moving

Moving ‘Guernica’ requires a complex and dangerous operation for the painting. Now the Basque Government wants to do it

by

‘Guernica’ is an unusual painting in many aspects. Its history is. It is he tour that took him to several continents during his first decades. And so is its size, much (very) larger than the vast majority of paintings that hang in museums. This sum of factors explains why it is now at the center of a bitter controversy. The Basque Country wants to temporarily take it from Madrid to Bilbao to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the bombing which inspired Picasso, but its current custodian, the Reina Sofía, believes it is a bad idea. The debate is served. What has happened? That the Basque Government wants ‘Guernica’, probably Pablo Picasso’s most famous work, finally exposed in Euskadi. A few days ago, during a meeting with the Minister of Culture, the vice lehendakari Ibone Bengoetxea requested the Government to temporarily transfer the painting to the Guggenheim in Bilbao. She wasn’t the only one. The same request Lehendakari Imanol Pradales has transferred it to the President of the Government. The idea is that ‘Guernica’ ends up in Basque lands nine monthsfrom October 2026 to June 2027. After that period, he would return to what has been his home since the beginning of the 1990s, the Reino Sofía Museum in Madrid, where he acts as the main attraction, capturing tens of thousands of visitors. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Why is it important? Because of its symbolic load. ‘Guernica’ is not just any painting. Picasso painted it between May and June 1937 in his workshop on Rue des Grands-Augustins, Paris, commissioned by the Government of the Republic. The work is also inspired by one of the most disastrous episodes of the Civil War: the bombing of the town of Guernica (Vizcaya) at the end of April 1937 by the Condor Legion and the Italian Legionary Aviation. Although during its first decades it was the protagonist of an intense journey that took it through a good part of Europe, North America and South America, the work did not land in Spain until September 1981. Some historians like The Barroquistahave interpreted his arrival as “the symbolic return of the last exile.” And why is it news? That Euskadi wants it to be exhibited in Bilbao right now, between October 2026 and June 2027, is no coincidence. It would coincide with the 90th anniversary of the constitution of the first regional Executive and the bombing of Guernica. Hence Bengoetxea has insisted in the “deep historical, symbolic and emotional meaning” that the transfer would have for the Basque people. Will it be possible? Of course it won’t be easy. Just one day after the meeting between Bengoetxea and the Minister of Culture, the Reina Sofía Museum published a report of 16 pages in which he “strongly advises against” the transfer of the painting from Madrid to the Basque Country. The reason: the process could damage it. “The work is kept in stable conditions thanks to rigorous control of the environmental conditions. However, in view of a possible transfer, its format, nature of the elements that compose it and state of conservation, together with the numerous damages suffered over time, make it especially sensitive to all types of vibrations that are inevitable in transporting works of art.” Does it say anything else? Yes. In case there are any doubts, underlines: “Such vibrations could generate new cracks, lifting and loss of the pictorial layer, as well as tears in the support.” The opinion of the Reina Sofía of course has not pleased the Basque Government, dissatisfied with both the substance and the form. “It would be serious for a formal request from a government to be responded to without a serious and in-depth analysis. The order must be an analysis of the needs so that the painting can be in Euskadi temporarily,” claims Bengoetxea. The regional Executive emphasizes that this is not a simple technical issue. In the background, they insist, there are much deeper readings that affect “memory” and “repair.” The vice lehendakari first complaint and that at the moment it has not received “any official response” from Moncloa. Is it that surprising? Yes. And no. Everything that revolves around ‘Guernica’ arouses expectation, something understandable if one takes into account that the artistic value of the work is added to its historical and symbolic relevance. However, Reina Sofía herself has been responsible for highlighting that his position is not new. In fact, it has been closing the door to organizations that request a loan for the work for several decades. In 1997 he already said ‘no’ to a request for the painting to be included in the inauguration from the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and that it arrived backed by a report in which “the technical conditions” of the transfer were detailed. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Have there been more cases? In 2000 ddenied a request of MoMA, in 2006 he did the same with the Royal Ontario Museum and in 2007 he rejected another request from the Basque Government. Two years later he again said ‘no’ to the Fuji Group, interested in including the piece in the “50th Anniversary Fuji TV” exhibition, held in Tokyo, and in 2012 he also rejected the request presented by a Korean museum. The painting’s last trips date back a few decades: in 1981 it was packed up at the MoMA for transfer to Spain, where it was first exhibited at the Casón del Buen Retiro and later (from 1992) at the Reina Sofía. There alone the exhibition “Piety and Terror in Picasso”, organized during the 80th anniversary of the work, attracted more than 625,000 visitors. And that in less than half a year. Is it so problematic to move it? The report published by the Reina Sofía Museum not only advises against the transfer of ‘Guernica’. Before reaching that conclusion, he offers a detailed analysis of the current state of the painting, in which he notes “alterations such as cracks, cracks … Read more

