Meters

It has been frozen for 30 years at 8,500 meters. Now a mission wants to finally solve who was the most famous corpse on Everest

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If you like mountains and have ever gone (or fantasize about going) to Everest, surely the name of Green Boots sounds familiar: it is a reminder that climbing the highest mountain in the world is still a risky activity. The body of this mountaineer who died in the middle of the ascent was mummified at the entrance to a cave that you have to pass through when you climb the main ascent route from the Tibetan side. 30 years after his death, The Guardian echoes a leaked document where the rescue operation and repatriation of Green Boots to India is collected. In the rescue process it would also correct a mistake that has lasted three decades: the identity of the corpse would be cleared once and for all. The tragic story of Green Boots. “Green Boots” is the nickname of the mountaineer found in 1996 under a rocky outcropping at 8,500 meters above sea level, just 350 meters from the summit on the northeast route that ascends from the Tibetan side. The nickname has little originality: he was wearing boots of the same brand and model Koflach Arctis Expe phosphor green in color. His boots (and his body) were exposed and since it is in a transit area, it has become a macabre reference point to inform the base when they reach that position. Who really is Green Boots?. As for his identity, for almost 30 years it was assumed without official confirmation that It was Tsewang Paljoran Indian mountaineer who died in a severe snow storm known as the 1996 Everest disasterwhich killed 12 people. That tragedy inspired the book Into Thin Air. However, as reported by The Guardian, the document from the Indian rescue authorities identifies the body as Dorje Morupan Indian guard member of a Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition who died in that same tragedy. The document ensures that this identification “has been confirmed through a prior verification process within the framework of a prior technical evaluation”, although without detailing what it consisted of. The recovery mission. The rescue bidding document asks companies to bid for the mission, which must have at least six Sherpas who have previous climbing experience. In addition, they must provide evidence of the mission and transport the body to Delhi before October. As explains Alan Arnettean American mountaineer and well-known blogger about Everest, lowering it is going to be “an arduous task” and estimates the operation at about $150,000. The monsoon rains also work against it. According to Sherpa Tshiring Jangbu details to The Guardianfounder of Everest Sherpa Expedition and with experience in this type of operations, with only a third of the oxygen available compared to that at sea level, activity above 8000 meters requires enormous effort and decision making can become more difficult. And that’s not to mention the load: a frozen body with mountain equipment can weigh up to 200 kilos. In addition, limbs frozen at angles impossible for descent sometimes mean they have to resort to amputation. A cemetery called Everest. Precisely because of the difficulty, danger and cost of the rescue operation, approximately 200 bodies still remain there on the slopes of Everest. As New Zealander Guy Cotter, who coordinated a similar rescue operation with his company Adventure Consultants in 1997, explains: “For families, recovering a body from the mountain gives them comfort, as long as it does not put other people at undue risk.” And according to their experience, there have been cases of recovery of bodies in which more people have died. Aware of the risk of their hobby, there are experienced climbers who wish that, if they die while climbing, their remains remain on the mountain, but are moved out of sight. Of course, families do not always think alike. In Xataka | Climbing Everest in person costs 50,000 euros. Uploading it in 4K from the sofa at home is now free In Xataka | There is something worse than Everest turning into a mountain literally full of shit: scam rescues Cover | Pavel Novak and Gemini with Koflach Arctis Expe

Switzerland thought that putting 5,000 solar panels at 2,500 meters above sea level was crazy. He had an unexpected ally: the snow

