massive

We thought that growing up defined the genus ‘Homo’ from its beginnings. Massive analysis proves we were wrong

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For decades, paleoanthropology has tried to decipher at what exact moment in our family tree we took the big “growth spurt” in our height to go from being relatively small people to the heights we see today in our environment. The classical anatomical belief held that the appearance of our genus was accompanied by a drastic and immediate increase in body size, but little by little We are learning more exact details. A new study recently published point out that the evolution of our body mass was not a sudden jump that defined all the first humans equally at the same moment, but rather a much more complex and gradual process than we thought. What we believed. Traditionally, several evolutionary models suggested that the origin of the genus Homo marked an abrupt anatomical boundary. It was assumed that the first humans quickly developed bodies much larger than those of the australopithecines, thus justifying new locomotor and energetic adaptations for the new ‘functions’ that we would acquire on a daily basis. To test these competing hypotheses, the research team has not simply compared fossil estimates in isolation, but has used advanced statistical tools on a data set composed of 386 specimens spanning 21 different taxa. This methodological rigor allows us not only to compare raw sizes, but also to take into account phylogenetic non-independence, size variation within the same species and the margins of uncertainty inherent to the fossil record itself. When did we take the growth spurt? The results of the analysis are statistically conclusive and rewrite the previous consensus, since, contrary to the classic hypotheses, the researchers found very weak support for the idea that the increase in size was a defining and transversal characteristic of the entire genus. Homo. Instead, the data show strong evidence that the marked increase in body mass occurred exclusively in species of Homo later, explicitly excluding the Homo habilis. That is, the first representatives of our genus continued to maintain a relatively modest size and the true biological leap that led us to scale our body proportions occurred later in the evolutionary lineage. It wasn’t that simple. As New Scientist points out, understanding body size is essential to understanding our past. However, for scientific rigor, the article of PNAS It stands as the essential primary source compared to more generalist readings, since, while there are voices that tend to look for immediate “cause and effect” narratives, the strict biological data of this study demonstrate that human evolution rarely works with changes that occur overnight all at once. That is why this work eliminates the “noise” of previous speculation by integrating multiple variables into a single analytical framework, and the result is that it was selective pressures and millions of years that modeled the physiology and size of the modern human being. In Xataka | The first “social network” in history is 57,000 years old, it was made up of hunters and gatherers and served to avoid extinction

If you’ve ever wondered how much a massive black hole weighs, the answer is that the Sun next to it looks like a marble.

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“What am I going to have for breakfast today?” when will this heat pass” and “how much does a black hole“are those three questions that you will surely ask yourself every day when you wake up. For the first two the answer is uncertain, but for the third a group of researchers from Carnegie Science in California has the answer. Because they have just measured, for the first time, the mass of an inactive black hole that dates back to the early universe and they do not give the answer in tons because it is a figure that escapes human understanding. But they do give the mass compared to the Sun and… well, it’s still not something we can assume. The weight of a black hole. The results HE they published this past Thursday in Science magazine and they are clear: a black hole located in the center of the galaxy MRG-M0138 has about 6,000 million times the mass of the Sun. The mass of our star is 2 × 10^30 kg, equivalent to 332,946 times the mass of the Earth. Does this leave you calmer? Surely not because it is like when they tell us that one company buys another for 75 billion dollars: These are such absurd quantities that it is very difficult to get the idea of ​​what it entails, but this thing about weighing bodies around the universe makes sense. Fascinatingly, MRG-M0138 is a massive galaxy whose light has traveled to our sensors from a time when the universe was only about 3 billion years old. This galaxy is no longer forming stars and the central black hole is “quiet.” The scale spacel. To achieve the measurement, the team at the Californian center used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to track the movement of stars around the cosmic giant. It is not the first time that the mass of a black hole has been calculated, but it is the first time that it has been done with one that is so far away (10,000 million light years from Earth, 15 times further than the previous measurement record) and, in addition, it is the first time that an inactive black hole in a galaxy of the early universe. This speaks very well of the benefits of the JWST, which with its sensors allows a very defined image of extremely distant bodies, opening up a huge range when it comes to studying what surrounds us. The problem with sleeping black holes is that they are invisible. It does not emit light, so it cannot be observed directly. So, to “weigh it,” the researchers used a technique that had already been used before: stellar dynamics. Basically, they look at the speed at which stars move near the galactic center and compare that speed to that of more distant stars. In this way, they infer the mass of the black hole. So that. To continue knowing what surrounds us, basically. Because it is not just about measuring the mass of something so distant, but about understanding the formation around it. Thus, this discovery offers new clues to researchers about black holes and galaxies that were born in the early universe. A look at the future by looking at the past. Because, until not long ago, it had been difficult to prove whether there was a close relationship between the central black holes of these very old galaxies. Recent findings suggest that those denser galaxies were sites of rapid black hole growth early in the history of the cosmos. Furthermore, this research will be the basis for future work that will delve into this relationship and, above all, it will also be the basis for analyzing the data collected by the JWST in other similar galaxies. In fact, although the JWST is a good cosmic “magnifying glass”, in Chile the observatory is being expandedThe Bells‘ which is supported by Carnegie Science and will allow studying stellar movements in distant galaxies in much more detail than what JWST offers. In the end, it is about continuing to understand the universe and studies like this allow us to test theoretical methods to understand how massive black holes formed, grew, shaped the evolution of galaxies and, ultimately, became silent giants. Image | Navid Marvi/Carnegie Science In Xataka | We had always believed that galaxies preceded black holes. James Webb has discovered something else

