mass

There is a weapon of mass destruction against our ability to remember things: stress

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One Monday you see your coworker, Laura, leave the office with a striking bright yellow umbrella. The next day, you walk into a coffee shop and see that same unmistakable umbrella resting on a chair. Without thinking twice, your brain does a quick calculation and you deduce that Laura is in there having coffee. This mental agility, which neuroscientists call “memory integration,” is the invisible tool that allows us to weave together loose ends and construct deductions from experiences separated in time. However, when pressure kicks in, this internal compass goes out of calibration. People who suffer an episode of acute stress not only experience emotional distress; your brain loses the ability to connect past memories with new information. Put bluntly: stress not only erases data from your mind, it also shuts down your ability to deduce. To demonstrate this cognitive “short circuit”, a team of specialists from the University of Hamburg, led by cognitive psychologist Lars Schwabe, designed a thorough experiment combining psychological testing and functional MRI to observe the real-time brain activity of 121 adults. The trial was developed in consecutive and carefully structured stages to compare how a relaxed brain reacts to one under extreme pressure. On the first day, participants memorized pairs of images, such as, for example, an animal next to a landscape. The next day, half of the group was subjected to a high-stress situation through a simulated job interview and complex calculations, while the rest performed relaxed tasks. Right after, everyone had to assimilate new information: they had to connect the same animals from the previous day with 3D figures. The final challenge was pure mental agility, as they were asked to deduce the indirect connection between the landscapes of the first day and the 3D figures of the second. The verdict was clear: the stressed group saw their ability to make these deductions drastically reduced compared to the participants who remained relaxed. Why does stress sabotage the ability to deduce? The epicenter of this problem lies in the hippocampus, a brain region essential for integrating information but which, at the same time, contains a very high density of receptors that are extremely vulnerable to stress hormones. According to the research of Science Advancesbrain imaging revealed that acute stress directly interferes with the reactivation of previous memories. In other words, while the stressed participants tried to learn the new information, their brains retrieved the memories stored the previous day much less intensely. Representational similarity analysis shed even more light on the process: instead of integrating memories into a connected network, the stressed brain encourages the separation of memory patterns. Under stress, our mind prioritizes representing each episode as an isolated and distinctive event, sacrificing the formation of connected and flexible knowledge structures. The research has captured the attention of leading scientific communicators due to its serious implications. In statements to the magazine NatureUniversity of Oregon neuroscientist Brice Kuhl (who was not involved in the research), emphasizes the immense value of being able to visually see what’s wrong in the brain thanks to technology. Kuhl points out that, usually, when something new is assimilated, a “small flash” of past experience rises to the mind, and it is precisely that flash that facilitates the integration of information. In people under pressure, the expert points out, that flash is practically absent. For his part, Kai Schüren, first author of the study explained in Wiredwho insists that the effects of acute stress transcend the emotional: they mechanically alter a vital cognitive mechanism, which prevents the construction of knowledge in an agile way. The current epidemic of mental exhaustion The consequences of this cognitive block are not limited to a laboratory environment, but have a profound impact on various critical areas of our society: In legal contexts, a failure to integrate overlapping events can lead to false inferences by witnesses and, consequently, erroneous accusations. In education, this difficulty in weaving together information hinders the creation of solid memory structures, an essential pillar for academic performance. In clinical health, problems integrating related memories are a distinctive feature of severe disorders such as psychosis and anxiety. To this we must add the current climate of tension in which we live immersed, which turns this finding into a major public health problem. According to the Ipsos Mind Health Reportsociety lives in a state of almost constant alert and pressure. The data in the document reflects the daily wear and tear of the population: 77% of people report suffering from multiple factors that negatively impact their mental health. Uncertainty about the future in a changing world affects and worries 57% of those surveyed. Financial instability and job insecurity are positioned as a source of constant stress for 56% of the sample. Continuous exposure to negative news in the media harms 49%. This chronic pressure means that an alarming 56% of people rate their level of stress experienced in the last twelve months with a score higher than 5 out of 10, while 31% admit to currently suffering from a mental health condition. We often consider stress as simply an emotional backpack that exhausts the body and clouds the mood. However, scientific evidence shows us that its impact is much deeper: stress redesigns the way we archive and use our own lives. By blocking neural connections in our hippocampus, the pressure not only makes us forgetful, it robs us of our innate ability to connect the dots. The next step for scientists, who are already preparing tests with rodents, will be to unravel the exact mechanisms to find ways to reverse this effect on memory. Meanwhile, understanding that stress isolates us in a fragmented present is the first strategic move to protect our mind. Image | Unsplash Xataka | Something disturbing is happening with young Spaniards: cases of colon cancer are multiplying