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The logic of the solar sector tells us that the panels should go down, where it is hot and the roads reach without problem. It shouldn’t be a good idea to put them on top of a mountain, but a project in the Swiss Alps it has surprised us with extraordinary performance. The curious thing is that what drives his performance is exactly what many assumed would make him fail. A solar farm in an unexpected place. The installation is called AlpinSolar and is located on the dam of Lake Muttsee, in the Swiss canton of Glarus, one hour from Zurich. This construction is located at 2,500 meters above sea level and is the highest dam in Europe, as well as the longest in Switzerland. Panels everywhere. Some 5,000 bifacial solar panels, manufactured by the Swiss company Megasol, cover more than a kilometer of the dam wall, facing south to capture sun from morning to night. Being an inclined surface, the snow slides alone without the need for manual cleaning. A complex installation. The dam is inaccessible by land, so every panel, every piece and every tool had to be transport by helicopter. For example, the crane that helped install the panels, and whose components were moved there to then be assembled and ready to operate. Megavarious out of nowhere. The plant, operational from 2022, has an installed power of 2.2 MW and generates about 3.3 million kWh per year, enough to supply between 700 and 750 homes according to various sources. damn fog. The Alpine country generates plenty of electricity in summer, but the same does not happen in winter, which is exactly when it needs it most. That deficit could worsen significantly if Switzerland starts to close its nuclear power plants, and alternatives such as wind energy, have had difficulties developing there. Traditional solar doesn’t help much either: a panel in the valley only generates a quarter of its normal output in winter, in part because fog can sit in low-lying areas for weeks. Better up than down. The curious thing is that the idea of ​​installing the solar farm at high altitude turned the situation around. The plant is above the fog line, and the thin, clean air lets in more sunlight. The cold, far from reducing performance, helps: solar panels work more efficiently when they are not overheated. And the snow acts like a giant mirror, reflecting additional light onto the panels from below (albedo effect), which can boost production. Surprise. AlpinSolar generates about half of its entire annual production during the winter, exactly the season in which the country needed it most. In fact, it produces up to three times more than a similar plant in low altitude areas during the months of February and March. That was enough argument for the Denner supermarket chain to sign an agreement 20-year energy purchase agreement with the project in an alliance with Axpo and IWB, builders and developers of the project. To copy the project. The result has also ended up convincing the Swiss government, which approved a fast-track law dubbed “Solar Express” to facilitate the development of new projects that effectively leave AlpinSolar behind. Among them stands out an alpine park near Sedrun in which up to 4,200 solar projects are planned to be built in lowland and mountain areas of the country. Austria, Italy and other countries are following the experiment closely. That and othersby the way. Image | Axpo In Xataka | The wind industry has been dreaming for years of a turbine that can be assembled without concrete or machinery. France has said ‘hold my tank’“

“A microsecond lag in GPS could miss a moon landing by hundreds of meters”

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The competition and space disagreements between the United States and China are one of the main geopolitical problems in 21st century science. We might think that this effort to be first only harms them, but in reality it can be a problem for anyone who enters the space race. There are many issues that serve as examples, although the most recent is the one that concerns lunar time. It has long been clear that there must be a lunar standard time, but The United States has decided to establish a and China another. The consequence is a weak satellite navigation system, which can affect anyone who wants to land on the Moon. At the moment, it seems that NASA is the most advanced in this regard, but it is possible that it will have to do so under Chinese standards, so the conflict, if they do not agree, is served. Two hours for one place. USA has agreed determine the lunar time under something called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC). That would be the time under which the LunaNet satellites would work, a satellite system projected by NASA in 2019in order to control the first navigation system of our satellite. For its part, China has decided to establish the time according to the Lunar Time Ephemeris (LTE-440). This is the system with which both Queqiao-1 and Queqiao-2, the only two lunar relay satellites that are currently active, maneuver. They are designed for communications and would be the first step towards a lunar GPS system. Why is it necessary? Gravity is very different on Earth and the Moon. We know that gravity, in addition to generating attraction on bodies, also curves space-time. As a consequence, time passes more slowly the greater the gravity. And what does that mean? Well, basically, time passes faster on the Moon. Specifically, 56 microseconds faster. That means we can’t use the same time on Earth as we do on the Moon. Our natural satellite needs its own schedule. Be careful with the GPS. GPS systems work by signaling temporal signals measured by satellites. It measures how long it takes for the satellite signal to get from one point to another and, thus, the distance can be calculated. Therefore, it is very important that satellites and clocks work with the same time system. When traveling to the Moon, you should take into account how the satellites used by GPS measure time. But we have already seen that China and the United States do not agree on that. For now, LunaNet is nothing more than a project. The Chinese lunar GPS system too, but at least there are already satellites. Those from the United States have not been launched. Therefore, if NASA lands on the Moon without taking into account the Chinese time system, there could be problems. Just a microsecond of difference in lunar time can affect hundreds of meters away. That can be very dangerous in the face of a moon landing. China has already tried it. The Asian country is the only one that has landed a ship on the far side of the moon. Terrestrial radio systems do not reach this area of ​​our satellite. Therefore, this unmanned moon landing had complete dependence on Queqiao-1. It was proven to work, as the moon landing was a success. But of course, the ship was synchronized with the satellite time system. It is necessary to reach agreements. Sometimes these types of political disagreements make scientists quite lazy. They may want to reach agreements to work in a safer way. At the moment, NIST, which is the United States Standards Institute, is having conversations with the Purple Mountain Observatory (Zijinshan). This institution is one of the main managers of Chinese satellites, so its decisions are very important in the decision to use one time system or another. For everyone to achieve their goals, this time it would be necessary to work as a team. The grudges and competitions could end up delaying the space race for both sides. Image | Magnificent In Xataka | Mars was the great space battleground between China and the US. Now it’s the Moon and there’s too much at stake