We had been searching for the origin of the most massive black holes for years. The answer is a cosmic carom of extreme violence

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All black holes They are the fruit of a very violent activity. However, there are some for which the known processes are insufficient. Now, an international team of scientists has discovered how the most massive black holes in the Universe form. It is a process so violent that it needs a huge star cluster to support it. Two groups of black holes. This team of scientists has analyzed the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC4), which includes 153 detections of black hole mergers through gravitational waves. By analyzing all the available data focusing on the spin of black holes, they have seen that all of them can be divided into two large groups. On the one hand, black holes of lower mass, which arose from an ordinary stellar collapse. On the other hand, very massive black holes, arising from secondary mergers in the environment of dense star clusters. Okay, now that you understand. Generally, black holes are formed when a very massive star that has already run out of fuel collapses. This gives rise to an explosion in which the outer layers of the star are expelled, leaving only a very dense core. It is so dense that it generates a great gravitational pull and nothing can escape from it. On the other hand, there are such massive holes that do not fit with this process. They are believed to be second generation black holes. That is, two black holes they merge and then the result merges with another black hole, becoming much more immense. That would be the second group that has been detected in the GWTC4 catalog. Something doesn’t add up. This black hole merger process is so violent that, as soon as the first merger occurs, the result would fly away like a rocket For it to stay in place and merge with a third black hole, something is needed to retain it. These scientists have discovered that these are densely populated star clusters. There are so many stars in them that the gravitational attraction of all of them keeps the black hole still in place. And what does spin have to do with it? Spin is a parameter that refers to the spin of black holes. When formed in the conventional way, the spin is predictable and perfectly aligned with the star that gave rise to the black hole. On the other hand, when they are formed by a process as violent as these consecutive fusions, the spin takes a random direction, but a value predictable from the sum of the spins of the rest of the black holes. These scientists, therefore, saw that all the data coincided with that hypothesis: consecutive mergers in the environment of a very populated star cluster. A forbidden zone. On the other hand, these scientists found a forbidden strip of stellar size in which black holes could not form. There are small or huge ones, but not medium ones. Although this is something that was intuited, the complete set of data they have obtained gives a twist to what is known about the formation of black holes. Relationship with nuclear physics. As explained by these scientists, this detected mass limit seems to be related to a series of nuclear reactions that take place inside stars. Stellar nuclear reactions are nuclear fusion. Humans have learned to control nuclear fission, but it poses risks that would be solved if we also mastered nuclear fusion. Until now It is being a complicated challengebut perhaps these new findings, obtained thanks to gravitational wave analysis, could shed a little more light on this research. Everything adds up. Image | NASA, ESA, STScI and A. Sarajedini (University of Florida)/NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI) In Xataka | What happens if you fall into a black hole, explained simply in an overwhelming NASA simulation

