modern

2,000 years ago, a lame and bald slave began speaking in the taverns of Rome. His “two-handle theory” has marked modern psychology

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We are in the first third of the second century after Christ and what we see is a boy from Nicomedia obsessively writing down everything that a weak, bald and half-lame old man says. Arrian does not know it, but those notes that will see the light in 135, will never be forgotten. Some call it “perennial wisdom” and, in fact, much of its ideas helped generate, 2,000 years later, things like modern psychotherapy. It’s still surprising, really. After all, in many parts of the Enchiridion, they spend their time talking about vessels. Vessels? For example. In section 43, you can read that “Everything has two handles, one by which it can be carried and one by which it cannot be carried. If your brother acts unjustly, do not take the matter by the handle of injustice (because by that it cannot be carried), but by the other: which is your brother, who were raised together.” A philosophy always on the verge of ridicule. I speak of Epictetus’s vessel, because, in these times of ‘pop stoicism’, most of the times when the theory of the two handles is cited it is done wrong. The core of Epictetus’ ideathe old and lame philosopher at the beginning of the article, is not resigning, it is not denying injustice, nor shrugging one’s shoulders in the face of it. The essential thing is to ‘reframe the relationship with her’ in order to manage it. Epictetus demonstrates the old saying that there is nothing more practical than a good theory and what he is telling us is that “if the handle we use doesn’t work, why do we insist on continuing to use it?” What is stoicism? In principle, Stoicism is intellectual archaeology. It is true that the Stoic school was a tremendously fertile current of thought in three areas: ethics, logic and physics (that is, in natural science). But it is also true that Stoic physics has been surpassed by modern science and its advanced logical ideas (after being ignored for a long time) are fully integrated into modern propositional logic. The only “rescuable” thing is his ethics. That is, a practical philosophy that tries to transform the emotions, impulses and passions of the human being and turn them into a tool to find inner calm. And it has been tried, but things went wrong. For the Stoics, human flourishing (‘eudaimonia’, the good life) consisted of achieve that ‘apatheia’that peace of mind. Its main tool is a basic distinction: the things we can control, on the one hand, and those we cannot, on the other. The Stoic interest, as Epictetus points out in his theory of the two handles, is in the first ones, those that can be controlled. Then came to ‘broicism’ (the hijacking of stoicism by an “ultra-processed pseudo-philosophy full of patterns of aggression, self-isolation and self-improvement). But there are always things to learn… In the 1950s, American psychologists such as Albert Ellis led the development of cognitive therapies following some very similar ideas to the Stoics. And, in recent years, the role of Hellenic philosophies has been explored as “preventive psychological medicines”. That is, as a set of ideas that would help to have a healthy psychological life, all of this makes sense. Epictetus shows it. …especially in this world. A few years ago, the Complutense professor Ignacio Pajón Leyra held that the Hellenistic era in which Stoicism developed is very similar to our own. They are similar in social instability, in major political changes; They are similar in that traditional religion began to decline and the first great globalization occurred; They are similar in that community projects began to lose strength and the individual gained more and more social and political weight. As we said thenit is possible that Pajón Leyra is right and human beings use philosophies, beliefs and doctrines as a way to make sense of the world. And, in that sense, “similar worlds” require “similar philosophies.” But then, what’s really interesting about this boom in Stoicism is what it’s saying about us. Image | Xataka In Xataka | What is Stoicism, the Greek philosophy from 2,000 years ago that has become fashionable again today

In 1808, a Canarian engineer had to flee Spain and go into exile in Russia. And thus shaped modern St. Petersburg

