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We have found a very rare “hybrid” blood type that only three people out of half a million have

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At school they taught us a basic rule of the biology of our blood that would accompany us throughout our lives: o we are A, or B, AB or else O. He ABO system of the blood discovered by Landsteiner For more than a century, it has been the pillar of modern hematology and is essential for performing a transfusion or transplant. However, genetics has a habit of reminding us that biology does not follow the dogmas we have been taught in textbooks. Other blood types. The ABO system is undoubtedly the majority in our species and that’s what we’re completely used to handling. But the reality is that there are other groups that are really minorities, like the one they have discovered a group of researchers from Thailandwhich has confirmed what seemed like a statistical anomaly. In this way, after analyzing the blood of 544,000 people, they have found a “hybrid type” of blood that It is extremely rare. So rare, that in that massive sample only three people own it. And this is not only a challenge for the different health systems that must have greater control over blood transfusions, since giving blood that is not compatible to these patients can be a death sentence. A goal. The study, carried out by researchers linked to the National Blood Center of Thailand and recently reviewed, started from a brute force premise: mass analysis. By screening more than half a million donors, the goal was identify rare phenotypes that escape the standard typing tests used in hospitals for the majority group. And so much so that they have achieved it. What they found in this case were three subjects who did not fit the usual patterns. This was not simply a rare blood type (as AB negative might be in certain populations), but a genetic structure that defies the Mendelian genetics that are classic in the human blood group. And to see it in magnitude, of the 544,000 subjects, only three presented this variant, which means that it has a prevalence of 0.00055%. Hybrid blood. Once we know how rare it is, the question becomes clear: what is hybrid blood? In general, it is necessary to know that the blood group is determined by a series of antigens that are on the surface of the red blood cells that travel through the bloodstream. These antigens are placed there by specific enzymes. If a person has enzyme A, they will be blood group A. If they have enzyme B they will be group B and if they have both they will be AB. And this is where the deep science comes in: the ABO gene is incredibly diverse in our environment. What these three individuals present seems to be a variant of what in hematology known as cis-AB phenotypes or B(A) hybrids. Instead of inheriting an A allele from one parent and a B allele from the other, they possess a mutation that allows a single allele to code for both enzymes at once, or create a “mutant” enzyme capable of performing both functions. A confirmation. This is an idea that On paper it looked very good.especially after research that pointed to the possibility of a hybrid enzyme that had both functions. Now the Thai team has only confirmed that this phenomenon really exists in humans. The problem of transfusions. We might think this is just a curiosity for geneticists, but it has real implications. If one of these three people needed an urgent transfusion and was misclassified with a standard test, the consequences could be fatal, since they would develop a major immunological reaction at the time of being transfused, which would seriously put their life at risk. All this because the immune system is ready to attack everything that is foreign, that is, everything that does not resemble what is inside. Thus, if blood is transfused that has small modifications to the red blood cells, it can react by destroying them and creating a potentially fatal reaction. It is not an isolated event. Although this may seem like an oddity that has only now been discovered, the reality is that there are many blood types that fall outside the classic ABO. One of the most curious It is known as ‘golden blood’ where you are neither Rh positive nor negative, but null. This makes him a universal donor (hence his name), but the problem is that he can only receive transfusions from his own blood group, which is extremely rare to find. Although it is not the only one, since we have rarer groups such as Gwada-Negative which is accompanied by other important neurological symptoms. Images | Aman Chaturvedi In Xataka | Not all brain cells age at the same time: we have found a “hot spot” of aging

Microsoft needs 500 million PCs to jump to Windows 11. Its new list of compatible CPUs does just the opposite

