North

Mercadona is growing more than ever and still has the capacity to grow more. The game is played in the north

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He who leads always leads, even if he does not always lead the same way. It sounds like a tacky tongue twister, I know; but that phrase sums up well the place that Mercadona occupies in the national distribution sector. We have been repeating for years that the Valencian chain is the one that takes largest portion of the “pie” of the sector, with a business quota 27% at the state level, but that reality is not equally forceful throughout Spain. For example, in Levante its footprint skyrockets to almost 34% while in the northwest it remains at 18.2%, only three points above its most direct competitor in that region, Eroski. What does that mean? That there is a part of Spain in which the company has ample room for growth. And in a way the Duero marks it. The general photo. Whether or not you are satisfied with your commercial offer or corporate strategythere is something that cannot be denied: Mercadona has known how to play its cards well. The company led by Juan Roig has managed to gain a share in its sector that is close to 30%. And that the distribution is not un simple business in Spain, where the super regional and ultra low-cost. NielsenIQ estimates that by the end of 2025 that footprint was 29.5%0.3% more than in 2024. Worldpanel by Numerator lowers it slightly until it is in 27%. In any case, the reading is the same: the Valencian company clearly dominates, comfortably ahead of its most direct competitors, Carrefour and Lidl. It has even made a more than respectable place for itself in the portuguese marketwhere it has carved out a 7% distribution share in just a decade. Paying attention to the map. The above will surprise few. What is striking is that just revealed Expansion based on data from Worldpanel by Numerator: Mercadona may be the sector leader in value share, but that dominance is not equally solid throughout Spain. Its great fiefdom is in what the consultancy calls ‘Levante’, an area made up of the Valencian Community, Murcia and Albacete. There its share reaches 33.6%. Not only is it the highest percentage in the entire Spanish geography and it is seven percentage points above the chain’s national share. It also doubles the mark of its main competitor, Consum, which remains at 16.8%. The ‘photo’ It is completed by Carrefour, with 7.9% of the pie, Lidl (5.2%) and Family Cash (2.9%). Are there more cases? Of course. The other region in which Mercadona has gained the largest share in value is the Canary Islands, with 31.9%, ten points above the next chain on the list, Dinosol (21.1%). In the ‘South’ territory (Andalusia and Badajoz) the firm’s footprint also exceeds 30% (31.5%). The results of Mercadona are equally strong in the ‘Central’ region (Madrid, Cáceres and part of Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León and Aragón), where it reaches 27.5%, and ‘Northwest’ (Catalonia and the rest of Aragón), with 26.2%. In all cases the same photograph is repeated, replicated in the areas of Madrid and Barcelona: Mercadona far surpasses its main territorial rival. The northern redoubt. The really interesting thing is, however, in the northern Atlantic and Cantabrian seas. The Worldpanel data by Numerator They show that Mercadona is still a leader there, but in a much less emphatic way. First because its quota is much lower than that held in Levante or the Canary Islands. Second, because it does not maintain much of an advantage over its competitors. The most revealing case is the ‘North-Central’ (Cantabria, Navarra, Palencia, Burgos, La Rioja and the Basque Country), a territory in which Mercadona’s footprint is 19.1%. It is enough to be dominant, but it is only one percentage point behind Eroski (18.1%). In third place is Carrefour (9.8%). It is a scenario similar to what we find in Galicia, Asturias and León, what the consultancy calls ‘Northwest’. Mercadona registers its lowest share in that region, 18.22%. Second place is once again occupied by Eroski (15.1%), followed by Gadisa (10.1%), Carrefour (6.8%) and Alimerka (5.8%). Click on the image to go to the tweet. Why is it important? Beyond the fact that these percentages help us better understand how the company is distributed and how it has managed to dominate the market at a national level, the regional results from Worldpanel by Numerator leave an interesting reading about Mercadona: its future largely passes through the north of the peninsula, where it has greater room for growth. When we decide where to make the purchase, we not only evaluate the prices and variety of the assortment, we also take into account factors such as proximity or more subjective values ​​such as taste or loyalty to a brand. Together they form a ‘barrier’ that determines how far a company’s share can go. At the moment Mercadona has managed to extend its footprint nationwide to 27%. It is not unreasonable to think that even has not hit the ceilingbut the fact that in the northwest area it is only 18.2% and in the Cantabrian Sea it is around 19% suggests that in those territories the margin for growth is much broader and clearer. Not everything is advantages. No, of course. The data published by Expansion They also reveal that the leadership of the Valencian chain is much weaker in the northwest and the area made up of the Basque Country, Navarra, La Rioja and the north of Castilla y León, where it is only one point ahead of its regional rival, Eroski. This makes it easier for them to be overtaken and to see their position threatened. After all, Mercadona has not been established throughout the country for the same amount of time. In Vigo, without going any further, I only had two stores in mid-2013. And that is a city of almost 300,000 inhabitants, the largest in the entire northwest of the peninsula. If it wants to establish itself, Roig’s company will have to erode the share of … Read more