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Between the winters of his native Puerto de la Cruz and those of Saint Petersburg there are a few degrees of difference; but neither that, nor the change in culture, language or landscapes turned back Agustín de Betancourt when in 1808 he decided to pack his bags and move to the Russia of the tsars. He had fallen into disgrace in the eyes of the almighty GodoyIn Spain he had nothing left but family and memories, he had been in Paris for some time and had influential friends, so… What could he lose? Nothing. And so it was. His steppe adventure would bring him significant profits; but above all to Russia itself. So much so that if you walk around Saint Petersburg you will find several statues in his memory. The country of the tsars, that of the Alexanders and Nicolaseswhich today we associate with pageantry and alambic constructions, would probably have been somewhat less brilliant if it had not been for the genius of Agustín de Betancourt, the inventor who during the early part of the 19th century gave shape to his particular “Russia made in the Canary Islands”. Especially in the capital, Saint Petersburg. From Augustine to Agustinovich The one of Agustín de Betancourt y Molina (1758-1824) is one more name in the long list of national geniuses from whom Spain—before and after him, for one reason or another—did not know how to take full advantage. It happened to Isaac Peral, Monica Sanchez, Angela Ruiz, Emilio Herrera…and Betancourt. In his case, yes, in a peculiar way. At the beginning of the 19th century, the situation of the Canarian engineer in Spain was enviable in its own way. He came from a good birth, he had made a career between Madrid, Paris and London, earning the trust of the counts of Floridablanca either Aranda and enjoyed a well-established prestige with his work on steam engines or the optical telegraph that I had designed with Claude Chappe. As, in addition to being a man of action, he was also a man of letters, Betancourt had also encouraged the creation of the School of Roads and Canals, inspired by the École des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris. Despite all this prestige and status, their situation at the dawn of the 19th century was not what one would call comfortable. In 1805 a report with his seal on the Genil River had earned him the distrust of none other than Manuel Godoy himselfstrong man in the kingdom of Charles IV. That circumstance and the scenario that was emerging internationally encouraged Betancourt to liquidate his properties in Spain and move first to Paris —where Napoleon came to tempt him—and then to Russia. There, in Saint Petersburg, he knew how to gain the favor of the best godfather imaginable: Tsar Alexander Iwho probably saw in the canary a more than valid genius for the development of his country. What Spain had missed would be used in the Russian empire. If the future was not tempting for Agustín in Madrid, perhaps it would be in Madrid. 3,000 kilometers from there. So he collected his belongings, settled his pending matters in France and embarked for Saint Petersburg. There they waited with open arms for Agustín “Agustinovich” Betancour. Persuaded perhaps by his prestige or the interviews with Agustín himself, the tsar He soon showed his confidence in the canary. One of his first orders was the modernization of the Tula cannon factory, a strategic cog in the military apparatus of the Russian Empire. Betancourt was not new to the task and he knew how to take advantage of his knowledge of the double-acting steam engine and the operation of the Yndrid factory to give a twist to the ancient Russian system. Happy The result must have convinced the tsar. Only in this way can we understand that throughout the following years Augustine was in charge of tasks of capital importance for Russia and accumulated greater and greater prestige. In a matter of a few years, the formerly feuding engineer Godoy He became a lieutenant general in the Russian army and general director of Communications. In Moscow he took on the task of building a new Equestrian Exercise Room and around the same time he was in charge of what may have been his greatest contribution—and the most profound—to Russian urban planning: projecting a new commercial precinct able to take over the fair that since the 16th century It was celebrated near the Makaevsky Monastery. Its old center had burned in 1816 and the Russian Government wanted to recover it… but with greater packaging and in a better place, more accessible and capable of achieving greater projection. The responsibility of deciding where and how and coming up with the overall design fell on the canary’s shoulders. The venue opened its doors in July 1822 with a huge fair that brought together more than 200,000 merchants and helped for years development of the Volga region and the wealth of the empire. That Betancourt did not do badly in his endeavor is demonstrated by the fact that upon his death the Russian merchants installed a plaque of gratitude on his grave. Two hundred years later the footprint of the Tenerife native in Nizhny Novgorod still deep. Although the Nizhni Novgorod complex is perhaps its greatest urban heritage, the city in which it was used most thoroughly and in which it left the greatest impact is Saint Petersburg. There, in the capital of the empire, he showed his talent in at least half a dozen capital works for the metropolis: the new paper currency factory, the dredging of the port, several bridges and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. As the Orotava Foundation remindsBetancourt assumed in March 1816 the task of setting up a new money paper factory in Goznak, on the banks of the Fontanka canal, and for two years he was in charge of supervising the works. His involvement was not limited to the building: he organized its areas and machinery, … Read more