NASA has looked at Torrevieja from space and has seen a huge mass of pink water essential to finding life on Mars

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From space everything looks different. In fact, distance allows us to distinguish strange shapes, such as the Great Dam of Zimbabwe or the eye of the saharabut also colors that go more unnoticed at ground level. Thus, on June 7, 2021, an Expedition 65 astronaut aboard the International Space Station pointed his camera toward the southeast of Spain and took a photograph that looks like a watercolor: Mediterranean blue, a muted green and an intense pink reminiscent of quartz. The color palette is finished off by the white reflection of the sun. The three colors correspond to bodies of water a few kilometers from each other, in Alicante: the Mediterranean, and the saline lagoons of La Mata and Torrevieja. What seems like an aesthetic coincidence is actually chemistry visible from orbit. Each tone reveals something: the degree of salinity, which microorganisms dominate the water, and in what fragile balance they coexist. The lagoons of La Mata and Torrevieja. The Torrevieja lagoon has been used as a salt mine since the 13th century and today are the largest salt producer in Europe, with an average of 650,000 tons per year, a figure that varies depending on solar radiation, wind and precipitation. It does not function as a natural lagoon, but as an industrial system where water moves according to production needs. The La Mata lagoon acts as a prior concentration chamber: receive sea ​​water through artificial channels and runoff from intermittent streams of the Sierra de San Miguel de Salinas. From there, the water is pumped to the Torrevieja salt mine, where brine from the Pinoso salt diapir through a 55 kilometer pipeline. The result is that the concentration of salt in the Torrevieja lagoon can overcome 260 grams of salt per liter, much more than the 38.5 g/liter Mediterranean that bathes its coast. Two adjacent lagoons but with completely different chemical worlds. Why do they have such different colors?. Each time water of different composition is pumped to produce salt, the chemistry of the system is altered, which determines What organisms can live and in what quantity. Two lagoons a kilometer apart, two different microbial communities and two opposite colors. The pink color of the Torrevieja lagoon is produced by microorganisms. More specifically, in conditions of high salinity and intense solar radiation, the microalgae Dunaliella salina accumulates β-carotene as protection against light. The halophilic archaea that share the lake reinforce that tone: they have red pigments distributed throughout their cell membrane, which makes them visually more decisive in the final color of the water. In La Mata, the lower concentration of salt favors a different microbiota where chlorophyll predominates over carotenoids: that explains the green color. Context. The salinity gradient between both lagoons goes beyond chemistry: it is what allows a different and exceptional biodiversity. The wetland houses up to 400 taxaten species of threatened birds and one of the most important Audouin’s gull breeding colonies in the Mediterranean. Without that difference in salinity, many of those ecological niches would disappear. The NASA image is also more than a photograph: it portrays the fragile balance between industry, microbiology and conservation that climate change is already testing as temperatures rise and salinity fluctuations alter the living conditions of Dunaliella salinaor what is the same, that that striking pink color seen from space could disappear. Why is it important. Dunaliella salina is the organism that supports the base of the food chain in hypersaline lakes around the world. Since 1966 it has been grown commercially to produce β-carotene, which has applications in pharmacology and cosmetics. But it is also an organism that NASA has on the radar because it constitutes a form of life in extreme conditions. It should be remembered that the data from the Perseverance rover indicates that there were hypersaline waters in the Jezero crater of Mars. Studying life in these types of lakes helps understand the potential in these old Martian lakes. What makes Torrevieja pink is the best laboratory we have to know what to look for on another planet. In Xataka | 60 years ago, NASA took a look at the Sahara from space and found a very strange “perfect eye” In Xataka | Europe has been watching Colombia for a decade from space and what it has seen is a tragedy: the death of a glacier Cover | POT

In its unstoppable expansion throughout Spain, mass tourism is claiming a new victim: the Albaicín of Granada