drones attacking North Dakota nuclear bases

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The United States’ nuclear strategy has long been based on the so-called “triad”a system that combines submarines, land-based missiles and bombers to ensure responsiveness even in the worst possible scenario. The model, designed in the middle of the Cold War, assumed that the continental territory was practically inaccessible to direct threats, which allowed the defense to be concentrated abroad and not so much on protecting each installation within the country. Until the drones have arrived. An unprecedented attack on the nuclear heart. What happened, according to what they said several analystsis that while the United States bombs Iran in its large-scale operation, something completely unexpected is happening within its own territory. Drone waves They have flown over key bases linked to the US nuclear arsenal. Apparently, these were not isolated incidents or improvised devices. They were coordinated incursions, repeated attacks for days that have forced stop critical operations and activate emergency protocols. For the first time, in the middle of a war, strategic installations on American soil were directly affected by a persistent aerial threat. Barksdale, the critical point. The most striking case occurred in the Barksdale Air Force Baseone of the pillars of the United States nuclear system. Strategic bombers operate there and long-range missiles are stored, making the facility a key node within the country’s deterrence capacity. For several days, the swarms of drones They have flown over the base in organized waves, forcing interrupt bomber sorties who participated in the attacks on Iran. The scene, more typical of a movie, has been difficult to ignore: while the B-52s prepared to project force thousands of kilometers, the airspace above their own runways was committed. Advanced drones. The most worrying thing was not only the presence of these drones, but its technological level. They counted on ABCNews that the devices showed a remarkable resistance to electronic interference, used variable entry and exit routes and operated in dispersed patterns that made them difficult to track. In fact, countermeasures designed to neutralize these types of threats they didn’t work as expected. This suggests that these are not tailored trading systems, but rather platforms much more sophisticatedcapable of operating with partial or total autonomy and collecting information in highly protected environments. More than a physical threat. There is no doubt, these drones not only represent a risk for Washington due to their potential attack capacity, but also due to the type of information that they can get. When flying over critical facilities, they can map electronic emissionsidentify operating patterns and photograph sensitive infrastructure. In other words, they can build a detailed portrait of how a strategic base works from within. And this opens the door to much more precise and effective future attacks, as it turns each raid into a highly valuable reconnaissance mission. Structural vulnerability in national territory. They remembered on TWZ that the raids are not limited to a single point or a specific moment. They have registered similar episodes at other key bases, including strategic bomber-related facilities and advanced technology development centers. In many cases, these infrastructures they lack systems adequate air defense systems against drones, which forces us to rely on improvised or developing solutions. What’s more, even with new tools deployed, the ability to neutralize these threats remains limited and uneven. The strategic paradox. The contrast is more than evident. The United States maintains an unprecedented global military capability and can project force virtually anywhere on the planet. However, at the same time, shows difficulties to fully protect sour own facilities against relatively small, but technologically advanced threats. This paradox reveals a mismatch that already we saw in Ukraine and now in Iranone between traditional defense architecture and new forms of warfare, where cheap and difficult to detect systems can generate disproportionate effects. Paradigm shift underway. In short, what happened, for unpublishedpoints to a deeper transformation in the way military security is understood. Not even the bases, silos and strategic infrastructures of a superpower like the United States can considered safe spaces by the mere fact of being in national territory. Because the combination of advanced drones, sensors and electronic warfare is taking the conflict directly to the heart of powers. And that implies, or opens the disturbing possibility, that the next great battle will not only be fought abroad, but also in the ability to protect what until now was taken for granted. Image | USAF, Airman 1st Class Benjamin Gonsier In Xataka | Iran has turned Hormuz into the entrance to a VIP nightclub. And Spain enters the guest list and the US stays at the door In Xataka | Iran and Russia had been silently exchanging drones and material in the Caspian Sea for months: Israel has just revealed it