How your city parks have become the best therapy for modern anxiety

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A morning walk through almost any urban park reveals an increasingly common scene: calisthenics bars, wooden benches and grass esplanades have ceased to be simple elements of the landscape and have become the new fashionable gym. Accustomed to the monotony of traditional indoor gyms, with their relentless fluorescent lights and repetitive music on loop, going out to exercise in the park offers a radical and revitalizing change of scenery. As Nikki Fraser explains to the The New York Timesexercise physiologist, we tend to take training in our adulthood too seriously, seeing it as a strict “obligation” (something we have to do) rather than an “opportunity”, but by looking at a park, we regain the wonderful possibility of “playing”. The rise of the street as a training area. What has happened is that strength routines have left the basements and pavilions to conquer the streets. To perform a full-body workout, it is no longer essential to have complex machinery; All you need is a park bench and a piece of grass to perform routines that include climbing steps (step-ups) and push-ups, to lunges, squats and triceps dips. In addition, nature itself provides an extra physical challenge: unlike the repetitive monotony of a treadmill, the outdoor environment forces our muscles to constantly adapt to uneven terrain, which promotes balance, improves agility and burns calories dynamically. “The great moderation.” Behind this movement towards asphalt and grass is a profound generational and economic change. Young people are changing the classic bars for sports when it comes to socializing, a phenomenon that economists, as Joe Wadfordthey have already baptized as “the great moderation.” Instead of allocating a large portion of their monthly budget to going out at night and having to deal with an inevitable hangover the next day, many young people They prefer to invest their money and time in ways that are more rewarding for your health. In fact, as we already analyzed When explaining why the gym is the new bar to combat the loneliness epidemic, the data supports than 39% more young people Generation Z, compared to Generation fitness to meet new people who share your same interests. And there is science behind this. A systematic review long-term clinical trials that compared outdoor exercise versus indoor exercise revealed a revealing fact: of the 99 comparisons analyzed, the 25 that showed statistically significant results favored, in all cases, outdoor exercise. This natural environment encourages higher levels of positive emotions, tranquility and motivation. If that were not enough, simple exposure to sunlight provides a natural boost of vitamin D and works as a powerful antidote to reduce stress, anxiety and depression. Beyond the muscle. The true impact of this trend transcends body aesthetics and economic savings; It has a profoundly transformative and therapeutic power on a social level. The BBC reported the case of Raymond Goodfield, a 53-year-old man who, due to depression and his dependence on alcohol, had ended up living on the streets. After joining free weekly outdoor gym sessions in his local park, his life took a radical turn: he stopped drinking, lost his shyness and found a supportive community. To make these urban spaces truly inclusive and not just a haven for elite athletes, researchers at Loughborough University have worked closely with the community in the design of new park equipment. This machinery is designed to improve balance and postural control, which makes it suitable for a very wide range of users, including those who are undergoing physical rehabilitation processes. A paradigm shift. All this establishes a strong contrast with the wellness trends that prevail in exclusive areas of cities. In the era of “cuqui fitness”where sport has disguised itself as therapy to charge you more money, we have seen how the industry commodifies calm. People pay large sums for low-impact disciplines or “somatic” classes, which consist of making tiny movements to try to relax the exhausted nervous system, turning well-being into a luxury item. The park, however, offers the rebellion of simplicity: an alternative where reconnecting with nature and forming a community act as that same escape valve against modern pressure, but completely free of charge. The triumph of simplicity. In short, using calisthenics bars, grass and benches as training tools is much more than a clever trick to avoid paying a sports club fee. It is the reflection of a society that seeks to heal. Going out to exercise outdoors represents an instinctive response to an excessively digitalized and isolated world. At the end of the day, the park gym reminds us that the goal is no longer just to sculpt the body, but to build real bonds, nourish ourselves with vitamin D and claim our most basic right: to go out and play again. Image | Magnificent Xataka | The big lie of “cuqui fitness”: sport has been disguised as therapy to charge you more money