In 1967, a war veteran believed that moving around a computer could be easier. So he created the first mouse

by

Things were clear from minute one. When Douglas Engelbarthead of the Augmentation Research Center (ARC), at Stanford, wanted to interview a new recruit, gave him a pencil attached to a brick and then asked him to write his name on a piece of paper. Difficult, right?, joked Engelbart, a doctor in electrical engineering and a pioneer in computer development. Well, people would encounter the same problems, he explained to the candidates, if they were not able to offer them more agile and simple tools to use computers. He wasn’t talking just to talk. Engelbart, together with one of his colleagues, also an engineer William Englishwas the father of the first mouse computer in the 1960s. Only that one was not called a mouse, but XY Position Indicator for a Display System; and its design was quite different from the modern peripherals that we use today. To begin with, it was made of wood and had a pair of metal wheels. This is your story. Make it easy for people: “Click” In the early 1960s, Engelbart, a World War II veteran, recent PhD and with just a couple of years of experience at the Stanford Research Institute —today known as SRI— had a clear idea: he wanted accessible technology. And simple. In 1945, while serving in the US Navy, he had read an article by the inventor Vannevar Bush who encouraged scientists to bring knowledge to the streets and he was determined to transfer that slogan to his own field. The golden opportunity came when the Department of Defense, through DARPAgave him the necessary support to set up his own center in the SRI, the ARC. There he had nearly fifty people working for him and efforts were focused on answering a question: What would the future of computer communication be like? At that time, computing had been in development for decades; IBM had manufactured the IBM 650 and the team was convinced of the enormous potential of the sector. The question was how to use it and prevent the systems from being as unwieldy as a pencil stuck to a brick. At that time the most popular devices for pointing on a screen were optical pencilsa system similar to that used in military radars. Since 1961 Engelbart, however, ruminated on an alternative. To make interaction with computers more efficient: install a pair of small wheels across a table so that the user could operate the screen cursor with them. One would rotate horizontally and the other vertically and its operation would be very similar to that of the planimeter commonly used by surveyors, geographers and architects. The idea had been recorded in his notebook, but already in the 1960s, with the financial backing of DARPA, his own team and extra help from NASAEngelbart was able to delve into it. The veteran and his colleagues gathered the best signaling equipment that existed and made a kind of brainstorming which left half a dozen proposals for working with monitors, some of the most curious, such as a joystick or a light pen. Perhaps the most striking of all was a mechanism that was fixed under the table and operated with the knee. A prototype nicknamed “mouse” Also included among that amalgam was a small device manufactured by Bill English after reviewing his notes from the beginning of the decade with Engelbart. The prototype basically consisted of a carved redwood block which included two wheels crimped at the bottom and a button at the top. Your name: XY Position Indicator for a Display System. Its appearance, compact and with a cable protruding, However, it ended up earning him the nickname “mouse.”. It was so comfortable that it prevailed over the rest of the laboratory’s alternatives and the team included it as a standard piece in their research. The SRI applied for the mouse patent in 1967 and received it in 1970. Engelbart and his companions did not stop there. They continued looking for a “companion” for the mouse, another device that the user could operate with their free hand and could use to enter commands and text. After several tests they opted for a device similar to a telephone with five keys. They also carried out tests to perfect the mouse design as much as possible. “We did a lot of experiments to see how many buttons it should have. We tried up to five. We decided on three. That’s all we could fit in. Now, the three-button mouse has become standard, except for the Mac,” Engelbart himself recalled in 2004, in an interview with Wired. With all this material and the rest of the inventions developed by his team, the war veteran decided to put on a gala performance. One like a beast. In 1968 they organized known as “mother of all demos”a historic conference held in San Francisco in which Engelbart showed all the functions they had developed over the last few years. “For 90 minutes, the stunned audience of more than a thousand professionals witnessed many of the features of modern computing for the first time: live video conferencing, document sharing, word processing, windows, and a strange pointing device jokingly referred to as “the mouse“The elements of the screen were linked to others through associative links or hypertexts,” explains the Computer History Museum. “People were amazed. In one hour, it defined the era of modern computing,” English commented to New York Times in 1996. Shortly after that historic achievement, however, the team began to lose its drive. Some staff questioned the lab’s drift, DARPA cut its funding, and other research centers began to emerge, such as the Xerox in Palo Alto (PARC). Result? Many of Engelbart’s employees sought new destinations. With them went the very concept of the mouse. The device, with a trackball, ended up being incorporated into the Xerox Alto computer and in 1983 Apple marketed it with its computer Lisa. After a while –as you remember Washington Post— Steve Jobs’ company was behind almost half of … Read more