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Microsoft has a calendar problem and a communication problem. It’s been almost two months since Windows 10 lost official support, leaving millions of users in security limbo. Although Windows 11 has managed recently surpassed its predecessorthe reality is that adoption is still a pending subject for those from Redmond. In this scenario, where clarity is vital for laggards, the company has updated its hardware documentation in the least intuitive way possible. It has wreaked havoc on those trying to figure out if their old PC is valid for upgrading. A labyrinth of compatibility. Until recently, Microsoft’s documentation was explicit: you looked for your exact model and left no doubt. Now, as reported specialized mediathat specificity has disappeared for the list of compatible chips. The new list groups the processors by generic families and redirects to the manufacturer’s website. This forces the user to investigate on their own and also generates certain absurd situations: complete series such as the “Celeron 3000” appear listed as compatible without being so. This family, which was launched a decade ago, only considers one chip as compatible (the Celeron 3867U). Erasing the chosen ones. The confusion now also punishes Microsoft’s own customers. Processors that are compatible have disappeared from the official list, as is the case of the Core i7-7820HQ that the Surface Studio 2 has. This chip was an exception that the firm made for its own hardware (being a Kaby Lake chip it should not fit), but by eliminating the reference, the implicit message for anyone who owns this premium device is that it is no longer suitable. Curiously, the lists dedicated to AMD and Qualcomm (ARM) processors maintain model-by-model detail. The user resists. This change, which given the context should be more intuitive, comes when the market is stubborn. There are an estimated 500 million PCs technically capable of running Windows 11 whose users simply have chosen not to update. The barriers were already high at its launch: from the technical demands of the TPM 2.0 to Microsoft’s obsession with force the online account and its services during installation. Obscuring the basic hardware requirements now only adds more friction to a user base that was already reluctant to abandon the stability of Windows 10. A lifesaver with small print. For those still trapped in the old system, security comes at a price. Microsoft has activated the extended security update program For first-time home users: grants an extra year of patches. Although in Europe regulatory pressure has made this additional year free, It’s just a temporary patch. Those who do not update are already using a vulnerable operating system, exposing themselves to security risks. PCs with Windows 11 are changing from the inside. In the photo, the Surface Pro 12 with Qualcomm ARM chip. Image: Javier Penalva for Xataka ARM is another option. It is certainly paradoxical that, while Microsoft neglects clarity in its traditional platform (x86 chips), it continues to pour resources into its ARM revolution with the Snapdragon X to compete with Apple. The company seeks to energize the sales of computers with Windows 11 relying on AI and Copilot+. But if compatibility management on today’s millions of computers becomes a labyrinth, user confidence in jumping to Windows 11 is eroded. For the more technical, third party tools like Flyoobe They continue to be the escape route to update without restrictions. The exit from the maze. Beyond the information chaos, the roadmap for the user who remains on Windows 10 is clear: the ideal solution is to make the leap to Windows 11, a process that it’s still free. If the hardware resists the official requirements, it is always the “tricks” option to install the system on non-compatible computers. It also opens a new window for Linux: distributions have greatly simplified their use and installation, and thanks to compatibility layers such as Steam Protoneven the old excuse of the lack of video games is no longer a real impediment. In Xataka | The amazing history of ARM, the architecture that triumphs in mobile phones and that was born more than 30 years ago at Acorn Computer

73 million forced investment

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The Ministry of Digital Transformation has brought to public hearing a royal decree that forces the main operators – Telefónica, Masorange, Vodafone and Digi – to invest up to 73 million euros to shield their networks in view of blackouts like the one in April and natural disasters like DANA. Why is it important. The operators are going to have to reinforce 7,280 of their 10,400 strategic locations. Currently, only 30% have enough batteries or generators to maintain service for at least four hours without electricity supply. The mandatory investment comes at a particularly delicate moment: Telefónica is executing an ERE and in others there are cost-cutting plans. The obligations. 85% of the Spanish population must maintain access to telecommunications – including emergency calls – for at least four hours in the event of a power outage. Critical infrastructures will have tougher demands: First level (submarine cables, main data centers, backbone nodes): guaranteed operability for 24 hours. Intermediate level (internet exchange points, satellite systems): 12 minimum hours of autonomy. Rest of infrastructure (standard mobile network antennas): four hours of continuous service. The stick and the carrot. If companies do not comply, the Secretary of State for Telecommunications may carry out inspections, audits and request access to data at any time. Serious violations can result in fines of up to 2 million euros for the company. In addition, managers who have participated in decisions that violate the rule may receive personal fines of up to 30,000 euros. The harshest measure is that the Government reserves the right to temporarily or totally suspend operating licenses. It may also prohibit certain managers from exercising management functions. Yes, but. The rule exempts from sanctions managers who did not attend meetings where decisions contrary to the regulation were made, or who voted against them. Coordination with Defense and Interior. A coordination table will be created between Digital Transformation, Interior, Defense, National Security, autonomous communities and the CNMC. It will not manage incidents directly, but will act as a strategic forum to develop protocols, recommendations and good practices. Associations of operators, manufacturers and consumer organizations will also participate. The context. The royal decree responds directly to recent crises such as the DANA of Valencia either the eruption of the La Palma volcanowhere communication outages made emergency work and the coordination of those affected difficult. The regulations will come into force after passing the public hearing, being approved by the Council of Ministers and ratified by Congress. Featured image | Zac Gudakov In Xataka | Telefónica does not buy Vodafone or Digi for now, but it already has a plan: one in which mergers are necessary