LaLiga’s massive IP blocks are making life impossible for users, companies and developers. So you can claim

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LittleCranky67, which is the alias of our protagonist, didn’t know what was happening with his computer this weekend. This developer was doing something that never gave him any trouble: working with the GitLab platform to download a Docker software package. That process kept giving him strange errors, and LittleCranky67 ended up realizing what had caused it all: LaLiga’s indiscriminate IP blocking. After share your frustration on HackerNewshundreds of comments confirmed other similar cases, and in them we also discovered something interesting: how to officially claim LaLiga. Or at least, how to try. A sad old story. LaLiga he shields himself in the Judgment of December 18, 2024 issued by the Commercial Court No. 6 of Barcelona. This allows you to demand from operators such as Movistar, Vodafone, Orange or Digi to block at the IP level any address that is identified as a source of illegal IPTV broadcasts during LaLiga football matches. Many of those IPs are Cloudflare shared IPs, so when the IPTV service IP is blocked, all domains associated with that shared IP are blocked, which can be hundreds or even thousands. And in those domains there are web pages of private usersfrom companies that they stop being able to sell and also critical services for developers such as Docker, GitHub or GitLab. The irony is that lockdowns don’t work. While many users complain about these blocks and how are affecting websites and services that usemany others continue to remember on social networks that in reality the blocks to view these IPTV broadcasts can be easily circumvented in many ways. The most popular, use VPN services. In LaLiga they know that this method is widely used, so for months They are also working on blocking those services. It doesn’t seem to be serving a lotand whoever really wants to watch the football game without paying has many relatively simple ways to achieve it. If you are affected, you can claim. In that thread, several users remember that one way to try to change things is for users to protest, complain and complain en masse. There are several ways to do it: Telecommunications User Service Office. It is the official body in Spain for these cases. A formal claim can be filed for arbitrary loss of service or censorship, and even claim financial losses if the blockade prevents you from working. Those who have a digital certificate or Cl@ve can do so directly online. Complain to your internet provider. It is also important to open a support ticket with your operator. It is true that they are obliged to follow court orders, but they must know that the blockade is causing collateral damage to services that have nothing to do with football. Common Electronic Registry (SARA network). This portal It also allows you to send formal complaints to management if other methods fail. Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). Those responsible for RootedCON have been fighting this situation for some time, and offer another recommendation: report LaLiga to the AEPD. This template allows you to complete that complaint in a simple way Demagive to Telecommunications Operators. At RootedCON they also suggest filing a complaint against ISPs, and explain the process in a small thread on Twitter. Again, just download a request and file it individually. Complaint to the European Commission. It is also possible to enter the European Commission complaints website to send a claim to the entity. We explained it in Xataka and the process is another way of trying to stop this situation with the help of European bodies. The BOE serves as a defensive argument. In these complaints it is advisable to cite the BOE-A-2022-10757 as a legal reference. It corresponds to Law 11/2022, of June 28, General Telecommunications (LGTel) and is the fundamental rule that regulates your rights as an internet user in Spain. The message that we can write is the following: “Under the protection of Law 11/2022, of June 28, General Telecommunications (BOE-A-2022-10757), specifically regarding the rights of end users (Chapter IV) and the principles of continuity and quality of service, I present this claim for the blocking of access to legitimate IP addresses (specify which ones, e.g. Cloudflare/Docker) unrelated to any illicit activity. This blockade constitutes a violation of my right to communication and the contracted service, causing harm (professional/personal) by preventing the operation of work/security tools. “I request the immediate cessation of said technical restriction in compliance with the provisions of the aforementioned Law.” The nightmare continues. The debate in HackerNews is nothing more than confirmation of what internet users in Spain have been suffering for more than a year. A private organization has the power to order ISPs in a country to indiscriminately block IPs without judicial review in real time, during regular hours, causing documented harm to third parties that have nothing to do with the original violation. In that thread some users compare the situation with that of the Great Firewall of Chinanot so much in intensity as in its logic. We are faced with an infrastructure of selective censorship that seems to be able to be applied to any content that an actor with sufficient judicial power wants to block. From football to tennis or golf. In fact, things could go further, because what began as an attack against illegal broadcasts of football matches could now be seen in other sports such as tennis or golf. Telefónica —which follows in the footsteps of LaLiga— wants to extend indiscriminate blockades to the Champions League, tennis or golf. This threatens to suffer these side effects for many more days and for many more hours, and can mean that for a good part of the week, users like LittleCranky67 find themselves unable to download Docker packages or access thousands of legitimate websites that end up being knocked down by these blocks. Images | Wirestock | LaLiga In Xataka | LaLiga has been at war with Cloudflare for years over piracy. It has just joined forces with its main competitor