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History on all four sides. Culture. Views of the Alhambra. In theory, living in the Albaicín, a historic neighborhood in Granada, should be a privilege. In theory. The tourist overcrowding that has already devoured other cities from Spain (and other countries) is making everyday life in the most popular areas of the neighborhood resemble a gymkhana in which residents must navigate visitors in search of the best selfie. And that’s not even the worst. Part of the residents they take time warning of how tourism is affecting housing and services. They claim a “Livable Albaicín”. What has happened? That the list of Spanish cities in which the tension between mass tourism and the daily lives of residents is growing adds a new town: Granada. For some time now, the residents of the city, more specifically the Albaicín neighborhoodwarn of how the arrival of visitors to the area alters their routine and something just as or even more important: services, commerce and, above all, housing. It’s not something new. In fact, the platform that gives voice to the complaints of locals, ‘Albayzín habitable’, It was launched in 2024. However, a quick search on Google shows how their complaints have not stopped over the last two years. On the contrary. On Instagram, where they accumulate 10,200 followersshow intense activity in the streets. Their purpose, they clarify, is to act against “a tourism model that is killing the neighborhood.” They are not against the sector or visitors, but against overcrowding. What is the problem? The photo is not very different from what can be found in other points where the rope that unites residents and tourists has been tightening for some time. The group cries out against the transfer of housing that migrates from the residential market to tourist rentals (“where before there were neighbors there are now lockers“) or the risk of losing spaces for citizen use in favor of the sector, as, they warn, may occur with Saint Agnes and Saint Michael. The first is a old convent. The second was a juvenile center. Now they both could become hotelswhich has already brought out the neighbors to the street to protest. Is it that serious? On Monday The Country public a chronicle in which he points out other consequences of the tourism of the neighborhood, effects well known in other great destinations in the country, such as Barcelona, Santiago de Compostela either Palma de Mallorca. For example, crowds at the San Nicolás viewpoint to achieve the best selfie of the sunset or a change in the commercial fabric of the neighborhood, with traditional businesses that look with concern at the medium-term future and new ones that open despite not having any cultural link with the environment. “Look, now the groups of tourists surround us, before it was the neighbors who were on the street,” commented a neighbor sarcastically told the newspaper. But is it so noticeable? He is not the only one who points out this progressive mutation that, little by little, is making the neighborhood more adapted to the needs of those who are passing through and less to those of those who live there permanently. In August, Tatiana, a spokesperson for Albayzín Habitable, lamented the closure of a supermarket and a clinic, essential for residents. Businesses such as hairdressers or supermarkets give way to retail stores. take away and cold sangria. “Local shops and supermarkets continue to disappear and are replaced by trinket shops for tourists or hospitality establishments only available to the most privileged,” they insist on the neighborhood platform. @aidajr_93 The residents of Albayzin have united under the platform #albayzinhabitable to make ourselves heard and for the city council or the Andalusian board to hear us and regularize the uncontrolled tourism that we have in Albayzin, where speculation is driving out neighbors who have been in their homes all their lives to build tourist apartments, historic Carmens are converted into luxury apartments. The streets are uninhabitable for those of us who live here because they are always full of tourist groups, thefts, parties and it is impossible for the families who live here to take a bus because it is full of tourists. Elderly people do not dare to go out because they cannot go home, families with children cannot use the buses because it is impossible and if you are in a wheelchair, forget about it. We are not kicking tourism out of the neighborhood, we just ask for control and for neighbors to be more protected and to be able to be inhabitants of our streets and homes. #Grenade #UncontrolledTourism #stopspeculation #Albayzin @EL NIÑO DEL ALBAYZÍN @Sonsoles Ónega @Antena 3 @6️⃣LaSexta6️⃣ @Cuatro @RTVE @Pepe y Vizio @Junta de Andalucía @Andalucía Directo @Al Rojo Vivo ♬ original sound – Aidajr_93 Are they just impressions? There are also figures. Last year Albayzín Habitable estimated that in the area there were around 7,400 places for tourists, which would exceed, he assures, the number of registered residents, which is around 7,000. Correct or not, their data is not the first to warn of the tourist saturation that the neighborhood is experiencing. A few years ago the Granada City Council commissioned a study on the topic that concluded that Fígares and Albaicín are the areas with the highest concentration of tourist rentals in the city. By measuring the proportion of tourist apartments over available family homes in each part of the municipality, the technicians concluded that in both areas it reached 24%. In hard and fast figures, that translated into 715 homes out of 3,038. What are the consequences? The report suggests that this tourist pressure may be driving out neighbors. Although during the period analyzed (2015-2022) the whole of Granada had recorded a negative demographic dynamic, the trend seemed to be accentuated in Albaicín, with the transfer of 712 of the almost 9,300 residents initially registered. It is not the biggest ‘bleed’ in the town in net terms, but the data does stand out if analyzed in proportion. … Read more

Greece wants to prevent its beaches from being suffocated by mass tourism. So you’ve declared war on sun loungers