Stress was designed by evolution to save your life. Modern chronic stress is taking it away from you

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It is easy to hear in this society the phrase “I am very stressed” because we have more and more demands on us in the workplace or staffand the truth is that it is something that is gradually being used as a “crutch” to associate it with mental fatigue or lack of time. However, the reality is that the great effect that stress has on our body is generating very relevant physical problems that can alter us in the long term. Its effect. The immune system is a fundamental part of our body that defends us against microorganisms, but also against cells that do not follow a natural division and that, without this control, can continue ahead. generating cancer. That is why taking care of it is fundamentaland constant stress is one of your worst enemies by reducing your ability to act. There is no need to demonize. To understand the damage, we must first be fair with the stress, since logically there are situations where you have to have stress to be able to stay aliveand without that ‘stress’ our species would literally be extinct a long time ago. And to understand it, if we ‘travel’ thousands of years ago, if a lion chased a human, the body released adrenaline and cortisol, preparing the immune system for possible injuries and enhancing short-term defenses. The problem with modern life is that the “lion” is no longer a specific predator, but the mortgage, work or constant anxiety. But it is a problem. When stress becomes chronic, it becomes a poison for the body, since, according to different articles, the perpetual state of alert overstimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Here the result is a sustained elevation of cortisol that, paradoxically, ends up causing “glucocorticoid resistance,” which are the molecules that are naturally produced to reduce inflammation. The body is then flooded with stress hormones, but your cells stop responding properly to them to curb inflammation. And as we have seen on many occasions, long-term inflammation brings more problems than benefits. The defenses. The immune dysfunction caused by this chronic condition is perfectly documented. An example is in the classic Cohen study which already mapped out the physiological mechanisms that make us more vulnerable to infections, but experimental studies and reviews from 2025 give us an exact cellular x-ray of what we lose. Among the examples that stand out, we have a drastic reduction of NK cells which are our first line of defense against viruses and tumor cells. Furthermore, both T lymphocytes (which are fundamental cells of the immune system) such as B lymphocytes see their response capacity diminished, making them unable to ‘destroy’ microorganisms that enter our body. But if that were not enough, chronic stress ages the immune system before its time. In a loop. Perhaps the most fascinating discovery that science points to is the connection between the immune system and mental health through neuroinflammation. Here, chronic stress is literally wearing down the body by continually adapting, causing the immune system to skyrocket. proteins related to inflammation that can travel to the brain and activate microglia, which is the ‘defense’ system of the nervous system. The result? A neuroinflammatory environment that is directly linked to the development of depression and anxiety disorders. And logically, if we have anxiety, stress will continue to increase, causing more inflammatory proteins to be released that will continue to affect the brain. It’s not forever. Here science points out that the damage caused by stress is not perpetual, but can be reversed at any time through interventions psychological interventions focused on stress reduction, as well as regular physical exercise. This has shown that chronic inflammation can be reduced and normal immune system cell function restored. That is why now rest and mental health should not be seen as a luxury, but rather we must begin to see them as an important biological shield that can greatly extend our lives if we manage to keep it under control. Images | creativeart on Freepik In Xataka | We thought staying up late was just a bad habit: It’s your body complaining about stress, according to an anxiety expert

If anyone thinks that gambling is a modern vice, we just found a game of chance that is more than 12,000 years old