The massive flight of investors and millionaires suggests that he has achieved it

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For years, Dubai has been the promised land for millionaires from all over the planet who saw the United Arab Emirates as a idyllic place to live without paying taxes. The Iranian attacks with missiles and drones on different infrastructures in Dubai in recent weeks have changed that perception and the financial elite, especially Asian millionaires, are putting their feet (and fortunes) on the run. The city that seduced more than 81,000 millionaires Since 2014, it is now facing an unprecedented flight of capital and talent. The prestige that took decades to build is being tested in a matter of days. ​Explosions in the heart of the city. The last few weeks have left us images that few would have imagined in February. The Fairmont The Palm hotel, located in one of the artificial islands off the coast of Dubai, was hit for an explosion. Days later the remains of an Iranian drone demolished set fire to the iconic Burj Al Arab, the international airport has suffered damage from drone attacks and the american consulate has been the target of another drone attack. The city that boasted of being the safest in the world, in a matter of weeks, has become a scene of war. “The US-Israel war against Iran is undermining that crucial sense of security in Dubai. Dubai’s economic model relies on expatriate residents providing talent, muscle and investment capital. Stability and security are needed to attract skilled foreigners.”, assured to CNBC Jim Krane, researcher at the Baker Institute at Rice University. ​Asian money in retreat. However, the most visible impact is being felt among Asian investors, who had become one of the pillars of Dubai’s financial growth. According to data by Henley & Partners, Dubai is currently home to 237 centimillionaires (people with wealth of $100 million or more) and at least 20 billionaires Asia accounted for 47% of all multinational companies attracted to Dubai International Chamber in 2025, and around a quarter of the more than 2,270 foundations created in the Emirates have Asian ownership, according to data from the consulting firm BSA Law. Bloomberg published that the United Arab Emirates had attracted some 700 billion dollars from millionaires around the world, especially Asians. Singapore and Hong Kong, new chosen destinations. Grace Tang, CEO of Phillip Private Equity, pointed out to Reuters that between 10 and 20 of their customers, mostly Asian, are asking about how transfer your assets to Singapore to protect the value of its assets. Hong Kong also emerges as an alternative. For his part, Felix Lai, from the consulting firm JMS Group, counted to Bloomberg who had organized a private jet flight to transport 15 clients from Oman to Hong Kong at a cost of approximately $300,000. “They didn’t even care about the price,” Lai explained. “They just wanted to leave.” An advisor in Singapore who declined to be identified added that more than half of his 13 clients in the Emirates are seriously considering moving their assets: “Flying back and forth will be complicated even if the conflict ends tomorrow. It’s about trust.” Dubai’s economic model faces its biggest test. Dubai does not depend as directly on the oil industry as its neighbors, but its economy is based on its ability to attract expatriates, your investments and his talent. At the beginning of the year, the Dubai International Finance Center housed 1,289 entities linked to family offices (61% more than the previous year), and the 120 main families in the center jointly managed more than 1.2 billion dollars, according to CNBC. Although stock markets around the world have felt the earthquake resulting from the attacks in an area of ​​strategic resources for trade and energy, the impact of the conflict with Iran has been much more severe and direct for the Gulf markets. The Dubai Stock Exchange (DFM) has fallen more than 16.6% since the start of the war between the US and Israel against Iran. Fitch Ratings had already predicted before the war a real estate correction of up to 15% in 2025 and 2026. Everything indicates that they have fallen short the worst estimates of the financial consequences. Passing panic or structural change? Not all actors in the sector believe that this will lead to a permanent mass flight. Dhruba Jyoti Sengupta, CEO of Wrise Private Middle East in Dubai, pointed out to Reuters that his firm had not observed “serious conversations about capital flight” as its clients remain confident in the country’s long-term resilience. ​Nirbhay Handa, CEO of migration agency for millionaires Multipolitanpointed in Bloomberg “If uncertainty lasts a few weeks, some companies may pause their expansion, but stability will likely return quickly to Dubai as the situation improves.” What does seem clear is that the city will have to rebuild something much more difficult to build than its skyscrapers for millionaires: trust of those who chose it as a home for their money. In Xataka | A company wants to build a €4 billion megacasino in Dubai. The problem is that Dubai prohibits gambling Image | Unsplash (Wael Hneini)