Something that happened 30 km from the North Pole six weeks ago is about to ruin Palm Sunday. The culprit has a name and surname

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There is a line that connects something that happened 30 kilometers from the North Pole six weeks ago with the foremen looking at the weather report on the afternoon of Palm Sunday. And that line has a name: a cold episode as real as it is unusual. -35 degrees at 5,500 meters. This meteorological indicator is a perfect summary: they are thermal values ​​typical of the harshest part of winter at the end of March. However, we should not overstate the issue as has been done in recent days. So what’s going on? The configuration is simple: a powerful blocking anticyclone is establishing itself between the south of the British Isles and the north of the Peninsula. That will channel a polar mass over the continent. Spain in particular will be under the influence of a slightly warmer branch, but (still) very cold for the time. Palm Sunday (i.e. March 29) will be the ‘climax’ of the onset of cold: The two main weather models in the world indicate -35 degrees. A good part of the eastern third of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands will be in full “climate January” during the first half of Easter. The good side. According to AEMETthe anticyclone will block the rains during most of the festivals. It cannot be ruled out that “someday something will sneak in”, but scant rainfall is expected in most of the west and south of the peninsula. What can we expect? That’s the most complicated part of all this. The context is complex: an exceptional winter (the wettest in at least 47 years), a historic number of high-impact storms (at least 19) and reservoirs at 83.2% of their capacity. But the underlying mechanism complicates everything even more. In early February, sudden stratospheric warming occurred at the north pole, fragmenting the polar vortex. What we are seeing now is a coherent scenario with that. Holy Week, in this context, acts as a media amplifier. What’s going to happen. Because make no mistake, the snow level below 600 in the north is going to collapse many roads (just when more people are moving), the uncertainty in the northwest is going to complicate life for processions and agriculture can affect many plants in full bloom. Now, all of this falls within the typical Easter ‘playbook’. So no, it won’t be a perfect week: but we certainly shouldn’t expect a “universal flood” either. Image | Tropical Tidbits In Xataka | The rain has transformed the driest desert on the planet into a sea of ​​flowers. It’s a sight to behold and a problem for experts

behind is North Korea

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A European company publishes an offer for a remote technological position and, after several filters, hires a candidate who perfectly fits the profile. The resume is solid, the interviews are carried out without problems and, on paper, this incorporation becomes integrated into the team as one more. But there is a possibility that until recently many companies did not even consider: that this worker is not who they say they are. Cybersecurity experts maintain that this phenomenon comes almost exclusively from North Korea, a practice documented in the United States and whose first signs are also beginning to be seen in Europe. The problem of fake employees in Europe. To understand why it is now starting to cause concern in this part of the world, it is worth first looking at what has already happened in the North American country. There, authorities and cybersecurity specialists have been investigating a very specific pattern for years: supposed technology professionals who were actually part of networks linked to Pyongyang. According to data from the Department of Justice, these operations managed to infiltrate more than 300 companies between 2020 and 2024, generating at least $6.8 million in income for the North Korean country. How deception works. The process usually begins with building a compelling professional identity. According to the Financial Timesoperatives can take over inactive LinkedIn accounts or even pay their owners to use them, and from there create apparently legitimate profiles with falsified resumes and recommendations generated by other members of the network. Language models also help them create culturally appropriate names, plausible email addresses, and messages that reduce linguistic or cultural cues that could previously give them away. In the interview phase, technology plays an increasingly important role: these networks can resort to digital masks, avatars or video filters, and when some companies tighten controls, they also go so far as to pay real intermediaries to appear on video calls in their place. The success of this scheme is not explained only by the technological tools used by false candidates. It also has to do with a structural weakness within many organizations. According to cybersecurity experts cited by the aforementioned newspaper, the hiring process has rarely been considered a corporate security front. For years it has been managed mainly from human resources, with controls designed to evaluate talent, not to detect infiltration operations. That approach has left a vulnerability that these networks are exploiting. Once inside the company. Getting through the hiring process is only the first phase of the operation. Some of these schemes include intercepting the laptops that companies send to their new employees to work remotely. After accessing the equipment, operatives can connect from other locations and carry out their work activity using tools based on language models and chatbots. This system allows them to fulfill the tasks assigned by the company and, in some cases, manage several technological jobs at the same time. Furthermore, the risk is not limited to collecting salaries; some also steal information or infect systems with malware. For threat analysts, the first signs of expansion towards Europe are already visible. According to information collected by the Financial Times, researchers have identified signs that networks linked to North Korea are trying to reproduce in the region the same model that was previously observed in the North American country. One of the elements that has attracted attention is the appearance in the United Kingdom of the so-called laptop farmsspaces where remotely connected laptops are concentrated so that operatives can work as if they were physically in the country. This type of infrastructure suggests that the scheme could also be beginning to be replicated in Europe. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana In Xataka | We knew that North Korea has been infiltrating workers into Western companies for years. Now we know how they do it