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Greece faces a dilemma. One well known in other countries that, like Italy, France, Holland, Japan either Spainhave become dream destinations for travelers from all over the world: their tourist attraction threatens to make them die of successsuffocated by overcrowding. To avoid this, the Greek Government has decided to shield around 250 beaches to maintain them as “virgin” sandbanks. In practice, this means that things as basic as renting umbrellas or sun loungers cannot be done there. “Virgin beaches”. If Greece is one of the most visited countries in the world and becomes the summer resort of millions of tourists It is basically because of four things: its Mediterranean climate, its historical heritage, its gastronomy and (above all) its landscapes and beaches. The Government knows this and that is why some time ago it prepared a list of “Virgin Beaches” either “unauthorized”coastal areas in which the authorities apply more restrictive control. Goodbye umbrellas, sun loungers and motorcycles. Among other thingsin these protected spaces it is not permitted to rent umbrellas and sun loungers, set up new bars or install music equipment and speakers. Nor organize events in which they participate more than ten people or use jet skis. In short: they are beaches open to the public and where you can lie down and sunbathe, but unlike the busiest areas you will hardly find commercial services or of course large tourist infrastructures. The idea is to preserve them in their natural state. The key figure: 251. Nothing new so far. What is striking is that the Greek Ministries of Economy and Environment have decided to expand the list of beaches to which this level of protection applies. Specifically, they have added 13 new sandy beaches, according to the local presswith which the ‘armored’ coves and beaches go from 238 to 251. The data is interesting in itself, but above all because the trend that draws: In recent years Athens has been expanding its protected coastal strip. From the 198 beaches in 2024 it went to 238 in 2025 and to 251 that will be monitored this summer. What is the objective? Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Greece is full of idyllic beaches, but the mix of overtourism and uncontrolled commercial exploitation, with sandy areas covered by beach bars, umbrellas, sun loungers and rental jet skis, can make it less attractive. The Government also appeals to the need to protect the formations and ecosystems of the Greek coast. “The amendment seeks to effectively protect beaches that have a particular aesthetic, geomorphological or ecological value, as well as preserve the types of habitats and species of flora and fauna found there,” they argue. Earrings from the Natura Network. “Specifically, the coastal zones and beaches located in areas included in the National Catalog of Areas of the European Ecological Network Natura 2000 are expanded, in which use concessions are already prohibited, as well as any other action that could endanger their morphology and integrate with regard to their ecological functions,” duck the Government. To clear up doubts, the Greek authorities have published a list in which you can consult the beaches where businesses dedicated to renting umbrellas, sun loungers or motorcycles have been banished. These include sandy areas of Koufonisia, Chania or Lefkada. Some of the beaches added to the list have been in the center of controversy in recent years precisely because of tourism development plans that included new structures. The other data: 38 million. It is no coincidence that Greece decides to reinforce the care of its beaches right now. With the international tourism boom As a backdrop, in 2025 the country received about 37.98 million of foreign visitors (not including cruises), 5.6% more than the previous year. That rebound came accompanied by something else: an intense flow of billions of euros. Specifically, it is estimated that last year the income generated by the sector skyrocketed by 9.4% to reach 22.6 billion of euros, a figure that increases noticeably if you add the cruise passengers. These are important data due to their weight… and to understand the zeal with which Greece wants to take care of its sandy beaches, preventing part of its coastline from becoming overcrowded. If the tourism sector has learned anything in recent years, it is how easy it is to die of success. Without going any further, there are already travel guides that advise against visiting Mallorca, Barcelona or the Canary Islands because they consider them points hyper-crowded. Images | Nikos Zacharoulis (Unsplash) and Jorn Idzerda (Unsplash) In Xataka | The Balearic Islands are so desperate with tourism that they are already considering a measure that until now was taboo: a limit on flights

Spain has been looking for a way to make mass tourism more digestible for years. The US threatens to do the job for her