Massive study confirms direct link to heart damage and mortality

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For years science has been warning us that ultra-processed they are a danger because of the effects it has on our body. Something that began as a suspicion about nutritional quality has now become a statistical certaintysince ultra-processed foods not only make you fat, but also directly hit the cardiovascular system. With figures. A new study conducted by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and published just a few days ago in The American Journal of Medicine has put an alarming figure on the table: high consumption of these products is linked to a 47% higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases. And it is not a study that is based on speculation, but the authors have analyzed the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey corresponding to the period 2021-2023 cwith a sample of 4,787 American adults. How it was done. The methodology is robust because it does not simply look at what participants eat, but the researchers adjusted the results taking into account confounding variables such as age, sex, race, income level and, crucially, smoking. With all this, and eliminating the effect of tobacco and socioeconomic situation of the equation, the result was that those who consume greater amounts of ultra-processed foods are almost 50% more likely to develop heart pathologies compared to those who consume less. It is not an isolated case. If this study were the only one, we might be skeptical. The problem is that it rains in the wet, since the FAU research It arrives to confirm a trend that we had already seen in previous macro studies, consolidating what in science is called a dose-response relationship: the greater the amount of ultra-processed foods, the greater the damage. For this we have the French precedent with a famous studio of the cohort NutriNet-Santéwith more than 100,000 participants, which has already shown that an increase of just 10% in the ultra-processed diet is associated with a 12% increase in total cardiovascular risk. There is more. A meta-analysis published in 2024which reviewed more than a million participants, found a linear relationship in which for each additional daily serving of ultra-processed foods, the risk of cardiovascular events increases by 2.2%. And if we still want more evidence, in Australia A 25-year follow-up of almost 40,000 people linked high UPF consumption with a 19% higher cardiovascular mortality. The new tobacco. The most striking thing about this new research is not only the numbers, but the comparison they make with tobacco and the public health crisis it generated in the 20th century. And while the anti-smoking campaigns achieved drastically reduce deaths due to lung cancer and heart disease, the food industry has filled shelves with products classified as ultra-processed. Because? The mechanism behind this 47% elevated risk appears to be related to systemic inflammation and altered lipid metabolism. It must be taken into account that industrial processing generates polluting byproducts such as acrylamide and uses additives that increase oxidative stress in our body. Basically, the body loses the ability to “cleanse” itself at the cellular level, decreasing antioxidant enzymes and allowing free radicals to damage the inner layer of the vessels, which accelerates the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. This is combined with a nutritional composition with 5 or more ingredients, rich in added sugarssaturated fats and additives, but poor in fiber and micronutrients. A trio that directly impacts blood pressure and insulin resistance, increasing predisposition to diabetes. Images | Darko Trajkovic In Xataka | Making extra rice is no longer a mistake: cooling and reheating it can reduce its calories according to some nutritionists