Data centers have run out of “plugs” in central Europe, so they are migrating north and south

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The insatiable appetite of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is redrawing the map of Europe. Historically, the European data center market has been dominated by a handful of metropolitan areas known in the industry as the “FLAP-D” markets: Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin. The main attraction of these cities was their proximity to large demand centers, which allowed extraordinarily fast data transmission. However, current forecasts indicate that this historical dominance is beginning to crumble. Technology developers are packing their bags and the reason is purely physical: there is not enough energy. The collapse of the giants. The driving force behind this technological exodus is the sheer congestion of the electrical grid in the traditional epicenters. Unlike a conventional factory, data centers present a brutal challenge for any infrastructure: they are huge, hyper-localized loads that operate tirelessly and have the ability to skyrocket their consumption faster than almost any other industry. The local impact of these installations is astonishing. According to Greenpeacein 2023 data centers consumed between 33% and 42% of all electricity in cities such as Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt. The most extreme case is that of Dublin, where they accounted for almost 80% of electricity consumption. The situation became so critical that Ireland was forced to impose a moratorium de facto to new data centers in its capital until 2028. The exodus to the North and South. As a direct consequence of this bottleneck, the proportion of installed capacity in FLAP-D markets will fall from the current 62% to just 51% by 2035. according to a report by Ember. This drop marks the beginning of a new era in which developers flee from bottlenecks. The new map would look like this: The big winners: The Nordic countries top the expansion list. They offer some of the least congested networks in Europe, low electricity prices, minimal carbon intensity and cold climates that reduce the need for cooling. Demand is expected to increase 4 or 5 times in this region. The awakening of the South: On the other side of the continent, countries such as Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain also project explosive growth, driven by their potential in renewable energy. The laggards: There are nations that, despite having strong economies and plenty of IT talent, are falling behind. Poland and Czechia are the best example. As detailed by Paweł CzyżakDirector of the Europe Program at the analysis center Embertheir electrical systems are still tied to coal and gas (Poland emits about 600 gCO2/kWh and the Czech Republic about 400 gCO2/kWh). With no clean energy to offer, investors prefer to look to their greener neighbors. Don’t underestimate the south. While the north squeezes the Scandinavian cold, Spain faces this exodus from a privileged position, breaking daily renewable generation records. However, its electrical network suffers a serious administrative “thrombosis”: There is plenty of clean energy, but there is a lack of cables to transport it, leaving 130 GW trapped in a bottleneck. Faced with the avalanche of data centers that threatened to collapse the system, the Government and the CNMC They have applied emergency surgery. The solution involves pioneering “flexible access permits” – which allow these plants to use residual capacity by accepting outages in emergencies – and the non-negotiable requirement that they withstand “voltage gaps” to shield the electrical stability of the entire peninsula. Planning and more planning. None of this happens by chance. In places where the network flows smoothly, there are years of work behind it. The Norwegian operator, Statnett, has been preparing the ground for some time to assume three times the electricity demand from data centers by 2030. In Denmark, Energinet began building high-voltage substations in 2017 in anticipation of precisely this scenario. Beyond the cables, the internal technology dictates the sentence. The key indicator is the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness), which measures the technical efficiency of each installation. Paweł Czyżak points out in your newsletter that the difference is abysmal: the leading centers consume 24% less electricity and emit four times less CO2 than an average plant. Google has the best student in the class in Fredericia (Denmark): it averages a spectacular PUE of 1.07 and runs on 91% clean energy. The technological paradox. There is, however, a fascinating irony in the background: the same Artificial Intelligence that today saturates the cables could be the salvation of the electrical system. According to calculations by the consulting firm Deloittethe efficiency improvements that this technology will bring will save more than 3,700 TWh globally by 2030. Put into perspective, the deployment of these algorithms will save almost 4 times the energy consumed by all the data centers on the planet combined. Examples from other latitudes support this theory: in Southeast Asia (ASEAN), It is estimated that integrating AI in the management of its electrical systems it will save more than 67 billion dollars and avoid the emission of almost 400 million tons of CO2 between now and 2035. Infrastructure decides the future. At the bottom of this complex puzzle of cables and algorithms, what is at stake is pure and simple economic competitiveness. They are not minor figures. In the Netherlands, the data and cloud sector already attracts 20% of all foreign direct investment. In Germany, estimates calculate that the contribution of these centers to GDP will jump from the current 10.4 billion euros to more than 23 billion in 2029. The warning for legislators and regulators is clear: the technology giants have no patience to wait for new cables to be buried. They will move their billions to where the network already has space. As Czyżak saysthe country that wants to seduce the industry must guarantee clean energy in abundance and plugs ready to use. In the frenetic race to dominate the technological future, having a ready electrical grid is no longer an advantage; It is the only entry ticket. Image | İsmail Enes Ayhan on Unsplash and IRENA Xataka | Iran is directing its attacks where it knows it hurts the West: energy and data centers