There are 500 million users who could perfectly upgrade to Windows 11. The problem is that they don’t want to

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If you are reading this and still using Windows 10you are at risk. Microsoft a month and a half ago ended the official support period for this operating system that was launched in 2015. The curious thing is that what should be happening is not happening. Dell as an example of what is happening in the world. Dell COO Jeff Clarke recently participated in an interview at The Motley Fool and they asked him for his vision on how the end of Windows 10 would affect the migration of users to Windows 11. That’s when he confessed that all his expectations came crashing down. The end of Windows 10 pointed to the growth of Windows 11. In fact, Clarke explained that before it happened he was very confident that this end of the cycle would lead people to buy a new PC or install Windows 11 on their computers. However, the executive indicated that they have realized that the adoption of Windows 11 is between 10 and 12 points below what happened with previous generations: people are not updating to this operating system as they expected. 500 million users simply skip updating. Clarke’s estimate is that there are about 1.5 billion devices (PCs and laptops) running Windows, and that’s where he made the most disturbing statement: “There are about 500 million PCs capable of running Windows 11 that have not been updated. And we have another 500 million that are four years old and cannot run Windows 11. All of them pose a huge opportunity to upgrade to Windows 11.” And yet, they don’t do it, or what is the same: A third of global Windows users do not have a PC officially compatible with Windows 11 and cannot directly upgrade Another third have a PC compatible with Windows 11 but users simply They have chosen not to do so. If it works, don’t touch it? For many users, including business users, the unwritten rule is often precisely “if it works, don’t touch it.” This is especially delicate in companies, because they may depend on legacy systems and if they update to new versions, conflicts may arise that affect the operations of the business itself. And still… A colossal security hole. Once again, what is really worrying about this is that although these PCs and laptops are working correctly, if they are based on Windows 10 or previous versions of Windows, they are absolutely exposed to all kinds of security flaws. At any time, these PCs could become victims of malware that turns them into members of a botnet, or of ransomware that prevents us from accessing our data unless we pay a ransom. This is already bad for individual users, but for companies the risk is enormous. A ray of hope. Here we just have to wait for users to realize that updating their equipment is important and relatively easy. In fact, on officially compatible devices this is basically a matter of clicking the “Next” button when running the update wizard. If your device is not compatible, there is a trick. On computers that theoretically do not meet the conditions—such as, for example, that do not have native support for TPN 2.0—there are not excessive problems either, because it is possible to “trick” Windows with a command or even with the use of a modified version of Windows 11. Come on, although it seems that you cannot update to Windows 11, the most normal thing is that in reality yes you can. And of course, there is Linux. If for some reason what users don’t want is to upgrade to Windows 11 because they don’t like it, the options are there in the form of Linux distributions. It seems that this path is being chosen by an already notable number of users, and this is demonstrated by the fact that, for example, Zorin OS—a fork of Ubuntu—has seen its distribution Zorin OS 18which arrived just at the time when Windows 10 was no longer officially supported, has been downloaded more than a million times in the last few days. In Xataka | If you have an old PC, there is an effective alternative to Windows 11 requirements and bloatware: this is how Flyoobe works