France was moving its aircraft carrier without revealing its location. Until a runner on board uploaded an activity to Strava

by

Putting on some sneakers, stretching your legs and running for miles and miles outdoors is not (a priori) a reprehensible habit. Quite the opposite. Neither is recording race data with a smartwatch and then publish them on Stravaan app that is used to share routes, times and performance data. All this, we insist, is “a priori” because things change if the person running is a Navy officer and his publication on Strava ends up revealing the near real-time location of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. That is what has happened in France. Trotting on the high seas. A few days ago the newspaper reporters Le Monde they found each other with something curious: a publication on Strava that showed someone running in circles in the middle of the Mediterranean, dozens of kilometers from the coasts of Turkey and Cyprus and hundreds from the Egyptian coast. The question was obvious… What the hell was a runner doing trotting like a top in the middle of the sea? A look at Copernicus. Over the last few years Le Monde has published various items in which he warns about how Strava can be used to reveal the position of ships and bodyguards, so the reporters had their suspicions about that publication in the Mediterranean. They didn’t last long. By using the Copernicus online viewer they checked that very close to the location registered by Strava the silhouette of one of the most important ships in France, the powerful aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, could be seen. Click on the image to go to the tweet. What had happened? That one of the officers mobilized alongside the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was better served by his runner than by the caution expected of a member of the French Navy. As reveals Le Mondethe Strava publication belongs to a young officer who on the morning of March 13, around 10:35 a.m., decided to jog around the deck of his ship. While he covered 7.23 kilometers in 35 minutes, the watch on his wrist recorded all the training data and then shared it on Strava. Once there, since their profile is public, anyone could see them. From his friends and gym colleagues to journalists in Paris. The problem is that with that small gesture he revealed the location of the Charles de Gaulle and its naval escort, which was then making its way towards the northwest of Cyprus. Something more than an oversight. We cannot know if the indiscreet runner was aboard the Charles de Gaulle or one of the ships that escorted him, but one thing is clear: his Strava account gives clues to more than just his sporting achievements. On February 14, the same officer posted another graph with data from a race off the Cotentin peninsula, also in the middle of the sea. Days later he ran in Copenhagen (probably after landing) and on March 13 he can already be located in the Mediterranean, just 100 km from the Turkish coast. A worrying snitch. It is not that the deployment of the Charles de Gaulle and the rest of the French ships was a secret. On March 3, Emmanuel Macron himself ordered publicly that they moved from the Baltic to the Mediterranean after the attack by Israel and the US on Iran and it is known that days later The aircraft carrier crossed Gibraltar escorted by the frigate Christopher Columbus. The problem is that the young officer’s publication on Strava reveals the movements of the convoy in detail and almost in real time, also revealing a worrying security breach in the Navy. Especially if you take into account that in recent weeks Iran has attacked French forces in the Middle East, leaving several wounded and one dead. “The appropriate measures”. The incident may seem more or less serious, but one thing is incontestable: Strava data allowed reporters from Le Monde accurately identify the location of the aircraft carrier and its accompanying frigate. The question that remains is… What if, instead of a newspaper, this same exercise had been done by other people with other interests? The General Staff of the Armed Forces has recognized that Strava’s publication “does not comply with current regulations” or the precautions that its staff must take at the digital level. Hence, it is proposed to adopt “appropriate measures.” But is it so worrying? Once again the problem is not only the race recorded on March 13 in the middle of the Mediterranean, but its context. This is not the first time Le Monde warns that Strava can become a breach for national security, depending on who, when and where uses it. The French newspaper has even coined the term “StravaLeaks”. Maybe it sounds excessive, but in 2025 He already warned that there were publications by French sailors that revealed the activity of nuclear submarines and months before, in November 2024, he revealed that Strava allowed thousands of Israeli soldiers to be identified. They are not isolated cases. The most dangerous oversights They were probably committed by the bodyguards of the presidents of France, the United States and Russia. By sharing their training data publicly, they left a trail that helped to partially anticipate the movements of the leaders they protected. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | Things have to be bad for the US to have made an unprecedented decision: extending the life of its dinosaur aircraft carrier

A municipality in Cáceres has waited more than 30 years for its bridge with Portugal. After moving wind and tide, it is already on its way