All the lighthouses that illuminate the coasts of the North Atlantic, gathered in an impressive interactive map

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The figure of the solitary lighthouse keeper in charge of the thankless task of keeping his tower operational and in good condition at the service of the boats has long been a rare sight: they are in danger of extinction in front of the automated towers, both in terms of lighting and other auxiliary tasks within of the DGPS differential system. There are (almost) no lighthouse keepers, but the lighthouses look like never before. Only Europe’s 90,000 kilometers of coastline They are a veritable garden of lighthousesbut one thing are lighthouses (that iconic tall tower with a light on top) and another is lights for maritime signaling, where large lights, small lights, beacons or buoys enter. The reference technical standard is IALA Recommendation E-110, as collects and translates into Spanish Puertos del Estado. If we talk about maritime signage, things change there and the figures increase: there are 23,217 lights in the northern seas alone, according to OpenStreetMaps. It must be considered that this is open data, provided by the community, with areas very well mapped and others not so well. The lighthouses of the North Seas, as we have never seen them If we stick to the northern seas, the lighthouses drop to around 2,500 units. Although his thing is teaching and business, Wharton University professor Ethan Mollick has condensed all this information into an interactive map using vibe coding: Lighthouse Atlas. Lighthouse Atlas This map of the northern seas is more than a mere cartography of that maritime signage: it is interactive, making it a tool as visual as it is impressive for the possibility of playing with zoom, filtering or the information it shows. If you also hover over the lights, you can see more data such as their name, color range or frequency. In addition to being able to filter to see only the headlights (‘Major lights only’), as Mollick explainseach light has the correct color, each flashes with the appropriate frequency, and its brightness has been scaled according to OSM data. You can also see how far away they are visible. How far are the light signals seen in the Atlantic, between the Spanish and French states Thus, the size of the points serves to get an idea of ​​how close or far the vessels can be to view the signals. For example, on these lines you can see how much the signals of the muga between the Spanish and French states illuminate. Especially striking because of how congested the Norwegian coast is, as can be seen numerically. in the database from Norsk Fyrhistorisk Forening, the company that compiles a detailed map of locations along the entire Scandinavian coast. However, of the historical 212, it has about 150 operational. It is not the only one: Scotland and the Isle of Man, the coasts of Denmark and the Adriatic Sea, on the coasts of Greece and Türkiye are also well nourished. In Xataka | A man bought a desert island in 1962: he planted 16,000 trees and turned it into an anti-rich sanctuary In Xataka | All the lighthouses of Europe, with their different patterns and colors, gathered in this fantastic map Cover | Lighthouse Atlas

North Korea believed the threat was miles from its border. A video has revealed that it is a few meters away with a huge warhead