try to sell it for 30 million

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Nikola Tesla has been one of the greatest inventors in all of historya figure who forever changed the world of science and technology. He promoted alternating current, X-rays, methods to harness and distribute light with fluorescent bulbs, he was the first to create FM radio, and he was even researching methods of wireless energy transmission. Half myth, half reality, another of the inventions he boasted about was the so-called “Death Ray“, a science fiction weapon to carry out attacks hundreds of kilometers away. Rivers of ink have flowed about this supposed invention, but what is not so well known is that he is negotiating with Great Britain to sell it to them for 30 million dollars. The United States also showed great interest in this invention, which Tesla claimed was successfully developed to end all wars as we knew them. We know this thanks to some documents declassified a few years agowhich also includes Tesla’s attempt to sell it to Great Britain. Shooting down planes 400 kilometers away During the 1920s several inventors claimed to have invented a “death ray” capable of destroying aircraft at great distances, but none of them were able to demonstrate its operation. In the early 1930s Tesla also claimed to have invented it under the name “Teleforce”and he claimed this achievement for the rest of his life. In fact, already in the 1910s he had talked about a weapon capable of end wars as they were known, and to make gunpowder obsolete. During the following years, he began to reveal inconclusive details of this invention, which were collected and idealized by the press of the time until an entire myth was created around it. Tesla allegedly developed his “Teleforce” electrostatic machine after studying the Van de Graaf generatorand according to what he said, he used a moving belt to accumulate large amounts of electrical charge inside a hollow sphere. This technology would allow electrical impulses to be launched capable of destroying anything, from ground infantry to ships or airplanes within a 400 kilometer radius. Days after his death in January 1943, US Intelligence seized two trucks full of his belongings from his home. The FBI would later deny having any of these documents, but in one of the documents declassified last year we can see a narrative of who did it and how. Tesla’s documents, notes and materials were of total importance, especially after the descriptions that had been made of that death ray in the press. For example, in some media was defined like a weapon 60 million voltsdeath and extermination 400 km away, capable of eliminating an army of a million men. The electrical wave that this beam emitted through the air would also be capable of detonating enemy explosives at great distances. Tesla defended its scientific value beyond the battlefield, insisting that it could be used to maintain world peace based on weapons power. In this declassified letter to John Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, reference is made to a New York Times article about this Death Ray. “If based on proven facts, it should be of vital importance to our War Department as well as other nations now controlled by crazy dictators,” the letter says. It is also recommended to constantly monitor Tesla to prevent foreign forces from kidnapping and torturing him to obtain his secrets. Hoover responded to thank him for the information, assuring him that his proposal would be taken into consideration, although without clarifying whether it ended up being carried out or not. The attempted sale to the United Kingdom Many media have published about the FBI’s interest in Tesla’s invention, but hidden among the hundreds of documents there is another very interesting which speaks of an attempted sale by Tesla to the United Kingdom. This document mentions the “death ray” as a weapon to defend any country, no matter how small, also describing how the discovery of “fireballs” generated through electricity was. It talks about how Tesla discovered this phenomenon almost by chance during his experiments. in Colorado Springs during 1899and who continued to develop it later. It also explains how after tried to sell it to him to the United Kingdom government for thirty million dollars. The declassified document also says that, during the negotiations, Tesla had stated that someone had broken into his room and examined all his papers, although those thieves or spies had left empty-handed. The inventor claimed that there was no chance that his invention had been stolen because he simply had not written it down yet. It was all in his memory, and there it stayed until his death. The fact that the FBI took a large amount of material belonging to Tesla has fueled conspiracy theorists for decades, with dozens of theories about how the United States could have learned how to use the Death Ray. But today gunpowder is still what we use in wars, so it seems that if such a weapon really existed, Its secret died at the same time as its creatorwhich since it never manufactured it, nor did it patent it. In Xataka | Nikola Tesla already imagined drones in 1898, both for deliveries and for combat In Xataka | In 1982 Seiko created a watch for making calls and watching television. His only problem was arriving too early In Xataka | The microprocessor that advanced the Intel 4004 was not in a computer, but in a secret place: an F-14

China already has an army of 5.8 million engineers. His new plan involves accelerating doctorates

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China has a plan to win the technology race, one that began more than 40 years ago when decided to invest in training millions of engineers. We have seen it in the signings of the Meta superintelligence teamwhere the vast majority are Chinese. Chinese universities have a new plan to further accelerate the attainment of doctorates, one that puts aside theory to focus on practice. What is happening. They tell it in South China Morning Post. China is implementing a new policy that affects STEM students pursuing doctorates. The title PhD or ‘Doctor of Philosophy’ is the highest academic rank that can be obtained and until now required the development of a thesis. With this change, led by Harbin University of Technology, engineers can earn the PhD degree with the development of real products and systems. First case. The first student to achieve the PhD based on practical results was Wei Lianfeng last September. He graduated in 2008 and joined the China Nuclear Institute, where he worked for more than a decade until he decided to return to university to pursue his PhD, which he earned for his results in developing a vacuum laser welding system. To evaluate their work, the court that attended the oral defense included industry experts. Why is it important. The training of technical talent has been a priority for China for decades and more recently they have redoubled their efforts. In 2022, the government launched a program to promote STEM education especially in strategic areas such as semiconductors and quantum computing. Among the key points of the plan was close cooperation between companies and universities for joint training. This measure is the culmination of this strategy and the recognition that theoretical knowledge is not enough to compete in the technological race, especially with US blockades of key technologies. This allows China to solve the bottleneck in graduating higher-ranking engineers; It is not only about training more engineers, but about training them as soon as possible and with solutions that can be applied to the real world, instead of theses that are hundreds of pages long. STEM Power. The push to train engineers and scientists is part of a long-term government plan that began in the post-Mao era. And the plan is going from strength to strength. If we focus only on doctorates, according to data from 2023, China awarded 51,000 doctorates (PhD) in STEM careers, while the US was at 34,000. The projection at that time was that by 2025 the figure would rise to 77,000. In terms of total figures, In 2020, China was already the country that produced the most STEM graduates throughout the world with an abysmal difference: 3.57 million compared to the 2.55 million that India produced or the 822,000 in the United States. At the moment China already has 5.8 million graduates and it is estimated that more than 40% of all graduates choose a STEM career. Image | Joshua Hoehne in Unsplash In Xataka | Silicon Valley has a problem: its engineers are beginning to look to the other side of the Pacific. Specifically towards China