A submarine has descended to 7,000 meters in the Indian Ocean and has found something unprecedented: a whale graveyard

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The deep ocean remains the great unexplored archive of our planet, and each descent into the abyssal zone has the potential to reveal something unusual that we were not aware of before. This is what has happened to the expedition of the Fendouzhe submersible which has been found in the Diamond Zone, southeast of the Indian Ocean, a large cemetery. What they have seen. After 32 dives to suffocating depths of between 4,616 and 7,001 meters, researchers have mapped an unfathomable megasite with a 1,200-kilometer-long strip strewn with fossils and skeletons. It is, by far, the largest cetacean necropolis ever documented. This discovery has been captured in an article published in Nature where the discovery is described as a “whale necropolis”. However, we are not talking about a single mass burial as a result of a catastrophic event, but rather about a historical sinkhole where the corpses of dying whales have been accumulating for millions of years. The identification. The team identified 476 fossil cetaceans and five active biological communities from recent carcasses in a minimal sampling area. Extrapolating from these figures, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) estimate that there could be about 750 fossils per square kilometer. In the words of an expert like Stephen Godfrey, according to statements collected by LiveScience: “It’s as if each of these whale falls were a new little restaurant opening along a 1,200-kilometer shopping center.”. A trip through time. The importance of the discovery lies not only in the astonishing quantity of the remains of these whales, but also in their age. Using strontium isotope dating, researchers have been able confirm that some of these fossils are at least 5.3 million years old, dating to the Early Pliocene. Among the recovered bones, which are mainly upper jaws, five species of beaked whales and one species of baleen whale have been identified. But the paleobiological star of the discovery is a extinct speciesnamed as Pterocetus diamantina. Life in death. At 7,000 meters deep there is much more life than we think, but in the form of bacteria. The problem is that the energy that comes from the surface is not in the form of light, but literally whale carcasses that fall under their own weight and feed a large ecosystem. We know that specialized bacteria thrive in the dark by breaking down the oils inside bones and releasing hydrogen sulfide. This chemical energy serves as the basis for a food web that attracts insane densities of organisms that number up to 2,840. individuals per square meter. These include, for example, bone-eating worms or bivalve mollusks. Its importance. According to published notes, the importance of the Diamond Zone is twofold. On the one hand, it vividly documents how a concentrated resource such as a giant corpse can sustain diversity under overwhelming pressures. On the other hand, preserving fossils from the late Miocene and Pliocene provides a large “library” of how whales adapted, grew, and colonized the oceans. Images | Jonathan Hsu In Xataka | Jordi Martí, architect: “A green awning on the terrace is like having a radiator over the window”

Spain has 46 million cubic meters of unused biomass. They are a crucial shield against summer fires