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We are so used to locating the origins of gambling in the civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean (in the Babylonian temples, on the Roman gaming tables) that it is difficult to imagine another scenario. But a study published this month in the magazine ‘American Antiquity‘ changes everything: the oldest known dice do not come from the Old World, but from the western plains of North America, and are at least 12,000 years old. They date back to nothing less than the Pleistocene. Old dice. With his study, archaeologist Robert J. Madden has shown that Native Americans made and used dice at least 12,000 years ago, during the last centuries of the Ice Age. That makes them the oldest known games of chance, more than 6,000 years ahead of the earliest documented dice in Europe. What was believed? Mainstream history placed the origin of dice in the complex societies of the Near East and Eastern Europe, approximately 5,500 years ago. Madden’s findings they relocate that starting point to another continent and to another completely different type of society: groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers of the western Great Plains of North America. Neither palaces, nor cities, nor written culture: games of chance in Pleistocene camps. What are these dice like? Prehistoric Native American dice do not look like the cubes we know. They are known as binary lots: flat, two-sided pieces, made of bone or wood, designed to be thrown on a surface. The result depended on how many marked faces were left face up; Players counted points with small rods and whoever reached an agreed upon number first won. More like a coin toss than the six possible outcomes on a die, but just as useful for generating random outcomes. Why was there confusion? The problem was classification. When archaeologists found pieces of this type, they simply labeled them as “game pieces.” There was no systematic criterion to identify them as given. madden corrected that way of seeing it developing a morphological test based on a catalog that the ethnographer Stewart Culin published in 1907, ‘Games of the North American Indians’, where he documented 293 historical sets of indigenous dice from more than 130 towns. With that framework applied to the published archaeological record from across the continent, he identified more than 600 additional dice. Where were they? The oldest dice come from three sites in the Folsom culture: Agate Basin (Wyoming), Lindenmeier (Colorado) and Blackwater Draw (New Mexico). It is believed that these pieces They are between 12,800 and 12,200 years old. Lindenmeier, north of Fort Collins, has 14 different artifacts that meet the criteria, leading some archaeologists to speculate that it was a large seasonal congregation site for dispersed groups. The density of material found there points to something more than a temporary camp. What is most striking is the continuity. These objects appear in deposits from all major periods of North American prehistory, without detectable interruption from the late Pleistocene until after European contact. A 12,000-year-old tradition that still works: Madden himself found tutorials on YouTube where native groups explain how to play versions of the same games from two millennia ago. How to play. Possibly, these dice were used in games that we can connect with what we tell about the patollithe Mesoamerican board game of the Mayans and Aztecs: that was also a game of chance with a deep ritual dimension, found in the archaeological works of the Mayan Train. The social and religious function of the game seems to have been constant in very different pre-Columbian cultures. Madden describes these games as “social technologies of integration”: neutral spaces, governed by shared rules, where groups with little or no prior contact could interact, exchange goods and information, and build alliances. The religious dimension is equally documented. Numerous native oral traditions describe dice as a sacred activity: the gods themselves participate, and in some cosmologies the creation of human beings is the result of a cosmic game. Image | Robert J. Madden