Yes, the Strait of Gibraltar is “about” to disappear. Within 50 million years, specifically

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In recent days, we have been able to see some voices that pointed to an almost apocalyptic event in our country: the Strait of Gibraltar this “about to disappear“, making two continents come together. The image in this case is quite powerful: the Mediterranean turning into a salt lake or completely disappearing before our eyes because its water intake would be cut off. However, when geologists say ‘soon’, they don’t mean next week. The reality. This new wave of fear over this fact arises as a result of a publication in the magazine Geology which is undoubtedly fascinating. In this case, geologists have used the capacity of supercomputers and 3D geodynamic models to see that under Gibraltar there is a subduction zone that right now she is ‘asleep’ and could wake up at any moment. The study, led by João C. Duarte together with researchers from the University of Mainz, addresses one of the great debates in plate tectonics: is the Gibraltar subduction zone dead? The discovery. For years science has pointed out that the sinking of the oceanic lithosphere under the Gibraltar Arc had stopped. However, the authors have applied new computer simulation techniques with the 3D ‘gravity-driven’ model to be able to reproduce the evolution that the western Mediterranean will follow where this strait is located. This is something fundamental, since the ancient models had us quite limited, but with technology you can see the processes over millions of years. The result of what was seen is quite clear: subduction is not dead, but is in a period of ‘rest’ or ‘silence’. Although the model believes that at some point this is something that will be activated or unblocked again. The future of the Atlantic. Something that must be clear is that the oceans are not static, but rather follow what is known as the Wilson Cycle. According to this model, the Atlantic is a young ocean that is expanding right now. But like everything in this life, it is doomed to die, just as happened in the past with the Tethys ocean, which is the ancestor of the Mediterranean Sea. However, for this to occur, subduction zones need to be activated where the tectonic plate sinks under another. breaking plates. The problem is that breaking a tectonic plate to start this subduction process is mechanically very difficult. The solution proposed by this team is that this area already exists in the Mediterranean, and its effect will spread to the west, crossing the Strait and invading the Atlantic. This is something that would give something called the ‘Atlantic Ring of Fire’, analogous to the famous Pacific beltcharacterized by volcanoes and earthquakes. When will this occur? This is where the important nuance comes in that must be taken into account when we talk about something in geology happening ‘soon’. According to this simulation, the current phase of inactivity will last for some time yet. But not a few days, but the propagation of subduction towards the Atlantic will gain traction in 20 million years and the development of the new subduction system can be delayed up to 50 million years. Saying that the Strait is “about to disappear” based on this study is like saying that the Sun is about to go out because it has “only” fuel left. 5 billion years. It is true on the scale of the universe, but irrelevant to our daily lives. Why it is important. Beyond the time it will take for this to occur, this model demonstrates how subduction zones can migrate from dying oceans like the Mediterranean to expanding oceans like the Atlantic, helping us understand how the Earth has been shaped throughout its history. Images | Malcolm Ketteridge In Xataka | Cádiz has decided to prepare for something that has happened five times in 7,000 years: its destructive potential justifies it

An investment of 2,350 million will make Extremadura a global supplier of diamonds for chips