We have been avoiding aged cheese for years for health reasons. Massive study suggests we were wrong

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For decades, nutritional guides and specific diets focused on ensuring brain health, such as the famous MIND diethave had a common enemy: saturated fats of dairy origin. However, science has now given a turn of the wheel to show us that we were completely wrong. New evidence. A new and comprehensive study published in the magazine Neurology You just turned this belief upside down. After following almost 28,000 people for a quarter of a century, researchers at Lund University have found a surprising association: regular consumption of high-fat cheese and cream not only does not increase the risk of dementia, but seems to reduce it significantly. The Swedish diet. The researchers conducted a median follow-up of 25 years until 2020, cross-referencing dietary data with the Swedish National Patient Registry. The result was that during this type 3,208 were identified cases of dementiaand from here we began to see what these people ate. In this case, those who consumed 50 grams or more of high-fat cheese per day showed a reduced risk of dementia of between 13% and 19% compared to those who did not consume it. Furthermore, consumption of high-fat cream was associated with a 16% reduction in the risk of having full-blown dementia. But there is more. The most curious thing about the finding was the specificity, since similar benefits were not found in low-fat dairy products, nor in regular milk or butter. In this way, you can see that there is something specific in the nutritional matrix of cheese and fermented cream that plays in favor of our brain. Why this cheese. Emily Sonestedt, co-author of the study, She was surprised by the resultsalthough he points out that they have biological logic. While traditional diets limit cheese due to its calorie and saturated fat content, this food is rich in medium chain fatty acids, vitamin K2calcium and high quality proteins. In addition to all this, the fact that it is a fermented food can positively influence the intestinal microbiota, and we know more and more about the direct connection between the intestine and the brain. In this way, maintaining a good microbiota again indicates that it guarantees us having better brain health. You have to be cautious. Before running to the supermarket to buy all the types of cheese on the shelves, it is necessary to put on the usual handbrake in science, since we are talking about an observational study. This means that science points out that two things happen at the same time, but it does not prove 100% that one causes the other. And in this case, lifestyle may be interfering, such as the fact that people who eat cheese in Sweden have other lifestyle habits such as greater physical activity that protect them, although the researchers tried to adjust the variables. The verdict. The idea that “all saturated fat is bad for the brain” is losing steam in the face of evidence that certain complex foods, such as aged cheese or cream, have properties that go beyond their basic nutritional label. As is often the case in nutrition, the key does not seem to be eliminating food groups, but rather understanding the quality and source of what we eat. Images | Aliona Gumeniuk Robina Weermeijer In Xataka | Forgetting things is not a bug, it is a feature of your brain: how not remembering things makes us think better

the founder of Telegram charges against Pedro Sánchez and sends a massive message