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The summer of 2025 left us a scar of ash and a lesson that we continue refusing to learn. European forests are burning with unprecedented ferocity, but the answer is not to accumulate more firefighters in August, but to return to inhabit and manage the forest in January. The Copernicus satellite balance from the last summer campaign It was, simply, terrifying: more than 403,000 hectares burned in Spain and over a million in all of Europe. However, the truly disturbing information was provided by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS): 217 fires were recorded in Spain, less than half of that in 2022 (493). The burned area, however, was dramatically larger. Fire has not become more frequent; He has become a much more ferocious monster. By the end of 2025, the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) confirmed the disaster: Europe had recorded its highest fire emissions on record in 2003, releasing almost 13 megatonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. Faced with this scenario, the institutional response remains stuck in the same loop: more seaplanes, more retardation, more summer troops. An emergency strategy that ignores an incontestable reality: the problem does not begin when the spark ignites, but long before, in the silence of the mountains, throughout the year. The diagnosis that no one wants to hear. Every year, Spanish forests add 46 million new cubic meters of plant biomass. Of that amount, according to data from Expobiomassonly around 40% is used. The European average is between 65% and 70%. The rest stays on the ground: branches, bushes, dry leaves, weeds. Year after year. Decade after decade. The result is what foresters have long called “fuel loading.” It is not a literary metaphor, it is pure physics: in the face of a heat wave or a dry storm, this accumulation turns an attempt into an uncontrollable inferno. Galicia, Extremadura and Castilla y León already suffered it firsthand last year. As the Spanish Biomass Association (AVEBIOM) warnsthe origin of this powder magazine is historical. Decades of rural exodus and the abandonment of traditional uses – such as grazing, extensive livestock farming or firewood collection – have left the forests orphaned by the management that, for centuries, kept them safe. Nature didn’t do the dirty work, and we stopped doing it for her. A proposal that reaches the European Parliament. This week, that diagnosis landed in Brussels with its own name. Bioenergy Europe presented in the European Parliament the documentary Fuel the solution, not the fire —in Spanish, “Feed the solution, not the fire”— with a central message: preventing large forest fires involves acting long before the flames arrive. The initiative, supported in Spain by AVEBIOM, shows experiences developed in Greece, Italy and Spain that show how the sustainable use of forest biomass can simultaneously contribute to three objectives: reducing the fuel load on the mountains, generating local renewable energy and boosting rural economies. The proposal is not new in the sector. But that it reaches the European Parliament, at the start of a new high-risk season, gives it a political dimension that it did not have before. The model: from the mountain to the caldera. The idea is, in its structure, simple. When pruning, clearing or forestry treatment is carried out, the remaining plant remains – what was previously abandoned or burned in the forest itself – are collected, crushed and converted into chips or pellets. This material fuels boilers in municipalities, hospitals, sports centers or industries. The mountain is cleaner. The town, hotter. And the energy bill is lower. “Sustainable forest management is part of the response to fires. And bioenergy can help provide an outlet for part of the biomass that needs to be removed from the mountains,” explains Pablo Rodero, head of certifications at AVEBIOM, in statements collected by Energies Renewable. Rodero insists on an important nuance so as not to confuse the discourse: “It is not about ‘cleaning the forest’. It is about managing the territory better, with technical planning and sustainability. When the remains of pruning, clearing or preventive work are transformed into renewable energy, prevention stops being a cost to generate economic activity, employment and energy savings.” The specific actions defended by AVEBIOM range from forestry treatments and the maintenance of firebreaks to the recovery of extensive livestock farming and the promotion of sustainable forestry exploitation. Active management, all year round, that does not depend on the urgency of summer. Real numbers on the ground. Beyond the theory, there is concrete data that illustrates the potential. Veolia Biomass In 2024, it transformed more than 300,000 tons of forest biomass—material accumulated in the mountains—into 700 GWh of clean energy. To get an idea: that is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 200,000 homes. The company already operates in several Spanish provinces: it works in Moros (Zaragoza) and in the Sierra de la Culebra (Zamora) in the elimination of vegetation on 500 and 400 hectares respectively; carries out thinning and thinning in Mayorga (Valladolid), Barcial, Castropepe and La Hiniesta (Zamora) and Cilloruelo (Salamanca); and has restored 200 hectares in Andalusia affected by the fires of the previous year. He CRECEMOS report on Forest Fire Managementpublished in May 2025, adds another dimension to the equation: sustainably mobilizing one million tons of forest biomass per year would avoid the emission of 580,000 tons of CO₂. In regions such as the northwest of the peninsula, where biomass potential is still underutilized, this approach would combine fire risk reduction with economic reactivation of currently depopulated areas. The European lifeline. It is important to put into perspective what is at stake. Bioenergy is neither an experimental technology nor a niche bet: according to the GROW reportrepresents 60% of all renewable energy produced in the European Union. And 96% of this biomass is produced in European territory itself: it is not imported, it does not depend on foreign regimes, it is not exposed to the vagaries of the global gas market. It is, in other words, the most autonomous … Read more