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Trujillo will be a world center for the production of synthetic diamonds. A factory will be created there with a budget of 2.77 billion dollars (almost 2.4 billion euros) in which the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation will participate (SETT), with 753 million, and the American company Diamond Foundry (DF). And those diamonds will not be used for jewelry, but for especially powerful chips. The silicon problem. Current silicon chips have hit a “thermal wall.” By making them faster and more powerful, they get so hot that they lose efficiency or burn out. This slows down the progress of these chips and their application in fields such as artificial intelligence or automotive. Alternatives have been sought for a long timeand the diamond is precisely one of the most striking. The evolution of Trujillo. The Diamond Foundry factory will not make jewelry, but the synthetic diamond wafers it first produced two years ago. The diamond has a thermal conductivity much higher than that of silicon, with values ​​ranging between 1,000 to 2,200 W/mK compared to 153 W/mK for silicon. Or what is the same: it allows us to guarantee that, as they highlighted on IEE Spectrumthe chips of the future will remain “fresh.” The impact. By using diamond as the base or substrate for these chips, it is possible to run them at extreme speeds without overheating. This will position Spain as the world center of this critical technology. The North American company It already had two plants in Trujillo in which monocrystalline diamond (SCD) ingots were produced. The factories are also powered by solar energy, which is abundant in the Extremadura region. Zaragoza as a great ally. Those responsible for Diamond Foundry they explain in the official statement that the new factory is already underway with two construction shifts to accelerate the works. The ingots (the “raw” form of the material) will then go through a singling or cutting process that “slices” them into very thin sheets. These sheets, which are initially rough, are polished at a microscopic level and packaged in a sterile environment. Precisely this “post-processing” phase of production will be carried out in Zaragoza. The investment. The total budget they talk about in DF is 2,770 million dollars, about 2,392 million euros at the exchange rate. Of that amount, the SETT—which groups together previous investments such as PERTE Chip—, will contribute 753 million euros according to DF. It is expected that in the first ten years of the project the contribution to the Spanish GDP will be around 2,150 million euros, and it is expected to generate around 500 direct jobs and more than 1,600 indirect jobs. How to produce synthetic diamonds. While natural diamonds they take time to produce between 1,000 and 3,300 million years old, in Trujillo they are manufactured in approximately one month. To achieve this, DF uses 20 plasma reactors that exceed 1,000 degrees in temperature and generate conditions similar to those found in nature. The process starts with a 20.0 x 20.0 x 0.2 mm diamond “seed” that, when subjected to a combination of gases and a microwave process, grows until it reaches the optimal dimensions for use. Di Caprio, among investors. A curiosity: the San Francisco-based company was founded in 2012 by Martin Roscheisen and Jeremy Scholz, but what is surprising is its list of investors. Among them are iPod co-creator Tony Fadeel, Twitter founder Evan Williams and actor Leonardo di Caprio. The water problem. Diamond Foundry’s plants in Trujillo have faced significant problems related to their water supply. It is estimated that the plants need at least 730,000 cubic meters of water per year, which exceeds the annual drinking water consumption of the entire population of Trujillo. Various platforms such as Save El Berrocal and Ecologistas en Acción have warned of that danger, although Diamond Foundry has defended that its plan is based on the reuse of water from the Trujillo Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The Extremadura Government gave the green light to some modifications to the original DF project and considered that the factories would not produce significant adverse effects on the environment. In Xataka | China defies geology: it manufactures in a week what the Earth takes a billion years to do