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He package of measures of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to regulate social networks has not only aroused the ire of Elon Musk, who has launched several disqualifications through X. It has also provoked a reaction from the CEO and co-founder of Telegram. Pável Dúrov is sending a message this afternoon to Spanish users of the platform in which he frontally rejects the proposal and warns of what, in his opinion, would be its consequences. Hey, you have a message from Durov. If you use Telegram and have a Spanish number, it is very likely that this afternoon you received an unusual notification. The official ‘Telegram’ bot, the same one usually used for security communications such as login codes, displays a message forwarded from the channel @durov. “The government of Pedro Sánchez is promoting new dangerous regulations that threaten your freedoms on the internet,” the text begins. From there, Dúrov promises to “explain” why he considers that the package of measures represents an alarm signal for freedom of expression and privacy. Durov Dúrov’s message translated into Spanish in the Telegram bot Against the prohibition of social networks for minors under 16 years of age. One of the central criticisms of the founder of Telegram points to the proposal to restrict the access of minors under 16 years of age to social networks. Dúrov maintains that such a measure, in practice, would imply strict identity verification controls that would go beyond that age group, citing formulas such as DNI or biometrics. “It sets a precedent for tracking the identity of EVERY user, eroding anonymity and opening doors to mass data collection,” he says. “What starts with minors could spread to everyone, stifling open debate,” he adds. Here it is important to clarify something important: for now, the Government has not fully detailed what specific technical measures would be applied for this age verification, nor how they would be implemented in practice. That is to say, Dúrov’s interpretation is based on a harsh scenario, but the actual implementation will depend on how the initiative ends up being drafted and the mechanism chosen to apply it. Risks of “overcensorship”. The message also focuses on another point of the proposal: tightening the responsibility of the platforms, including their managers, if they do not remove content considered illegal or hateful. According to Dúrov, this would push companies to act preventively and aggressively, with a clear collateral effect on public debate: “this will force over-censorship—the platforms will delete anything minimally controversial to avoid risks, silencing political dissidence, journalism and everyday opinions.” And what about the algorithm? The initiative also proposes legally punishing the manipulation of algorithms and the deliberate amplification of illegal content. Dúrov interprets this point as a potential paradigm shift: that the control of the order of what we see on the Internet becomes a regulated matter with room for political intervention. “Governments will dictate what you see, burying opposing opinions and creating state-controlled echo chambers,” he writes. In the same block, he warns that these types of measures would end up affecting the free circulation of ideas. Measures against polarization. Another leg of the package is the creation of a system described as a “footprint of hate and polarization,” which would quantify how platforms amplify social division and serve as a basis for future sanctions. Durov dwells especially on this point, questioning the fit of categories that, in his opinion, are too open and moldable: “vague definitions of ‘hate’ could label criticism of the government as divisive, leading to closures or fines. This can be a tool to suppress the opposition.” A message without gray, waiting for the small print. Overall, Dúrov presents the proposal as an inseparable block of threats against freedom of expression and privacy, hardly distinguishing between measures or opening room for nuances. It is a reading aligned with Telegram’s usual narrative, which tends to frame regulation as a direct risk to digital rights. But it also leaves a decisive factor in the background: several parts of the plan, as we say, are still pending completion, both in its final formulation and in its technical implementation. Telegram does not come to this debate from scratch. Dúrov’s intervention also occurs in a complicated context for the platform. Telegram has been under the spotlight for some time due to the role played by some channels and groups in the dissemination of content that is difficult to moderate, and due to the recurring debates about responsibility and cooperation with authorities. Added to this is that the founder has been noted in France in the framework of investigations linked to the use of Telegram against criminal activities and certain illegal content. This history helps to understand why these types of messages are not just political criticism. Images | Dima Solomin | Moncloa In Xataka | We don’t know if banning social media for those under 16 is going to solve the problem. Yes we know that it will generate others

AI doesn’t just live on chips, it also requires massive energy, so Google has bought an energy company

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The AI needs a lot of energy and technology companies are already planning how to power their huge data centers. On the table there are such creative ideas as take them to space either submerge them in the sea to reduce its consumption. Google has opted for a more immediate solution: it has purchased an electricity company for data centers. The agreement. Google has purchased Intersect Powera company dedicated to developing energy infrastructure, including renewable energy sources, for data centers. Google has paid $4.75 billion for the San Francisco-based company, in addition to assuming its debt. According to Sundar Pichai: “Intersect will help us expand our capacity, operate with greater agility in the construction of new power generation facilities in line with the new load of data centers, and reinvent energy solutions to drive innovation and American leadership” Why it is important. The agreements of AI companies are usually focused on computing capacity, not energy. This agreement underscores the importance of energy in AI infrastructure, putting it on the same level as the very chips it powers. Data centers are being developed at a brutal pace and energy is presenting itself as a bottleneck. Satya Nadella already said it: there is no power for so many chips. It’s Google ensuring enough “food” for its chips. Yontersec. Google’s relationship with Intersect began just a year ago, when big tech acquired a minority stake in the company. Under this collaboration, several projects have come to light in their data centers. Both these projects and all Intersect personnel are part of the agreement. What the agreement does not include are other company assets, mainly located in Texas and California, worth 15 billion. These will continue to operate under the Intersect brand. Energy. In 2023, data centers already accounted for 4% of the energy consumption of the entire United States, and at the rate at which they are being built, the figure will continue to increase (there is talk of 12% by 2028). The problem is that US electrical infrastructure cannot support that pace and is having consequences for consumers through price increases in electricity. Google assures that with this agreement it will be able to guarantee “an abundant, reliable and affordable energy supply that allows the construction of data center infrastructures without passing on costs to network customers.” Image | Wikipedia, Intersect In Xataka | Talking about artificial intelligence is talking about energy, and the fashionable term is ‘bragawatts’