by

Cedillo, the westernmost town in Extremadura, has been separated from its Portuguese neighbors for more than thirty years by a river that, paradoxically, has always united them. The solution is easy: build a bridge. The issue is that its approval and construction has been in the works for years. Now it seems that things are finally moving forward. The problem. Cedillo (Cáceres) and Montalvão-Nisa (Portugal) are separated by just 13 kilometers in a straight line. But by car, any trip between both towns requires a detour of between 100 and 120 kilometers. The reason: the dam that Iberdrola manages at the confluence of the Tagus and Sever rivers. Until 1995, residents on both sides could cross it freely. That year, with the entry into force of Schengen AgreementIberdrola closed access citing security reasons. Since then, it has only opened on weekends, with a security guard and at controlled hours. “We are brother peoples absurdly separated,” counted in 2021 to El País the mayor of Cedillo, Antonio González Riscado, who has been in office since 1987. How did it get here? The bridge project has been circulating through offices and negotiation tables for decades without finally coming to fruition. In 2011, the Provincial Council of Cáceres, then in the hands of the PP, renounced some European funds destined for the work, according to account The Country. When the PSOE recovered the institution in 2015 and requested them again, Europe had already denied them. The project became a political bargaining chip for years. The turning point came in March 2023, when the Ministries of Transport of Spain and of Territorial Cohesion of Portugal signed a joint declaration committing to promote the initiative. Just over a year later, in October 2024, both governments signed in Faro an international agreement which established the definitive legal framework to build the bridge. According to this agreement, Portugal assumes the design, construction and financing of the main structure, while Spain facilitates the permits and procedures in its territory. The works have already started. In October last year, the machines began to move on the Portuguese side with the first land preparation work. The award went to the company Alexandre Barbosa, according to counted The Extremadura Newspaper. The bridge will be about 160 meters long and 11.5 meters wide, with two twin concrete arches that avoid placing pillars in the riverbed. In fact, as the media reports, this last technical solution was key for the bridge to obtain the favorable Environmental Impact Declaration. The total cost exceeds 19 million euros. Spain does its part. In November of last year, the Ministry of Transport and the Government of Extremadura they signed an agreement to coordinate the work on the Spanish side. The Board assumes the bidding, construction and financing of the accesses to the bridge in Extremadura territory, with an estimated budget of just over 5.1 million euros distributed between 2025 and 2028. Once the work is completed, the infrastructure will become the property of the Board of Extremadura, which will also be responsible for its maintenance. What this means for the area. The bridge is going to solve a problem that has been on the lips of the surrounding towns for decades day after day. Just like counted El País, there are residents of Cedillo who have been hearing about the bridge all their lives and whose lives have been conditioned by that barrier. According to collect El Periódico, the bridge will also shorten the distance between Cáceres and Lisbon by about 70 kilometers and half an hour. “It is a bridge that we need no matter what,” the mayor of Cedillo told the media. What remains pending. On the Spanish side, the access to the bridge was still pending bidding when Portugal already had the machines running. Both countries will coordinate the work through a Joint Technical Commission. The agreement between the Ministry and the Board has a maximum validity of four years, extendable. If the deadlines are met, Cedillo could have his bridge before the end of the decade. Cover image | The Extremadura Newspaper and Google Maps In Xataka | Spain built its roads thinking about extreme heat: the rains are showing how vulnerable they are