This is the most modern icebreaker in the Russian fleet

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For centuries, Arctic ice has been a physical barrier to navigation. It is not just about extreme temperatures or rough seas, but about plates capable of closing entire routes for a good part of the year. In this scenario, clearing the way for ships does not depend solely on maps or satellites, but on very specific machinery: the icebreakers. According to CSISRussia has the largest fleet of icebreakers in the world, nuclear and non-nuclear, and that capacity has become a tool that combines logistics, economics and state presence in one of the most disputed regions on the planet. One of the most recent examples of that bet is the nuclear icebreaker “Yakutiya“. This ship is part of project 22220, a series designed to support annual navigation in the Russian Arctic and facilitate transit along the Northern Sea Route. Built at the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg and operated by AtomflotRosatom’s icebreaker division, the “Yakutiya” is part of a generation of ships that Russia considers key to maintaining maritime activity in its Arctic waters. A boat designed to navigate the most difficult routes on the planet World Nuclear News reported on October 10, 2024 that the first of its two RITM-200 reactors had reached the minimum controlled power level after fuel loading and corresponding verifications. By December 2024, the vessel had completed the builder’s pre-delivery sea trials. Already in April 2025, the “Yakutiya” was sailing towards its home port in Murmansk and, according to The Barents Observerwas expected to continue into the Kara Sea to support operations in the Western Arctic. Beyond its construction chronology, what defines the “Yakutiya” are its technical capabilities. According to Rosatom data, the ship measures 173.3 meters in length and 34 meters in width, with 33 meters at the waterline, dimensions that allow it to open channels wide enough for large ships. Its displacement is around 33,000 tons. In open water conditions, it can reach a speed close to 22 knots, about 40 km/h. The most determining characteristic is its ability to break ice up to three meters thick. Rosatom explains, Furthermore, these ships are defined as universal nuclear icebreakers. They are designed to operate both in the open sea and in shallow areas of the arcticincluding the mouths of Siberian rivers. This combination significantly expands its field of action within the network of Arctic routes, where ice and depth conditions can change significantly depending on the region. In addition, icebreakers of this class can escort large commercial vessels, including oil tankers and liquefied natural gas carriers. Each unit is designed to operate for decades, with an estimated useful life of at least 40 years and a crew of approximately 75 people. To understand why Russia invests in ships like the “Yakutiya” you have to look at the map of the Arctic. The Northern Sea Route runs along the northern coast of Russia and connects the Bering Strait with the Kara Strait (Kara Gate), according to CSIS. The same analysis indicates that Moscow considers this sea route a pillar of its economic and security strategy in the region, since it facilitates the transportation of resources and reinforces its presence in an increasingly disputed area. In this framework, the advantage of scale in icebreakers makes it easier to maintain maritime transit in extreme conditions and sustain commercial and state activities in the region. The “Yakutiya” is one more piece within that commitment to the Arctic. What remains to be seen is to what extent Russia will be able to continue expanding and modernizing this fleet in a complex international context and with an industry subject to external pressures. Images | Rosatom | Atomflot In Xataka | As the US approached, the satellites have captured a shadow: Iran has resurrected a Russian Frankenstein for what is to come