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In 2025, Spain was left with the desire to reach the 100 million tourists foreigners. Now a cloud on the other side of the Atlantic threatens to move that milestone further away also in 2026. In a turbulent scenario, conditioned by the warthe brent barrel climbing and domestic politics, more and more Americans are rethinking their trips abroad. This is suggested by at least one report from the consulting firm Cirium, which has detected a “puncture” both in flight reservations between Europe and the US and (and here is the key) from the US to Europe. The data is relevant because the flow of Americans connects with other fronts that affect Spain, such as the demand of the tourism sector or the housing. A percentage: 11.2%. The data has advanced it USA Today. In a chronicle on tourism and international travel patterns, the newspaper slips a couple of data from the consulting firm Cirium that leave a clear reading: the demand for transatlantic flights is suffering. And quite obviously. According to their analysis, reservations from Europe to the United States have experienced a year-on-year decrease (July 2025-July 2026) of 15.34%. In the opposite direction, from the United States to Europe, a drop of 11.19% has also been recorded. Country of origin Tourists (2025) AVERAGE expenditure per tourist € (2025) United Kingdom 19,084,423 1,240 France 12,767,491 908 Germany 12,050,833 1,317 Italy 5,704,989 956 Netherlands 5,007,641 1,423 USA 4,456,665 2,297 Portugal 3,383,482 602 The alarms go off. The falls are striking, but they are even more shocking when compared to measurements that the consultancy managed at the beginning of the year. The outlook they drew at that time was also negative and predicted falls, but not so abrupt. Europe-US reserves pointed to a decline of 14.22% and US-Europe reserves of 7.27%. The reading is clear: travel forecasts have worsened, especially those of Americans. Why is it important? That the US has lost appeal among foreign tourists is no surprise. In 2025, after the return of Donald Trump to the White House and the trade and immigration war with which his mandate began, there began to be talk of a tourist boycott to the country of the stars and stripes. In 2026 the outlook is not simple either. The US has the powerful claim of the World Cup (it is the host along with Mexico and Canada), but the year has still started losing travelers and Oxford Economics estimates that, despite the ‘FIFA effect’, 2026 will close with a discreet growth tourism of 3.9%. What is striking about Cirium’s analysis is that the flow of tourists does not seem to be suffering only in the ‘USA direction’. Demand also pushes in the opposite direction, from Americans themselves, who are less interested in crossing the pond to visit Europe. USA Today cites two cases: reservations to Frankfurt have been reduced by 26.8% and those to London by 11.31%. Half surprise. The truth is that Cirium’s data only confirms the forecasts released several months ago by YouGov, which in December published a study in which he already warned that Americans would face their international vacations with some “caution” in 2026. The report left out some percentages for reflection. For example, 60% of those surveyed admitted that they never traveled abroad for pleasure, something that is largely explained by the cost of flying. Another interesting fact is that 43% admit to having traveled less abroad during the last year. But… And why is that? There is no single answer. When talking about the decline in demand in December, YouGov slid two factors why Americans pack less now. First, due to “economic uncertainty”, a reason cited by almost a third (28%) of those surveyed. Second, due to the increased cost of travel, something that 18% complained about. Since then the picture has become more complex. Added to the uncertainty are geopolitical tensions and the conflict in the Middle East, which, remember USA Todaybeyond the rise in oil prices, has “revived fears of terrorism.” The newspaper recalls that messages like the one left not long ago by Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, about the security risks derived from the war in Iran weigh on US travelers. There would be another factor influencing Americans’ flight plans. The prolonged government shutdown from the end of 2025 has increased the burden on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which partly translates into long lines at the country’s airports. Now we add the changes to the airport map caused by the war in Iran, the foreseeable increase in the cost of transportation and flight cancellation due to increased costs. Does Spain care? Yes. The US is not only a world power. It also represents an important fishing ground for tourists and expats interested in spending time in our country. According to data from the INE, last year Spain received 96.8 million of foreign visitors. Of them some 4.4 million (almost 5%) came from the US, making it one of the main foreign markets. Its average expenditure per person is also high: 2,297 euros in 2025, above the average (1,392) and nations like Germany. Its weight is relevant if Spain wants to reach the goal of 100 million visitors. It is also felt in another market closely connected to tourism: housing. Both through vacation rentals and the expatswhich in recent years have set their sights on the European market due to their attractiveness. In fact there are experts who they already warn that there are areas like Mallorca that are arousing more and more appetite among Americans looking for luxury homes. Image | Martijn Vonk (Unsplash) In Xataka | China stripped Japan of its tourists in hopes of causing an economic hole. Nothing could be further from reality

A polar air mass will descend over Spain just before Easter. AEMET is already talking about polar cold and significant snowfall

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The key day will be Wednesday the 26th. It will be then when, at the gates of Holy Week, a mass of polar air will enter the national territory leaving cold and snow during the last week of march. And yes, that’s what matters to us right now; but the general context is much more complicated. But let’s talk about the cold. Starting on Wednesday, an undulation of the polar jet will push the anticyclonic ridge towards the north of the Atlantic and a very deep polar trough will descend over Europe. This will generate several storms. In Spain, the models they don’t agree. While the European model is committed to a colder and more intense scenario; The American believes that the irruption will be limited to the north, the east and the Balearic Islands. Be that as it may, we are talking about an isotherm of -4 degrees in the heart of the peninsula, more than significant snowfall in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees and the Iberian system (at least in the north). This is just what we hope for. And skepticism is more than justified: the 2025-2026 storm season has broken all records totaling (to date) 19 named systems. Furthermore, this winter has been the third wettest of the 21st century and January was the wettest month since records began. The uncertainty is, understandably and unjustifiably, greater than normal. We must not forget that “Holy Week” is synonymous with millions of trips, thousands of outdoor activities throughout the country and hundreds of sectors that critically depend on it. But it’s not a surprise either. According to AEMET climate dataBetween the end of March and the beginning of April, it rains some day in 70-80% of recorded years. That is to say, the distinctive thing this year will not be the rain, but the cold. The good news. If we pay attention to the medium-term models, everything seems to indicate that the anticyclone It will recover ground around April 1 or 2. That is, we can expect the weather to be more stable in the second half of Holy Week. Of course, the uncertainties are great and, as the old saying goes, “you should not sell the bear’s skin before hunting it.” Interesting days are coming. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | The snowiest ski resort in Europe right now is not in the Alps or the Pyrenees: it is in Granada