The DGT is “favoring massive fraud” with the V-16 beacons. We don’t say it, FACUA denounces it

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Of favoring “massive fraud” and “very serious passivity.” This is how Rubén Sánchez, spokesperson for the consumer association FACUA, has defined the attitude taken by the DGT on the occasion of the arrival of the V-16 beacons, which will be mandatory from January 1, 2026 to replace the emergency triangles. The association defends that many drivers have bought beacons that are now useless. But, in addition, the press conference and the company’s statement also leave another door open: who and why are criticizing or defending the measure? “A massive fraud”. The words are not found in the statement issued by FACUA but he does pick them up Europa Press from the mouth of Rubén Sánchez, spokesperson for the association, who has accused the DGT of favoring a “massive fraud” with its “very serious passivity” in the face of V-16 beacons that are sold as “approved by the DGT” but in reality are not legal. At the press conference, Sánchez has been much harsher with Traffic than the association has published on its website, ensuring that “it is silent while a multitude of companies, manufacturers and sales platforms are making money at the expense” of consumers” and that the DGT is doing it “absolutely badly because it has allowed large-scale commercial fraud.” Because? Because some of the V-16 beacons that are sold as “approved by the DGT” are not valid, according to FACUA. The association assures that there are companies using this claim to sell their beacons but these do not meet the connectivity requirements and, therefore, an agent can fine the user if they use it in their car. How is it possible? There are two options in this case. The first is that, directly, the company that is selling these beacons is engaging in fraud. That is, you are knowingly selling a product using a claim that is false. Therefore, the best we can do if we find a particularly cheap beacon is review on the DGT website that we are facing a device that complies with all of the law. The other possibility is that the shopping centers have taken out of storage the beacons that began to be sold before their connection with DGT 3.0 was mandatory. At that time, it made perfect sense that the box stated that they were “approved by the DGT” but obviously they have been out of date. FACUA denounces the following: “The obligation to inform the consumer about “the essential characteristics of the good” and to provide him with “relevant, truthful and sufficient information” about it is also being violated, as established in articles 20.1.b and 60.1 of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of November 16, which approves the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws” Tepidity. FACUA’s words contrast with those of other consumer associations. The most obvious case is that of OCU, who have been opposed on some occasions to the measures taken by the DGT, such as environmental labelingbut they have not been dissatisfied with the V-16 beacons. The consumer association has made publications specifying what requirements are necessary to have a V-16 beacon connected or dismantling hoaxes. Posts that come with discounts on subscriptions that have a V-16 beacon attached as an ol giftdirect sale of this product. Beacons, beacons everywhere. And the V-16 beacon has become the star product of Christmas. All the large surfaces are promoting this product with supposed discounts, large online shopping spaces such as AliExpress or Temu They take discounts on the product to their highest point. The companies telephone They deliver it with new contracts, Mail has it in its offices and driver associations such as RACE either RACC They also have theirs. It is the result of a process that has allowed certify the same product with very subtle differences and then sold under different names. The most flagrant and controversial case of recent days is that of Angel Gaitan. He influencer has repeatedly criticized the imposition of this new device but has not lost the opportunity to sell a beacon under your seal which, in reality, is the same as that approved by the inventors of the new device and those who received the first approval from the DGT to sell their beacons presuming complete legality. Photo | Facua In Xataka | Yes, next year I am going to carry the V-16 beacon because they force me to. It doesn’t even occur to me to throw away the triangles

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