a 300 km “moving wall” to close sea routes instantly

by

In the constant pulse between China and TaiwanBeijing has been looking for ways to increase pressure without crossing the threshold of an open conflict. As maneuvers, exercises and actions in gray areas multiply, each new movement points to a key idea: control the environment. If a few days ago it was drone entrynow another formula has appeared. A wall that doesn’t shoot. He told it through images the new york times. China has shown that it can create a gigantic sea barrier without firing a single shot, simply gathering thousands of ships fishing vessels in formations so dense that they disrupt traffic and force other vessels to go around or through them with uncomfortable maneuvers. In one of the recent operations, around of 1,400 boats They suddenly abandoned their routines and concentrated on the East China Sea until they formed a rectangle of more than 300 kmwith a presence so compact that it was seen in the navigation data as a kind of continuous obstacle. The practical effect is obvious. If this is done near key trade routes, chaos pcan arrive very quickly without anyone having to declare a formal block. Maritime militia and war in gray. The relevant thing about the movement is not only how many ships appear, but what does it suggest about who It moves them and for what. Experts and analysts interpret these concentrations as a state-led exercise that dovetails with the use of maritime militia, a network of civilian vessels trained to support strategic objectives. Plus: it is a perfect tool to operate in that ambiguous zone where there is no clear attack, but there is a real pressure on the sea. It is a way of imposing control without showing frigates in the front row and without assuming the political cost of open military action, while the rest are forced to decide whether to treat that mass as civilians or as an organized force. Rehearsal of blocking… without calling it a blocking. In a crisis scenario over Taiwan, a mass like this no need to “enforce” a lock by force to be useful. It is enough to hinder, slow down and complicate the movement of commercial or military support ships. It can force route changes, introduce delays, create points of friction and increase the risk of incidents. It can also serve to mark areas where traffic becomes unsafe or impassable for hours or days. That kind of pressure fits ideas like “quarantine”which seeks to strangle the functioning of an area without completely crossing the threshold of open war. Saturation as a tactic. Another advantage of this “wall” is that it converts the sea into tactical noise. Thousands of small ships together can overwhelm surveillance and complicate the identification of real threats, especially if there are drones, radars and automated systems trying to classify contacts. In a tense situation, this saturation can also act as a screen. It can conceal movements, force the adversary to expend attention and resources, and open space for other operations. Although each ship is weak on its own, value comes when they multiply until they become a problem of management rather than combat. What is revealed. The Times analysts who have followed Chinese activity in disputed seas for years highlighted that it is not usual Seeing such a large and orderly formation, and maintaining relatively stable positions, does not resemble a normal fishing pattern. The important thing here is the organizational muscle. Gathering thousands of ships at a specific point, in a short time, and positioning them with discipline indicates a clear improvement in command, control, communications and planning. This suggests that China is practicing something that you can repeat when you need it, and that does not depend on improvisations or simple crowds. Why does it matter so much? The trainings were given in the east china seaclose to major routes that connect with Shanghai, one of the most important port centers in the world. It’s not just any place. They are maritime corridors through which goods pass daily, including Chinese exports and flows that connect entire economies. Controlling or interrupting these steps is a way strategic pressure first level, on Taiwan, on Japan and also on any actor that has to operate there, including the United States and its allies. Beijing’s official silence fits with the logic of these actions. There is no need to announce anything if what you want is to check capabilities, measure reactions and leave a clear message with facts. A difficult model to answer. The really surprising thing about this is that a fishing barrier It is a relatively cheap instrument compared to deploying large military unitsand it can also be scaled. If today there are 1,400 or 2,000 barges, tomorrow there could be many more in a time of crisis. And for the rival(s), the answer will always be uncomfortable. The main reason is that it is not easy to justify brute force against ships that present themselves as civilians, but it is also not feasible to ignore them if they are effectively blocking a critical path. That’s the value of this “weapon” that does not fire a single projectile. That of forcing a choice between tolerating the pressure or escalating first, while China gains time, control and the ability to shape the pace of the situation. Image | Planet Labs, Ernest Gunasekara-Rockwell, Anna Frodesiak, Micromesistius In Xataka | China has just crossed the same red line as Russia: for the first time, a military drone has invaded Taiwan’s airspace In Xataka | The US has just sent an unprecedented package to Taiwan. Inside are the instructions and weapons against an invasion

Despite its fear, it is moving more passengers than ever

by

Ryanair and AENA spent 2025 sending each other errands. The airline claims that the airport manager imposes abusive rates on its customers due to a lack of competition. The second defends itself by ensuring that where it is needed it offers substantial price reductions. Be that as it may, the truth is that the airline that moves the most passengers in our country made a decisive snip at its offer in Spain. Surprisingly, Aena and Ryanair moved more passengers in 2025 than ever. The conflict. It exploded in February 2025. A little less than a year ago, Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, recorded a video in which he called Pablo Bustinduy, Minister of Consumer Affairs, a “clown.” The reason is that the Government defended that the company must allow access to its planes with larger suitcases and I tried to fine them for it. It was the most striking and extravagant image but the embryo of it had to be found first. Assuring that Aena, the manager of Spanish airports, imposes abusive rates on airlines, in January Ryanair already indicated that it was going to drastically reduce its operations in our country. Specifically, it aimed to eliminate 800,000 places at regional airports. The consequences have been especially serious at airports that were more dependent on the airline. Jerez has decreased its traffic by 7% but in Valladolid the situation has been much more serious, with drops of more than 60% and causing layoffs in auxiliary travel services, such as the cafeteria. The company, in addition, continues to threaten to deepen its withdrawal. A surprising fact. And despite everything, Ryanair and Aena rise. The manager of Spanish airports has published the data relative to the traffic volume of 2025. And with them has come the surprise. That is to say, our country continues to add people to the plane and those people choose, for the most part, the Irish company to make their trips. 19% of all passengers who boarded a plane in our country at some point did so on board one of Michael O’Leary’s company planes. Rates as an excuse. Although O’Leary has defended that his fear of regional airports is directly related to Aena’s airport taxes, the truth is that the company has closed ranks around the airports where it accumulates a greater volume of passengers and has greater room to grow. This winter the company has added 100,000 places in an increase that, above all, has gone to Malaga, Alicante and Valencia. That is, attractive tourist destinations due to their mild temperatures, especially for those arriving from beyond our borders. Setting the shot. As we said, it is no coincidence that Ryanair has increased operations at these airports. And the volume of passengers in any of them has skyrocketed in the last two years. Malaga: Passenger growth of 11.5% in 2024 and 7.4% in 2025. Of these, international passengers increased by 13% in 2024 and 7.8% in 2025. Alicante: Passenger growth of 16.8% in 2024 and 8.5% in 2025. Of these, international passengers increased by 16.8% in 2024 and 10.6% in 2025. Valencia: Growth of 8.7% in passengers in 2024 and 9.5% in 2025. Of these, international passengers increased by 11.3% in 2024 and 12.9% in 2025. Not only Spain. These movements in which Ryanair has been regrouping at the airports with the highest volume of traffic They are not exclusive to Spain either.: Germany: has reduced 800,000 seats. France: has reduced 725,000 seats. Estonia: has reduced 110,000 seats. Latvia: has reduced 160,000 seats. empty seats. In this European reorganization, the high prices that the company has to pay to airport managers have been pointed out on numerous occasions. These costs, however, are only one more value to take into account when it comes to calculating and making profits from the flights because a part of the company lives by selling itself to the highest bidder. And if Ryanair has maintained international flights from cities like Vigo, it has been because has been playing with hidden subsidies in the form of advertising contracts. These same agreements are the ones that now allow new routes to Morocco with planes that are half full. Photo | Lucas da Costa e Silva In Xataka | The big secret of Ryanair’s success is that it doesn’t make money for flying: it does so by squeezing you out of everything else.