He has just been fined 10 million euros

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The Spanish Data Protection Agency has imposed on Aena the largest technological sanction in Spain. This is not a security or data leak problem, but rather having deployed a “high-risk” technology for fundamental rights without demonstrating that it was really necessary. The supervisor has also ordered the immediate suspension of all facial recognition at airports until the deficiencies are corrected. What has happened. The fine of 10,043,002 euros specifically punishes the lack of a valid Impact Assessment before processing biometric data of more than 62,000 passengers. The resolution, dated November 6 but known now, details that Aena continued with the system despite having received two previous unfavorable reports from the Agency itself during the consultation phase. The core of the infringement. The problem is not using biometrics, but how the system architecture was designed: Aena opted for a “one-to-many identification” model with centralized storage. This means that the passenger’s face was not only checked against their documentation at the time of screening, but was stored in a central database for up to two years. The regulator considers that there were much less intrusive alternatives to achieve the same objective of speeding up boarding. For example, local biometric authentication or simply the traditional visual verification system that has worked for decades. Between the lines. The AEPD challenges the premise that the “user experience” justifies any technological deployment. In its resolution, the body headed by Lorenzo Cotino describes Aena’s lack of diligence as “serious” and emphasizes that the company was fully aware that its program involved special category and high-risk treatment. The system worked at eight airports: Madrid-Barajas. Barcelona-El Prat. Alicante. Gran Canaria. Tenerife-North. Palma de Mallorca. Minorca. Ibiza. Going through biometric controls was voluntary and coexisted with traditional documentary controls, which will continue to operate as before. Aena’s response. The airport manager has announced that it will appeal the sanction before the courtsexpressing his “respectful disagreement.” It maintains that the passengers gave their consent voluntarily and that the security of the data was never compromised. “There has been no security breach and, therefore, there has been no data leak,” the company stressed. Aena describes the sanction as “disproportionate” and argues that it is based on an “alleged violation of a formal obligation.” However, in the field of data protection, consent does not validate processing if it is disproportionate or unnecessary from its design. Yes, but. The suspension dictated by the AEPD will not affect flight operations. It will remain in place until Aena carries out a risk assessment that truly considers the dangers to the rights and freedoms of travelers. The company has assured that it will work to restart the program “as soon as possible.” In Xataka | “We have not done it well”: the DGT assumes that something has failed in the arrival of the V-16 beacons Featured image | Aena

They depend on road transport and there is a lack of 3.6 million truck drivers

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Today almost everything you buy, from supermarket food to the latest mobile phone, has traveled by truck before reaching your hands, and in Europe three out of every four tons of goods move by road. 75% of the goods are transported by road and 85% of the transportation of perishable products is done in fleets of trucks that, currently, do not have enough drivers. The International Road Transport Organization (IRU) calculate that in 36 countries that add up to around 70% of the world’s GDP there are 3.6 million truck driver vacancies, which represents around 7% of the total existing positions. With the progressive aging of the templates, the problem it’s not going to get better in the coming years. One million truck drivers by 2026. For Europe, the IRU predicts that in 2026 there will be a shortage of around one million professional truck drivers. Meanwhile the rise of online commerce demand has skyrocketed of road transport and, according to calculations presented by IRU, the volume transported in Europe will grow by approximately 11% until 2030, which aggravates the tension between the supply of drivers and the real needs of the market. The data provided by IRU show that the driver shortage is a structural problem that affects America, Asia and Europe equally and is not limited to a specific crisis in the road transport sector. Sector sources warn that, if decisive action is not taken, the number of vacancies could exceed seven million drivers by 2028, with 4.9 million unfilled positions in China, about 745,000 in Europe and around 200,000 in Turkey. “If concerted and continuous measures are not taken, this demographic time bomb will explode, seriously affecting economic growth and competitiveness around the world,” said Umberto de Pretto, secretary general of the IRU in his report. Spain needs 30,000 drivers. This lack of professional drivers It is already visible in Spain, where it is estimated that there are around 30,000 unfilled truck driver positions and around 4,700 additional vacancies in bus transportation to meet the growing demand. The IRU and national carrier associations warn that, if the trend continues, the combination of more cargo to move and fewer available drivers could translate into uncovered routes, delays in deliveries and strong pressure on transportation costs. An aging sector with little relief. One of the underlying problems is the age of those who are already working behind the wheel of a truck. In Europe, the average age of drivers is around 47 years old, while in Spain the average is over 50 years old. 50% of Spanish truck drivers are over 55 years old. IRU points out that some 3.4 million truck drivers on the continent will retire in the coming years, which means that millions of professionals will leave the sector in a relatively short period, further aggravating the shortage of labor for the transport of goods. Without quarry. At the same time, the freight transport sector does not have a enough generational change. Less than 12% of professional truck drivers are under 25 years of age on a global scale and in Europe that percentage falls to around 5%, with countries such as Spain or Poland where those under 25 years of age barely represent around 3% of the workforce. To attract new drivers, some governments have begun to make moves, although for now in a limited way. In Spain aid has been approved up to 3,000 euros per person to get a truck permit or class C and D bus. Job improvements. Faced with a scenario of labor shortage, professional drivers’ associations they regret the few proposals aimed at improving the working conditions of professionals. According to a study by the transportation sector employment platform TDRJobs, salary increases (24.3%) and improved working conditions (22.1%) are among the main reasons for driver turnover. In Xataka | That Japan has 100,000 people over 100 years old explains a problem: they are literally running out of drivers. Image | Unsplash (Konstantin Kitsenuik)

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