Some astronomers made a paella at 2,000 meters above sea level in Almería. And they discovered the best cooking point for rice

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If you like cook a paellait is best that you do it on the coast. And not only because of how pleasant the impression of having a rice at the beach bar looking at the sea is. Also because, basically, it will cook better. Astronomers know this well. Calar Alto Observatoryin Almería, who have a curious anecdote with this story. It wasn’t the chef’s fault.. Years ago, the astronomers at the Calar Alto Observatory enjoyed the dishes prepared by a magnificent chef, from a small town in the province of Almería, during their work days. In his municipality he was known precisely for the quality of his rice. However, I had a thorn in my side with the paellas I was trying to prepare at the observatory. Rice never suited him. At least, not as tasty as normally. In Xataka We have spoken about it with Ana Guijarro, one of the astronomers at this observatory. One day she explained to him that he should not martyr himself. The fault was not his, but rather the fact that the facilities They are 2,168 meters above sea level. The physics behind. As we rise meters above sea level, the atmospheric pressure is lower. To understand it, we can visualize it: there is less column of air above our heads, therefore there is also less pressure acting on them. The boiling point of liquids depends on the pressure. If we heat waterthe molecules that make it up will move faster and faster, colliding with each other. When they reach the surface, they may attempt to “escape,” turning into vapor. However, atmospheric pressure pushes them down and prevents this from happening. If the atmospheric pressure decreases, so does the boiling point. That is, the temperature at which the liquid can begin to turn into vapor. At sea level, the boiling temperature of water is 100ºC. However, at 2,168 meters, water boils at approximately 92.6ºC. A cooking class. For rice to cook properly, it is necessary for the starch in its grains to hydrate and gelatinize correctly, and for that to happen, sufficient heat is needed. The problem is that, when a liquid boils, all its energy is invested precisely in that change of state instead of continuing to raise the temperature. The 100ºC at sea level, or 92ºC at higher altitudes, remain stable so that the liquid turns into a gas. Therefore, there is not enough temperature to process the rice grains in the best possible way. And what about Andean rice? In the Andean countries there are many rice-based dishes that are very tasty. The height is even higher than that of the Calar Alto Observatory, but in these places, where they have no choice but to cook at high altitudes, They have a very precious trick: the pressure cooker. Precisely the objective of this utensil is to artificially increase the pressure, so that the boiling point rises and the food can be cooked for longer. It is valid for rice and all types of stews. Even at sea level it is very precious for cooking certain dishes, such as stews. Sometimes physics makes it difficult for us, but there are tricks to deal with it. It’s not just a matter of rice. Ana Guijarro tells us that this does not only happen with rice. “For example, tea or any infusion They don’t taste the same in the mountains, because the water boils at a lower temperature and that affects the extraction of the flavor that these things have.” It is something that can frustrate a chef a lot, but with which people who, like astronomers, usually work many meters above sea level, are more than familiar. Better paella on the beach. In short, the next time you have a paella on the beach, remember that it is the best place you can have it. And everything is much more enjoyable when you know the science behind it. Images | MagnificentJorgechp In Xataka | The paella Taliban have been growing strong for years. More and more evidence points to the contrary.

