate communities. Six of the conch shells were found in the Gavà mines, suggesting their use to send signals between workers in the different underground galleries or to communicate with surrounding agricultural settlements. Its importance. This discovery is not trivial, since it opens up the debate on the origin of music in humanity. The question is quite clear: Was it born out of pure utilitarian need (coordinate hunting, warning of dangers) or out of an aesthetic and emotional need? For now, it can be concluded that both functions were used together. They were pragmatic tools for social management and work in the mines, but their melodic capacity could also be used in the rituals or celebrations of different tribes. Images | Steve Adams In Xataka | Neither lions nor hyenas: at the top of the food chain 30 million years ago, there was a “pig” weighing more than a thousand kilos

That’s why only one Ferrari SC40 will be manufactured

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The Ferrari F40 is one of the most legendary and recognizable models of the Maranello brand, considered by many to be the last “pure” Ferrari, given that it was the last one that Enzo Ferrari approved before his death in 1988. A client of the brand asked Ferrari to make one of his dreams come true: a car that maintained the essence of the F40, but adapted to current trends and technologies. This is how the Ferrari SC40 was born, a unique creationcustom designed and with the guarantee that no more units will be manufactured because, like dreams, each one is exclusive to the person who owns it. A Ferrari F40 version 2.0 Ferrari has launched a new unique supercar called SC40, which is not just another car, but an exclusive creation designed to fulfill a personal dream of a very special client. Instead of mass-producing a model, this one-off represents a tribute to the legendary Ferrari F40, one of the brand’s most iconic supercars presented in July 1987. This initiative shows how Ferrari is dedicated to “fulfilling the dreams of its customers” through of unique projects in its Special Projects Program. The Ferrari SC40 is not a simple reissue of the F40, but a modern reinterpretation influenced by the design and essence of the model approved by Enzo Ferrari, but manufactured with the latest technology and contemporary materials. The closest that Ferrari fans will be able to get to this supercar will be in the model that will be exhibited at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, since the only real unit that will be manufactured will go directly to the garage of the person who commissioned it. The SC40 project lasted approximately two years, during which the proportions and details were designed together with the Ferrari Design Center. “It does not seek to be a literal replica, but rather a reinterpretation with personality,” they say. from the brand. In its mechanical base, the SC40 shares the chassis, the eight-speed F1 DCT transmission and the hybrid propulsion of the Ferrari 296 GTB. A 3.0-liter biturbo V6 engine has been integrated along with a 122 kW electric motor and a 7.45 kWh battery, adding a total combined power of 830 horsepower and torque close to 740 Nm. These figures make it possible to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.9 seconds and reach a maximum speed of over 330 km/h, significantly faster than those of the original F40, which had 478 horses that catapulted it to 320 km/h. Reminiscent of the F40, but it is not The design of the SC40 stands out for its long, low nose, a short rear overhang and a raised fixed spoiler, elements that combine style and functionality. The headlights, located at the ends, take us to the peculiar front of the F40, although they dispense with the retractable headlight mechanism of the original model. Like the model from which it is inspired, Ferrari has used carbon fiber and Kevlar. The same materials that allowed the Italian manufacturer to reduce the weight of the F40 to only 1,100 Kg and provide it with sufficient torsional rigidity so that will not disintegrate under its power. The “SC40” lettering embossed on the side of the spoiler is a clear nod to the one sported by Ferrari’s legendary supercar. The brand of The Prancing Horse has designed a specific color for this exclusive collector’s item: Bianco SC40. Direct and at the foot. Ferrari’s commitment to exclusivity creating unique cars for its best clients represents a growing trend in the automotive luxury sector. Other supercar manufacturers, such as Lamborghini with his Opera UnicaRolls-Royce or Bentley offer authentic bespoke works of art, turning each car into an exclusive collector’s item. Dreaming is freebut having a unique and unrepeatable Ferrari piece in your garage doesn’t have to be cheap. In Xataka | A $700,000 Ferrari F40 spent a decade parked in a Munich garage: its owner had forgotten where he had it Image | Ferrari

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