Something is moving in the north and the polar vortex is weaker than ever

by

Something is happening in the north and we’ve been saying it for days. Forecasts pointed to a huge sudden stratospheric warming during the last week of November. I said ‘huge’ and it is not a rhetorical device: it is normally very difficult to know what consequences such a warming will have; but being so big, meteorologists they already speculate with a complete destabilization of the polar vortex. And the strange thing about all this is not that there is such a big “sudden stratospheric warming.” That’s relatively normal. The strange thing is that we are facing a very precocious one. Surely, before the earliest of the entire record. And that has set off all the alarms. What is the polar vortex? But let’s start at the beginning: the ‘polar vortex’ is a stream of strong winds (west → east) that revolves around the large reserves of cold air found above the planet’s poles. It is formed in the stratosphere; that is, at about 16-48 kilometers high. On a metaphorical (or ‘journalistic’ if you push me) level, the polar vortex is what the cold contains at the pole. Logic tells us that, in summer, the vortex is reduced to a minimum and, although it is true that we have never seen it disappear, it becomes so weak that it loses any influence over the time of the hemisphere. But in winter the situation changes and it does so radically. Very often, during the winter the vortex grows and, although “usually a solitary creature“and harmless, it is common for it to overflow and end up affecting the rest of the hemisphere. That is what it seems we are going to see these weeks. And what is sudden stratospheric warming?? To understand this process well, it is good to remember that the atmosphere is a “lasagna of air layers” and each of them follows its own logic. That is, they function quite differently and independently; but never completely independent. This is what happens between the air circulation in the troposphere (the one closest to the surface) and the circulation in the stratosphere (the layer directly above): they are related, yes; but, in substance, each one goes their own way. During the “sudden stratospheric warming“, a part of the troposphere warms rapidly and, as a consequence, invades the stratosphere, causing a profound alteration of the circulation at high altitude. That is, for a few days, everything turns upside down. Okay, so what’s going to happen? The data begins to indicate that the countdown has already been activated. As they pointed out from Meteored“a record has been recorded in the speed of the zonal wind of the polar vortex, this would be weaker than ever on those dates.” That is to say, we have just found the first sign that warming is already underway. The problem is that, as Víctor González pointed out“the ease of predicting sudden stratospheric warming in the medium term contrasts greatly with the difficulty of anticipating its consequences.” Hence, we already know with almost absolute certainty that something is going to happen in the stratosphere of the north pole, but it is not clear what is going to happen. And we know nothing of its consequences? Not for now. What’s more, it seems likely that the consequences would not be seen until mid-December. For now, the experts will have “monitor the alteration of the stratospheric polar vortex and then monitor its propagation to lower levels, finally observing how the tropospheric circulation and the polar jet may behave.” This is very meticulous work, but very necessary. We already know that this type of event is related to historic cold waves and, in that case, we better be prepared. Image | Severe Weather In Xataka | The last hope of winter in Spain is desperate, but increasingly possible: the breaking of the polar vortex

Science is moving creatine from the gym shelf to a more relevant one: cardiovascular health