We tend to think that the war of extermination was invented by the modern State. A mass grave from 2,800 years ago has just destroyed the myth

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There is an almost romantic tendency to idealize the remote past. Perhaps, inspired by the myth of the “noble savage” they often let’s imagine prehistory and the first societies as peaceful environments where extreme violence and systematic was an aberration or, in any case, an invention that came with the help of more modern times. But the reality is that if we had a time machine, this would be one of the few places where we would have to travel. A reality. Archeology has an uncomfortable habit of unearthing truths that do not fit our prejudices. The latest blow to this idyllic vision that some may have comes from the Balkans, specifically from a mass grave in Gomolava from 2,800 years ago that reveals a calculated, selective and brutal massacre against women and children. A mystery. In the 9th century BC, during the first Iron Age, the Carpathian and Balkan region was inhabited by societies that we today consider primitive. Specifically, they could be found semi-nomadic groups and sedentary communities who were beginning to clash for control of the territory. But here there were neither states nor regular armies. In this way, when archaeologists found a huge mass grave with the remains of 77 individuals at the Gomolava site, the first hypothesis was the most logical for the time: a catastrophic epidemic devastated everyone. However, a new study published in the magazine Naturehas completely rewritten the history of this site, combining forensic, genetic and isotopic analyses. Annihilation. Here the DNA was clear, since there was no trace of deadly pathogens. In this case, people died not from a disease, but from an outbreak of deliberate violence that has shocked the scientific community. Not only because of the violence, but because of the demographic profile, since 70.8% of the adults were women and 66% of the total were children and adolescents. Here the forensic analyzes revealed a terrifying pattern, since the vast majority had injuries at the time of death in the skull. Thus, they were forceful blows inflicted from above, suggesting that the attackers could have been on horseback or executing the victims while they were kneeling or subdued. Why children and women? The answer is pure strategic calculation, since the study of isotopes and DNA revealed that, with the exception of a mother and her two daughters, the victims were not related to each other and came from various regions with varied diets. But it was not a simple robbery gone wrong, but rather an interregional selective annihilation designed to wipe the reproductive future of rival groups off the map. And, in a context of profound social restructuring and territorial conflicts in the Carpathian Basin, eliminating offspring and those people who can produce even more offspring, such as women, was the most brutal and effective way to assert power in an area. Without a doubt, a great strategy to prevent anyone from claiming rights in that area. Ritual. To add another layer of complexity to this dark episode, the burial was not improvised. Contrary to what happens in many mass graves that are quickly made to throw the corpses, andIn this case they took their time. Investigators saw that the victims were buried next to bronze jewelry, ceramics and even sacrificed animals, so it was quite taken care of. Here the theory proposed is that it is a “macabre demonstration of power”: an act where the brutality of the massacre coexists with the socioeconomic value of the victims and the need to maintain the funeral customs of the time. Image | Sarah Nylund (Nature) In Xataka | When did human beings start “cooking”? The answer lies in some carp from 780,000 years ago.

Something dark keeps growing in the Greenland ice. And it’s melting the frozen mass at an unexpected speed