Sleeping straight is a modern invention, not an evolution

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Regarding sleep, there are some deeply rooted beliefs such as that falling asleep in less than five minutes is good (spoiler: not at all), that we need to sleep eight hours (we are probably sleeping too much) or that sleeping straight through the night is ideal. There are no two without three and indeed: neither. In fact, if you wake up around three like magic, it’s not strange. After all, getting eight hours of uninterrupted sleep is a modern invention. Sleep science, history and biology all point in the same direction: we have never slept straight through. Understanding and assimilating this can change the way we approach our nights. Why it is important. Because we live in a time in which sleep disorders and the use of sleeping medicines are the order of the day, this reminder has therapeutic value. There are people with insomnia who do not have a disorder, but rather an ancestral biological pattern that clashes with modern life. It is not a problem of the dream, but of our expectations. Be careful, this is not an excuse for not treating pathological insomnia, but it is an excuse to help people reduce their anxiety regarding sleep and taking medication that they may not need. When the night was divided in two. Until about two centuries ago, it was not normal for people to sleep straight through. The pattern was the following: people went to bed shortly after dark, slept for about four hours, and then woke up for a little while to go back to sleep later, until dawn. It is known as biphasic sleep and is widely documented throughout the planet. Virgil already spoke of “the hour in which the first sleep begins for weary mortals” in his Aeneidalthough one of the people who has studied it the most is Roger Ekirch, who dedicated 16 years of research and gathered more than 500 references from documents of all types. Why we lost biphasic sleep. In two words: artificial light. Since the 18th century, when humanity had oil, gas or electric lamps, the night became useful time. And as we already know, light is not harmless to the brain: inhibits melatonin production and alters our circadian rhythms, advancing them. The more light we get before bed, the later we fall asleep and the less likely we are to wake up in the middle of the night. The Industrial Revolution did the rest: the rigidity of schedules ended up concentrating rest in a single block. What human evolution had established throughout our existence, the frenetic life of production and its advances had disrupted it forever. Return to the origins. When science subjects volunteers to conditions that simulate long winter nights, without lights, clocks, and completely dark, people spontaneously return to biphasic sleep with a quiet period of wakefulness. This 2017 study in a Madagascan farming community without electricity corroborated this pattern in real-world conditions. Light not only regulates sleep, it also affects our perception of time. Research from the Environmental Temporal Cognition Lab at Keele University evidence that with low lighting it seems that time passes more slowly, an effect that is magnified in people with a low mood. This explains why for many people winter feels eternal and depressing. And why if you wake up at 3 am time seems longer. What to do when you wake up in the middle of the night. If this nocturnal awakening has a biological basis, the key is in how we respond. The usual treatment through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Give specific guidelines: if you haven’t slept for more than 20 minutes, get up and do a quiet activity with dim light, such as reading. And go back to bed when you feel drowsy. Also, forget about the clock: looking at the time triggers anxiety. But above and beyond procedures, it is important to understand something: this vigil does not have to be an alarm signal, but rather a sign of something deeply engraved in human nature. Accepting it instead of fighting it is often the shortest path back to sleep. In Xataka | The work ethic has been selling for years that getting up at 05:00 AM is good. Science is clear that absolutely In Xataka | If you fall asleep in less than five minutes, you don’t have a “superpower”: it’s a warning signal from your brain Cover | iam_os

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

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

Gemini and Siri were monopolizing modern cars. So Musk has brought Grok to European Teslas

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Tesla is starting to roll out Grok in Europe for free. The electricians of Elon Musk’s company have been betting on their own software from the beginning, leaving hardly any room for third parties. No trace of Android Auto, CarPlayor the best-known assistants, Grok arrives as that intelligent “co-pilot” aboard the Tesla. The problem is that… still very Musk. the arrival. Grok arrives as a free update on European Teslas. We can choose their voice and personality, like in the smartphone application. To start it, all you have to do is activate it from the application launcher itself or press the voice button on the steering wheel. If we have logged in to Grok, from that moment on, it will become the device’s default voice assistant. What can you do. Grok’s list of possibilities is extensive, from guiding us to a destination to locating a nearby supercharger or simply maintaining an informal dialogue with us and recommending options from our Tesla’s digital manual. In addition to this, it has quite curious functions. You can be our language teacher Has special modes for kids, like “Story Time” and trivia games It has a mode for adults (+18), controversial, “sexy”, “extravagant”. In which Teslas it will be available. Currently, this is the list of Tesla cars compatible with Grok. The requirement is that our car has an AMD processor, that the software is updated to version 2025.26 or later, and that we have a WiFi connection or the premium connectivity pack. To find out if your Tesla has an AMD processor, you must go to ‘Controls’ > ‘Software’ > ‘Additional vehicle information’. Careful. Grok, despite its potential as an AI modelis involved in recent controversies. The app has become a focus of misuse, an infinite well of content related to the naked women. Countries like France and India have already denounced itand the Government of Spain has asked the prosecutor’s office to investigate X for the possible dissemination of child pornography through the app. In this context, perhaps it is worth debating whether bringing Grok with an “adult mode” to Tesla vehicles is the most appropriate. In Xataka | Elon Musk thought that Tesla would live outside politics. Germany has shown him the hard way that he was wrong

In the middle of World War II, a woman illuminated modern cryptography. The FBI then hid it from us.