by

When we think of creatine, the mental image It is almost always that of a gym: someone shaking a white powder in a shaker to get more strength or a faster sprint. However, science has greatly expanded the focus on this compoundand its applications are reaching unexpected places, such as cardiology consultations. Opinion of cardiologists. The surprise recently popped up on the podcast I have a plan where cardiologist Aurelio Rojas claimed that creatine “is one of the most essential supplements” that he uses in his patients with a dose of between three and five grams daily. This statement, which may seem shocking at first, is actually the tip of the iceberg of a large body of scientific literature that attempts to explore how apply creatine in daily clinic of a doctor with his patients. But what does a sports performance supplement have to do with the heart? And does science support this enthusiasm? Muscle motor. To understand the connection, you first have to understand what creatine does. Simply put, creatine is key in cellular bioenergetics, especially by facilitating rapid production of ATP, which is essential for muscle and heart function. Creatine monohydrate is most researched and recommended way for supplementation, as an improvement in muscle contractility, performance and exercise tolerance has been seen. in the heart musclecreatine acts by stabilizing energy metabolism and may have a relevant role in situations of heart failure or ischemic diseases. Within the scientific literature It is highlighted that creatine and phosphocreatine depletion is characteristic in failing hearts, and exogenous administration can contribute to the metabolic protection of the myocardium.​ Furthermore, there is scientific interest in the potential role creatine protector on the vasculature in risk populations, by reducing chronic inflammation and contributing to better control of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.​ Beyond the gym. All this means that the interest of cardiologists goes beyond gyms and the number of repetitions they can do in a specific exercise. One of the first diseases where emphasis is placed is heart failure and its supplementation with creatine. Although it is not a cure, the findings suggest which can improve muscle strength, endurance and exercise capacity in these patients. By improving the energy efficiency of the musculoskeletal system, the overall workload of the heart is reduced. Sarcopenia. A medical term that refers to the loss of muscle mass and strength related to age and chronic illness. It is a silent enemy that drastically worsens the prognosis of cardiological patients. and here is where creatine shinessince it is essential to increase muscle mass, especially when combined with resistance training. For a 70-year-old patient who has lost muscle mass after a cardiac event, regaining the strength to get up from a chair or climb stairs is essential. Creatine, in this context, is not an aesthetic supplement, it is a therapeutic tool to improve quality of life as they point out. the studies. It doesn’t work for everything. Creatine is not perfect. It is excellent for very intense, short-duration exercises that need immediate energy such as sprinting or lifting weights. But in low-intensity and long-duration exercises such as a marathon it is of no interest, since the aerobic metabolism of the muscle that maintains constant ATP production endogenously. The myths. Despite being a really studied supplement, creatine continues to spread myths. The ISSN is categorical about this In his review, he gives the following points: Does not damage the kidneysas long as the doses recommended by scientific evidence are followed. Obviously, if there is an underlying kidney problem, you should consult your doctor. It is not known if it causes baldness, or at least the scientific evidence has not been able to state it categorically. This is something that points to a study that showed an increase in DHT, but its relationship with hair has never been proven. It is not a steroid. It is a natural organic compound, made up of three amino acids, that the body produces and that we also ingest when eating meat or fish. In this way, science has moved creatine from the bodybuilding shelf to the general health shelf. Its ability to manage cellular energy makes it a valuable tool not only for athletes, but also, as Dr. Rojas points out, for clinical populations struggling with muscle weakness and energy depletion. Images | Alexander Saks Alexander Red In Xataka | When we stop sleeping our brain is irremediably damaged. Research believes that creatine fixes it

Encell has everything to house extraterrestrial life. And Europe is moving to discover it before anyone else

by

When NASA’s Cassini probe sent the first images of the water vapor jet That world was not dead. It was on, and the content of an underground ocean was expelling to space. Since then, Each new satellite data He has reinforced an idea that excites astrobiologists: if there is a place beyond the earth where to look for life, it is there. Short. A new Cassini data analysis, collected almost twenty years ago, has reinforced the possibility of Encelado to meet all the conditions to house life. The European space agency is clear: Encell is already a central objective of its long -term exploration plan, and it is time to launch a mission to answer the big question at once. The ingredients for life. For life to exist as we know it, three things are needed: liquid water, energy and several basic chemical elements: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. Once all seems to have them. We know that a global saltwater ocean is hidden under its icy cortex. The energy is provided by the friction of the tides that Saturn causes and, probably, Hydrothermal sources in the seabedsimilar to fumaroles that here are full of bacteria and more complex organisms, such as worms and snails. Promising news. Thanks to the brain speakers, who launch samples to space, Cassini was able to analyze the composition of their ocean. Although most of the essential elements had already been detected, including phosphorus, a new finding between probe data has re -raised enthusiasm. A study published in Nature Astronomy Analyzes a Cassini flight from 2008. The ship crossed the brain feathers at 18 km/s. That speed, which seemed like a problem, turned out to be useful: the impact broke the molecules in a way that allowed them to identify them better. The result has been the discovery of new complex organic molecules, such as aliphatic compounds, esters, ethers and other molecules with nitrogen and oxygen. On Earth, these molecules are linked to reactions that give rise to amino acids, the basic pieces of proteins. ESA plans. With such promising scenario, Europe does not want to be left behind. In his scientific road map Voyage 2050, Encesto is already the star destination for a future mission. The idea includes an orbiter and a landing module. The orbiter would fly over the brain feathers several times with more precise instruments than Cassini. The landing would pose near the “stripes of Tigre” of the South Pole, where the geysers emerge, to directly collect the newly fallen snow. It would be the first time that a probe analyzes a world with an active ocean, although it would not reach the surface until 2058. Europe is not alone in the race. The United States also has its proposal: the mission Alcamadus orbilandermarked as a maximum priority in the Survey decadal of 2023. Your plan is very similar: orbit first and then land. China, meanwhile, already works in nuclear technology for deep space probes and Enced is among its future goals. Image | POT In Xataka | If we want to find extraterrestrial life, we already know at what point in the space we must look for: the “Terminator”