220 meters in length and three giant sails of 1,500 square meters

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When someone says “the largest sailboat in the world”, one immediately thinks of the whim of some millionaire. Jeff Bezos paid $500 million to build his schooner koru 127 meters long and the Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko also paid a fortune for his impressive Sailing Yatch A 142.8 meters of length. However, all those luxury sailboats pale when compared to the new titan of sailing that has just been launched in Saint-Nazaire. This is not a private yacht, but a new concept of luxury cruise for millionaires Equipped with three gigantic masts to recreate old-fashioned navigation. The Orient Express leaves the tracks. If we think about great classic luxury trips, it is inevitable to mention the Orient Express as a reference for luxury and glamor trips at the beginning of the 20th century. Now, the hotel company Accord, which also operates one of the lines of the Orient Express, has thrown away the Orient Express Corinthian in the shipyards of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, the same ones where the mythical Normandie liner. The Orient Express Corinthian is not only the largest sailing ship in existence. It is also a form of sea travel that has not been seen for a long time. This is a cruise where 110 passengers sail through the Mediterranean without rushing, assisted by personal butlers on board, with Guerlain spa and avant-garde cuisine with Michelin stars. Three sails, no anchor and an AI looking out to sea. What makes the Corinthian technically unique is not that it has the wingspan of an ocean liner, but rather its propulsion system. It carries three rigid sails of 1,500 m² each, developed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique with a technology called SolidSail. The masts of the Orient Express Corinthian rotate 360 ​​degrees and tilt up to 70º to capture the wind from any angle and make the most of its thrust force. This technology has already been tested successfully in huge freighters to reduce their emissions. Another peculiarity of this luxury supersailboat is that there is no anchor. Instead, the boat uses a dynamic positioning system that keeps it still without touching the bottom. This avoids damaging Posidonia meadows or protected reefs. It also has an artificial intelligence system that continuously monitors the water to detect marine mammals and drifting objects. As support, the sail propulsion system uses a hybrid liquefied natural gas engine. The result, according to the buildersis that it avoids about 9,000 tons of CO₂ per year compared to a conventional cruise of the same size. The luxury of slow travel, from trains to the sea. For a few years now, a part of high purchasing power tourism has turned towards what they call “slow luxury“. A simple idea that recovers all the luxury of the great voyages of yesteryear, where the important thing was not to arrive, but enjoy the journey with the calm that the fast-paced modern lifestyle steals from us every day. The legendary Orient Express train has been the symbol of that spirit of luxury on railsbut now they propose an alternative on the sea. The luxury supersailboat has 54 luxury suites spread over four decks. Each of them is decorated with leather, fine woods and marble. The service includes an exclusive personal butler and you can enjoy the best dishes of avant-garde cuisine in the five restaurants run by chef Yannick Alléno with several Michelin stars to his credit. Vacations within reach of very few pockets. You can now find combined packages where you travel on the Corinthian on routes along the Côte d’Azur, the Italian Riviera and the Adriatic. By 2027, Orient Express introduces new itineraries through Greece, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and northern Europe. To give an example, a seven-night cruise along the Adriatic coast departing from Venice and arriving in Malta in one of the Orient Express Corinthian Suites costs around 39,900 euros. If you opt for one of the most exclusive suites, such as the Agatha Christie Penthouse Suiteof 225 m2 and a 180 m2 terrace and capacity for four guests, can cost up to 198,800 euros on an all-inclusive basis. In Xataka | The latest trend among millionaires is not to buy a yacht. It’s sharing a luxury mini cruise Image | Accor

With 3,500 tons and 15 meters in diameter, China already has the largest tunnel boring machine in the world for high-speed trains

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China has just introduced Jiaoping No.1, the world’s largest earth pressure balance (EPB) TBM designed specifically for high-speed railway tunnels. According to counted recently reported by the state broadcaster CGTN, it is a 3,500-ton colossus with an excavation diameter of 14.57 meters, capable of also using artificial intelligence to monitor, adjust and correct breakdowns while drilling underground, all under extreme underground conditions. We tell you everything. What exactly is it. An earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine is a type of machine that excavates the ground while supporting it at the same time. The rotating head (cutting head) tears off material from the front, which accumulates in a closed chamber just behind. This accumulated earth acts as a “plug” and compensates for the natural pressure of the soil and water, preventing the excavation face from collapsing or the surface land from sinking. For soft soils or urban areas, it is a widely used method and we have seen it other times, like in Madrid with ‘Mayrit’ for transform L11. Why size matters. The larger the tunnel, the more complex and heavier the equipment needed to excavate it, and the more difficult it is to keep such a large excavation face stable. The latest one presented in China is almost 15 meters in diameter and specializes in high-speed lines, so it exceeds a considerable technical ceiling. It is a diameter comparable to that of the largest Chinese underwater tunnel boring machines, like the Dinghaiwhich has an identical maximum excavation diameter (14.57 meters) for the Jintang underwater tunnel. What AI does. According to the media, Jiaoping No.1 incorporates AI to monitor drilling in real time, adjust parameters and detect failures autonomously. And it is something that we see more and more in machinery of this caliber, since in recent projects such as the yangtze river tunnel between Chongming and Taicang, the Linghang TBM employs, according to Interesting Engineeringan intelligent control system capable of automatically regulating pressure, anticipating ground conditions using data and self-guiding during progress. Independence of the West. As has happened in many other sectors, China has gone from depending almost completely on foreign technology to dominating the world market in just a few years. Until a decade ago, German and Japanese manufacturers controlled the vast majority of this market. The turning point came in 2017, when China presented its first domestically manufactured 15-meter class TBM. Today the situation is very different. And according to data from People’s Daily, Chinese-made tunnel boring machines They hold close to 70% of the global market. Behind these teams are usually large state groups such as China Railway Engineering Equipment Group (CREG), the largest manufacturer in the country, or China Railway Construction Heavy Industry. What is all this for? The ultimate goal of these machines is to allow high-speed trains to cross rivers, seas and mountains at 350 km/h inside tunnels, something that a decade ago was a much greater challenge. Projects like the Yangtze Undersea Tunnel seek to drastically cut travel times between large cities and boost the economy of entire regions. And a tunnel boring machine like the Jiaoping No.1 makes its way however it wants. Cover image | Modern China In Xataka | Spain and Morocco have been dreaming of a tunnel under the Strait for 40 years. The great enemy of the project is called Umbral de Camarinal