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Greenland was for centuries synonymous with immobility, a territory that seemed oblivious to the passage of time, protected by an ice sheet so vast that even polar explorers could see it. like something eternal. From the first Inuit settlements to the European expeditions of the 19th century, the island was more a symbol of resistance than change, a place where the landscape imposed its own rules. Precisely for that reason, any alteration On its surface today it has a historical weight that goes far beyond what appears at first glance. A dark spot on the ice. Something seemingly insignificant is growing on the immense Greenland ice sheet, but with a disproportionate effect: microscopic algae that dye the snow green, red or grayish brown and reduce its ability to reflect solar radiation. In a warming Arctic up to four times more faster than the rest of the planet, this so-called “dark zone” accelerates the loss of hundreds of billions of tons of ice each year, directly contributing to sea level rise and adding a new layer of complexity to an already destabilized climate system. Dust, nutrients and a cycle. counted the new york times last week that much of the latest research shows that the wind blows phosphorus-rich dust from the rocky fringes discovered on the margins of Greenland into the ice, fueling algal blooms. Here’s the crux of it all, because as the ice melts, also releases trapped nutrients for decades or centuries in its deep layers, creating a kind of vicious cycle: one where more melting releases more food, algae proliferate, the ice darkens and melts even faster. This mechanism, time and time again, turns warming into a self-accelerating process that is difficult to stop once it has started. The measurable impact of a microscopic phenomenon. In southwest Greenland, one of the fastest melting regions, algae already explain about 13% of runoff water generated by summer thaw. In fact, studies published in journals such as Environmental Science and Technology and Nature Communications have shown that even minute amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen, released from the ice or transported through the air, are enough to sustain these biological communities, suggesting that the phenomenon could extend to areas much wider of the cap. A climate problem. Plus: ice darkening does not occur in a political or economic vacuum. The retreat of sea ice around Greenland is opening new sea routes and facilitating access to mineral, oil and gas resources, increasing the strategic interest for the region. Any additional industrial activity could release, for example, soot and particles that further aggravate the darkening of the ice, accelerating a process that, in the worst case scenario, could contribute to a global rise in sea level of up to seven meters if the ice sheet completely disappeared. What is known… and what is not yet. The scientists match in which algae are not the cause of global warming, but rather a consequence which amplifies its effects, while underlining that the root of the problem continues to be the burning of fossil fuels on the planet. However, it is still unknown precisely to what extent this “dark spot” can expand and how to integrate your impact in sea level rise models. Meanwhile, Greenland seems to offer us a most ominous warning (another one): that even the smallest changes, those invisible to the naked eye, can tip the balance of one of the largest and most fragile systems on the planet. Image | Jenine McCutcheon/University of Waterloo In Xataka | Why we find 50,000 meteorites in Antarctica if they fall the same all over the planet: ice has the answer In Xataka | Antarctica launches its “Doomsday Vault”: a sanctuary at -50 °C to save the memory of the glaciers

that supernovae are behind two mass extinction events on Earth

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When we think about mass extinctions, we almost always The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs comes to mind. But the universe has much more spectacular ways of reconfiguring life, as pointed out a scientific study which suggests that at least two of the ‘Big Five‘Earth extinctions were not caused by space rocks, but by the lethal radiation of stars exploding very close to our solar system. The study. The research, led by Alexis L. Quintana of the University of Alicante, has complicated the most complete census to date of OB type starsthe “heavyweights” of the galaxy. These stars are incredibly large, hot and luminous, and they live fast and die young, ending their lives in titanic explosions known as core collapse supernovae (ccSN). Space bombs. The team in this case has mapped 24,706 of these stars within a radius of 1 kiloparsec (about 3,260 light years) around the Sun. And with this map, they have been able to calculate something crucial: the frequency with which one of these cosmic bombs explodes in our neighborhood. The key fact is chilling: they estimate that a supernova close enough (about 20 parsecs or 65 light years) to wreak havoc on Earth that occurs about 2.5 times every billion years. This figure, which may seem low, fits eerily into the fossil record. A death mechanism. How exactly would a nearby supernova kill you? It’s not the blast wave, but the radiation. Such an energetic and upcoming explosion would bathe our planet in a torrent of gamma and cosmic rays, tearing apart our ozone layer. Without that protective shield, ultraviolet radiation from our own Sun became lethal, sterilizing the planet’s surface and causing ecological collapse. Specifically, the study points out that this rate of 2.5 events per billion years is “consistent” with the fact that one or more of the mass extinctions recorded on Earth were caused by this mechanism. Specifically, they point to two devastating events: Both extinctions have been linked by other studies to periods of intense glaciation and, crucially, a drastic reduction in atmospheric ozone, a “murder weapon” that points directly to a cosmic culprit. Updates. Beyond the threat to Earth, the new OB star census has allowed the team to recalculate the overall supernova rate for the entire planet. Milky Way. And here there has been a surprise: it is lower than we thought. Previous calculations put the rate at 1 or 2 explosions per century. The new study lowers it to 0.4 – 0.5 supernovae per century. The authors attribute this difference to the fact that their census is more precise and reliable thanks to Gaia data, since the models of how stars evolve have improved. This new figure is not just an astronomical curiosity; It is fundamental data for other fields of physics. For example, it is vital for calculating the frequency with which we should be able to detect gravitational waves coming from these explosions within our own galaxy. Our protection. Fortunately, a look at our current stellar neighborhood is reassuring. Although there are massive stars that we know will explode “soon” (in astronomical time), such as the famous red supergiants Antares and Betelgeuse, both are hundreds of light years away. They are too far away to fry us with their radiation, but close enough that when they finally detonate (which could happen tomorrow or 100,000 years from now), they will give us a light show in the sky that will last for weeks. Meanwhile, we now have a new suspect to blame for some of the worst catastrophes in the history of life, long before humans came along to witness it. Images | Aron Visuals 愚木混株 Yumu In Xataka | We could think of space as a place without climate threats to Earth. We could ignore the “space tornadoes”