Airlines have invested millions in entertainment. Passengers use it to see an plane icon slowly moving

by

In an episode of the mythical Seinfeld seriesElaine is exasperating from her boyfriend Puddy, who passes a whole flight looking fixed to the seat back. That image, a custom joke of the nineties, today makes sense again with a technological nuance: and we do not look at the vacuum, but yes – and I include myself – we can get hypnotized with a point on the screen, the flight map. Of rarity to viral tendency. It is not an isolated mania. In a report by The Washington Post They have portrayed the phenomenon Through the story of Nicole Sunderland, creator of content that divides her time between Washington DC and Phoenix. Sunderland admits that on a 14 -hour flight Catar keeps the map on “all the time”, although the flight assistants try to turn it off. His custom went viral in Tiktok along with dozens of passenger videos They presumed to “endure” without films, without music and without wifi, looking only at the progression of the plane on the digital globe. Others, like Manu, seminated, turned the practice into a public hobbie: while the screens showed the screens showed films and series, she recorded the route map For social networks. The map as king content. Beyond the meme, the numbers suggest that this obsession has mass backup. FlightPath3D, leading flight maps provider in more than 90 airlines, states that 68% of passengers Open the map at some point and that 20% sees it exclusively. On average, users spend 52 minutes in front of the map on backup screens and 18 minutes on synchronized mobile devices. In total, about 400 million passengers used the product last year. The airlines themselves reinforce the idea. Last year, Delta Air Lines launched a new flight map designed for people with low vision. In the statementthe company was categorical: the map is its number one content in Delta Studio, ahead of films, series and games. According to their figures, 45% of customers interact with it on each flight. Also, media specialized in aviation, as paxex.aerothey emphasize that the map is “the most popular content of the IFE (entertainment on board) for a reason”, and that the airlines already experiment with integrating it into other formats: from a persistent side tape on the screen to brief overlays at the end of a movie. Why hook so much? Testimonies point to several keys. For some, the map is a control instrument in the midst of aerial uncertainty: Sunderland, for example, monitors it especially during turbulence to check altitude and speed. For others, it is a light meditation form: seeing slowly advance the plane icon produces calm in an environment saturated with stimuli. “There are map fans,” says Duncan Jackson, president of FlightPath3D. “They love to see where they are, how much is missing, observe the progress of the flight plan. For some it is almost meditative,” duck. An academic study of the University of Lund (Sweden), made in collaboration with Etihad Airwaysreinforces the explanation from the design perspective. In interaction tests with 3D maps prototypes, passengers valued more those interfaces that offered clear signs of navigation and sensation of control, and reported greater orientation with three -dimensional views. Even the choice of command influenced: some users developed better with gyroscope than with tactile controls. In other words: the map experience responds to deep psychological and cognitive needs. Simple map to travel assistant. The fascination is not limited to the luminous point that advances on an ocean. The industry is expanding the concept. FlightPath3D has transformed The map on an interactive platform: now shows previous views of destinations, animated global routes, children’s maps with animals, tourist suggestions and even Uber prices to reach the center once landed. In addition, Cathay Pacific He launched in 2024 “My Journey”an experience that combines an animated journey of the journey with information on services on board and points of interest. For its part, Panasonic Avionics has developed ARCthat integrates data on different plane screens so that the progress of the flight accompanies the passenger even when watching a movie. And in the field of accessibility, Delta has marked a milestone With its high contrast map, extended iconography and suitable palettes for Daltonics, which in the future will incorporate voice narrative with real -time updates. What began as a simple line chart in the eighties has become a sophisticated product that aspires to be inclusive, personalized and profitable for airlines. An obsession with future. The attractiveness of the map is not a passenger fashion. It is explained by the combination of three tendencies: the search for calm in overloaded environments of stimuli, the desire for spatial control and orientation, and the technological evolution of the product itself. In times of excess options – hundred hours of cinema and television in each seat – the map offers something more basic and powerful: the certainty of knowing where we are. As the Washington Post points outfor some travelers looking at the map is as necessary as tieding your belt. And as Delta acknowledgesit is already the star content of your digital offer. Puddy may seem eccentric in Seinfeld, but three decades later, it turns out that he simply advanced to the trend. Image | Freepik Xataka | Ryanair is abandoning small airports in France. There is an unexpected beneficiary: a Spanish airline

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.