It has 12 sides and is 351 meters high

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Although in recent times Asia and the Middle East have emerged as the new locations for skyscrapers (in fact, China is the place in the world where there are the most buildings that caress the sky), the place par excellence for skyscrapers has always been North America. Cities like New York or Chicago and legendary buildings like the Empire State, One World Trade Center or the Central Park Tower set the pace of a competition that once seemed reserved for American cities. But North America is not just the United States and the constructions of Torres Obispado in Monterrey or the imminent Tower Rise They show that their neighbors also know how to build skyscrapers very well. In this context comes the Pinnacle SkyTower in Toronto, a skyscraper that, although it is not the tallest in meters nor does it have the most spectacular silhouette, is going to mark a milestone: be the residential building with the most floors in all of North America, as well as the tallest skyscraper in Canada. The skyscraper with 12 faces. The Pinnacle SkyTower that is being built in Toronto reaches a total height of 351.85 meters in its 106 floors. It will house 958 luxury homes, the new Le Méridien Toronto hotel, some 7,400 square meters of common areas and crowning it all, a restaurant with panoramic views on the top floor, such as explains the design studio Hariri Pontarini Architects. The forecast suggests that future residents They will be able to move in starting in autumn 2026, although the complete delivery of the set will be in 2027. One of the aspects that attracts the most attention is its dodecagon shape. As Jodi Buck, partner of the architecture studio, details, this geometry seeks a balance between architecture and functionality, that is, it allows the construction of a more slender structure, opens views in various directions and something essential in buildings of this size: it better distributes the wind load on the façade. The upper floors progressively reduce until the tower ends in a striking pointed crown, which makes the SkyTower an unmistakable silhouette on the Toronto skyline. Why it is important. To begin with, because The SkyTower breaks records: it will be the building with the highest number of floors in a residential building in North America. But there is a trick: it is not the tallest in meters, that title is still held by the Central Park Tower in New York, but it is the one with the most floors. This implies a design decision: favor the construction of more homes in a commitment to greater residential density per meter built. At the urban level, with this building Canada is put on the map as a country capable of competing in this segment of super-high-rise skyscrapers, historically dominated by American and Asian cities. In fact and how points out New Atlasis one of the first Canadian skyscrapers to exceed 300 meters in actual building height. Curiously, setting the record was not initially in the project: with construction already underway, Pinnacle International made it possible because submitted an application to increase the height of the ceilings on some floors and convert mechanical space into habitable space. Projection of the new and exclusive urban development of Toronto. One Yonge Toronto Context. The SkyTower is the jewel in the crown of the Pinnacle One Yongea mixed-use development plan that is transforming the grounds of the former Toronto Star building into one of the city’s largest urban complexes, connecting the tower to a future public park next to Lake Ontario and the financial district. The complete set is formed by six towers of between 22 and 106 floors that will house 2,500 homes, 93,000 square meters of offices, 7,400 square meters of shops, a community center of 4,600 square meters with a swimming pool and gym and a one-hectare public park. The first tower in the complex was the Prestige: it has 65 floors and was completed in 2022. The Pinnacle SkyTower is another example of the trend of super-tall towers that combine homes with hotels, a model widespread in Asia that North America is adopting in response to the housing need and the scarcity of land in central areas. Without going any further, Toronto has several similar projects under construction. Yes, but. As we mentioned above, SkyTower does not win in meters but in floors: the Central Park Tower in New York surpasses it in absolute height thanks to its higher internal ceilings and we have the antenna, the First Canadian Place in Toronto equals it (although it is true that this does not count in official rankings). On the other hand, and although it obviously increases the housing available in the Canadian city, we are talking about a building with 958 luxury homes with prices from 800,000 Canadian dollars and a five-star hotel. With that budget, it is difficult to resolve the problem of access to housing for its citizens. It is new housing, yes, but with prices within the reach of few. In Xataka | Mexico touches the sky with a new and elegant skyscraper of 484 meters and 99 floors: it will be the tallest in all of Latin America In Xataka | If the question is whether a skyscraper can be erased without demolishing it, Paris has the answer: yes, in exchange for a fortune Cover | Dillan Payne and JK Liu