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He did not study mathematics, nor did he enlist in the army: Elizabeth FriedmanShe simply fell in love with Shakespeare and that love embarked her on an adventure that led her to uncover Nazi spy networks in World War II, lock up Al Capone’s lackeys, and lay the foundations of the modern NSA. This is the story of how, with the only help of a pencil and paper, a poet from the American Midwest became one of the most important cryptographers in the United States. It is also the story of how they hid their work and we forgot about it for decades. Although she was the youngest of new siblings and grew up in a Quaker family in rural Illinois, Elizebeth graduated in English literature for him Hillsdale College of Michigan. Almost immediately she began working as a teacher. That seemed like it would be his vocation until Shakespeare crossed his path again. The Newberrya Chicago research library, was looking for an assistant. It was nothing too striking except for the fact that, it was said, an original by the Stratford-upon-Avon playwright was kept in the library’s holdings. That was enough for Elizebeth. It was there, working at Newberry, where he met George Fabyana millionaire convinced that Shakespeare’s plays had been written by Francis Bacon. It is not a very strange belief, for centuries the confusing past of the English poet has generated rivers of ink about who William Shakespeare really was. What had not happened until then was that an eccentric billionaire decided to put his fortune at the service of the idea. In 1916, at the age of 23, Elizebeth began working at the Fabyan think tank, a private laboratory, Riverbankwhere things as varied as genetic engineering or they worked on the development of weapons. Now, he would also have a team dedicated to finding the clues that Bacon ‘had left’ in works like ‘Hamlet’ or ‘Romeo and Juliet’. That Riverbank was surely one of the first modern cryptography laboratories. There Elizebeth met her husband, William Friedman. Together, and unintentionally, they would shape modern American cryptography and play a very important role in the next 50 years of American defense. ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’ It all started because, in the middle of the First World War, the army decided to turn to Riverbank to help them with code breaking. It was such a great success that the Secretary of War signed them and took the couple to Washington, DC. Shortly after arriving, Elizebeth began working for the Treasury: the eighteenth amendment (the famous Prohibition) and alcohol trafficking networks were rampant throughout the United States. Elizebeth was terribly productive. It is estimated that, between 1926 and 1930, he deciphered an average of 20,000 smugglers’ messages a year, dismantling hundreds of ciphers in the process. And the Second World War. The role of American cryptographers “was not very important”, but among them the Friedmans shined especially. Elizebeth’s skills were already known and served to dismantle a complex network of Nazi spies in Latin America that tried to promote fascist revolutions and weaken the “backyard” of the United States. Despite this, resources were very scarce and recognition even less. Surely his most impressive work was the one that led to the arrest and imprisonment of Velvalee Dickinsonthe “doll woman”, a spy arrested in 1942 for passing all kinds of information to Japan (hidden in letters about patent leather dolls) during World War II. “His abilities were so unusual that he became indispensable,” he explained. Jason Fagone who has written a spectacular book on Friedman’The Woman who smashed codes‘. “She was called on repeatedly to solve problems that no one else could solve. A secret weapon.” However, and despite the publicity of these cases, the Friedman surname did not transcend. It was not an forgetfulness. Hoover, the famous and controversial director of the FBI, wiped the Friedmans off the map and awarded the merits of each of the cases to his Agency. Nothing surprising in a figure, that of Hoover, key in much of the American 20th century, capable of creating the largest research office in the world and, at the same time, using it as if it were his ‘private army’. Although Elizebeth’s work and that of her husband were the seed of what would later become the NSA, their figure was forgotten, relegated and, until very few years ago, remained unrescued in the drawer of history. In 1999 he entered the NSA ‘Hall of Fame’ and in 2002 a building was dedicated to him. It’s another one of those ‘hidden figures‘without which we could not understand today’s world. In Xataka | In 1925, procrastination was already a problem and someone found the definitive solution: the isolation helmet. In Xatka | Scotland remains almost a fiefdom in the 21st century: half of its land is owned by 421 owners

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