The city of Las Vegas bet everything on mass entertainment. Now he only lacks the most important: tourists

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In the summer of 2023 it seemed clear that something had changed in Las Vegas. The data They corroborated it: the “city of sin” had fewer clients than in 2019, but in return Much more money squeezing your visitors as never before. Since then until now, drifting towards exorbitant prices for anything has done nothing but grow. The problem is that he has done it at the same pace that lost the most important thing: the tourists who supported her. Neons cemetery. I told the weekend in A report The New York Times. A few steps from the strip, in a plot where old marques rest, the condensed history of Las Vegas can be read: pink feathers of the Flamingo, the red martini of the Red Barn, or the dancing shirt of a dye frequented by Liberace. This Neon Museum Remember that the city has managed to reinvent itself again and again, from that to the game, of gastronomy to the sports show. However, the present does not distill so many “vibes” as turbulence. The imitation elvis, almost empty coffees and European tourists who are surprised to pay one hundred dollars for a breakfast They feed the feeling that the world capital of excess goes through a stage of uncertainty. A descent as a warning of something worse. Recent figures from the Convention and Visitors Authority talk about a 11% setback In the volume of visitors in a single year. What happens in Las Vegas resonates beyond: experts like Andrew Woods They warn that the city works as an advanced barometer of the US economy. In other words, if the Vegas cools, the country could be at the gates of a broader brake. The fall is perceived In details: nightclubs without queues, gondolas sailing empty in artificial channels and half -filled card tables. The Canadian facor. One of the most sensitive blows comes from the north. Canada, which contributes 1.4 million visitors a year, has reduced In almost 20% His trips, dragged by commercial and diplomatic tension with the Trump administration. He Canadian boycott Threat to subtract hundreds of thousands of tourists from the final numbers of 2025. For a city where the international clientele represents the oxygen of hotels, restaurants and shows, that absence translates into less busy rooms and revenues that evaporate. Price bubble. The other great wound is in The traveler’s pocket. Room prices have gone from an average of $ 120 in 2019 to more than 160 this year, with peaks of more than 1,000 in luxury hotels, to which are added resort rates of 50 dollars daily and tickets to shows that exceed 300. After The “Revenge Travel” From postpania, the industry got used to it To collect expensive. Now, in a context of uncertainty, that strategy is perceived as greed and dissuades the average visitor. The buffets of 29 dollars gave way to banquets of 90, and even a simple bottle of water or a parking lot have become Symbols of increation. The crossroads of identity. The city had always maintained a balance between luxury and accessibility. But today the balance leans towards the exclusiveleaving behind that tourist who once found in Vegas an affordable destination. The risk is clear: lose the essence of “theme park for all” and become An unsustainable bubble. Voices such as Guy Martin, veteran contractor, defend that prices respond to mathematics and not to greed, remembering that structures Like Sphere or the Allegiant Stadium cost more than 2,000 million each. Others, as Caesars executives, admit that the industry “went from enthusiasm” after the pandemic. Global comparative. The Las Vegas dilemma is not unique. Macao, who in the last two decades displaced Las Vegas as the world’s world capital in terms of income, A collapse in 2014 When Beijing imposed restrictions on capitals from the Chinese continent. The city then turned to diversify with family tourism, conventions and shows, and although it recovered muscle after the pandemic, the dependence of the visitor of high purchasing power remains an Achilles heel. Dubaifor his part, he opted for a radically different model: Instead of lowering, it has consolidated a premium destination with massive infrastructure and a global luxury story. But even there, price inflation and event saturation generate similar tensions. Both examples show that raising indiscriminate prices can turn the destination exclusive, but also fragile and vulnerable to geopolitical or economic changes. Persistence, nostalgia and uncertainty. Despite the storm, andn the Times remembered That there are faithful visitors who are still considering the city of their ritual refuge, such as Mary Reyes and her husband, who have returned twice a year for decades and barely notice the difference. He neons museum It symbolizes that duality: the city of a thousand reinventions that never ends, but that today hesitated before him Dilemma of your future. Will you be able to recover the vibrant and affordable destination image, or will it become a prohibitive enclave for majorities? The outcome will mark whether the Las Vegas brightness continues to dazzle the world, or if the bullshit signs of the museum cease to be a relic to become an omen of so many other cities with the same bet. Image | PxhereStefan Wagener In Xataka | Las Vegas now has fewer customers than in 2019, but earns much more money. Is squeezing its visitors like never before In Xataka | Las Vegas changed entertainment with The Sphere: now its creators want to carry the innovative concept much further

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