It already has more than 672 meters

by

The ‘Mayrit’ tunnel boring machine It is already in its first months of operation under the basement of Madrid with the aim of expand Metro Line 11. The gigantic machine has already left behind the first 672.6 meters of gallery from the future Comillas station and, according to data made public by the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure shared by El Debate, confirm that the machine is already gaining quite a bit of momentum. Progress figures. In less than two months of activity, Mayrit has extracted 46,676.2 cubic meters of earth, as stated by the media, the equivalent of filling about 19 Olympic swimming pools. In addition, 389 of the 3,076 concrete rings that will end up covering the 5,227 meters of tunnel planned between Comillas and Conde de Casal have already been placed. Each ring is made up of seven voussoirs, rhomboidal pieces that are manufactured in Noblejas, Toledo, in a plant specifically built for this work. How extracted land is managed. The tunnel boring machine tears up the ground with its cutting wheel and the earth travels along a network of conveyor belts that lengthen as the machine advances. These ribbons cross the interior of what will be the Comillas station until they reach the surface, where the earth falls into a pit. with capacity for 8,500 cubic meters. From there, several backhoes load it into a fleet of about 150 trucks that are responsible for the final transfer. All this extracted material is being used to restore half a dozen mining operations and even an abandoned landfill. The start. The first month of work was slower than normal because the machine was still in the adjustment phase. Those first 200 meters were done with Mayrit filming. From now on, according to the ministry’s own forecasts, the tunnel boring machine should move between 400 and 500 meters per month, around 15 meters per day, working 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The next stop. The Ministry’s forecast is that the section between Comillas and Madrid Río, of 1,114 meters, be finished next June. When Mayrit arrives there, it will stop for about two weeks so that the operators can carry out a technical inspection. Then it will continue to Palos de la Frontera, Atocha and, finally, Conde de Casal, the final point of the route and headquarters of the future interchange. The general director of Collective Transport Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid, Miguel Núñez, calculate The complete excavation will take between 13 and 14 months, which puts the end of drilling around May or June 2027. Material at large. To complete this section of tunnel, 32,000 tons of steel, 210,000 cubic meters of concrete and more than 25,000 segments will be needed. Just like they count From El Debate, 50 workers work in the Noblejas factory, producing 42 segments a day, equivalent to six complete rings, which are transported to Comillas in vehicles prepared to support up to 38 tons of weight. The investment in this phase exceeds 740 million euros and the overall progress of the works already exceeds 50%. A bigger project. This entire operation is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. The future Line 11 will be ‘the great diagonal’ of Madrida 33.5 kilometer stretch from Cuatro Vientos to Valdebebas, with 20 stations that will connect key points such as Atocha, the airport, Zendal Hospital or the future Formula 1 circuit in Ifema. When it is finished, it is expected that traveling Madrid from end to end without passing through the center will take around one hour and six minutes. The total investment in the project exceeds 2.5 billion euros and the works will be carried out in phases until 2031. Cover image | Community of Madrid In Xataka | Madrid has just become the spearhead of a technological transformation in Europe: robotaxis

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