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For years, North Korea has built your security on the idea that the most dangerous thing came from afar and could be seen coming in time. But on the peninsula, threats do not always come from the other side of the world: sometimes they develop much closer than anyone imagined. A “monster” missile. a video has revealed that South Korea has begun to operationally deploy the Hyunmoo-5its largest ballistic missile to date and one of the most peculiar in the world due to the combination of size and mission. Although it remains shrouded in secrecy and there are no publicly confirmed test launches, its input in units indicates that Seoul already considers it a real instrument of deterrence. A weapon designed for an extreme scenario on the peninsula, where the problem is not just attacking, but hitting what is buried, protected and designed to survive. The key: the head. What it places to Hyunmoo-5 In a category of its own is its warhead gigantic penetrationmuch heavier than that of usual conventional missiles. Where it is normal to carry loads of less than a ton, here we are talking about a block that can be around several tons, with an important part dedicated to dense metal and structure to pierce before detonating. The logic is simple and we have seen it before in the United States MOP: enter the ground at enormous speed, break through like a kinetic hammer and then explode once inside, attacking bunkers, command centers, warehouses and shelters designed to withstand traditional attacks. Ballistic bunker-buster. In terms of effect, it is reminiscent of bunker buster bombs launched from a planebut with a decisive difference: here it is not falling from a bomber at subsonic speed, but rather hits like a ballistic projectile at speeds close to hypersonic or directly hypersonic. This multiplies the penetration capacity by pure impact energyeven before counting the explosion. It does not make the weapon “nuclear,” because the type of destruction is different, but it does create a conventional tool with the power of entry and demolition that seeks to get closer to what a regime fears most: losing its underground shelters. Ceremony celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea The mystery of scope. The huge warhead penalizes the range, and that is why many estimates They place their radius of action around about 600 kilometersmore typical of a short-range missile despite the size of the set. For South Korea that is not a problem, because the priority objective is close and it’s concrete: Hardened facilities in North Korea. Still, if the load were lightened, it could reach much greater distances, even entering intermediate-range missile parameters, opening the door to broader regional readouts. Total design freedom. For decades, Seoul developed missiles under agreed limits with Washington, first very strict and then increasingly relaxeduntil those guidelines disappeared completely in 2021. That change was not symbolic: it came at the pace of North Korea’s advance in missiles and nuclear weapons, and left South Korea with room to create heavier, more capable systems with greater range options. Hyunmoo-4 had already raised the bar with a powerful charge, but Hyunmoo-5 represents the definitive jump to the idea of ​​“demolition power” as a main feature. The three-way strategy. Plus: the Hyunmoo-5 is integrated into the South Korean scheme designed to avoid or respond to a North Korean nuclear attack, with three pillars that complement each other: a preemptive strike plan on nuclear and missile capabilities if deemed inevitable, an air and missile defense to intercept launches, and massive conventional retaliation against leadership and strategic infrastructure if the North strikes first. On that board, the missile serves both to punish and to decapitate capabilities, because its specialty is attacking what the adversary hides underground to guarantee its continuity. Deterrence and escalation. They counted the TWZ analysts that the South Korean bet aims to maintain a “balance of terror” with increasingly forceful conventional means, but it also fuels an uncomfortable debate about the future. If Seoul one day decided to pursue a nuclear arsenal of its own, a missile from this family would be a natural candidateand a nuclear charge would also be much lighter than the current conventional one, which would expand range and flexibility. Meanwhile, the mere existence of Hyunmoo-5 already serves as an unmistakable message: even without crossing the nuclear threshold, South Korea wants the ability to open any relevant bunker and force Pyongyang to assume that his depth no longer guarantees security. Beyond Pyongyang. In public, South Korea frames these weapons as an answer to North Korea, but the regional background weighs more and more. Have a missile potentially adaptable in range and with a devastating payload add margin facing scenarios where the threat is not only from North Korea, but also from nearby powers such as China or Russia. The idea of ​​​​increasing their survival and employment options with future naval platforms is even contemplated, following the trend global from “arsenal ships”because in deterrence it is not enough to have the weapon: we must also guarantee that it will remain alive when the time comes to use it. Image | Lightrocket, 촬영 – 이헌구 기자 In Xataka | “It’s a level 10 Godzilla, but they only see a tiger”: South Korea’s surprising response to North Korea’s rearmament In Xataka | If the question is what has North Korea achieved in the last four years, the answer is simple: an unimaginable arsenal

that it would not have happened to North Korea for a very simple reason

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When we talk about isolated and sanctioned states, an enclave usually emerges in the conversation at some point. North Korea has every chance to join that list of nations with dubious qualifications. And yet, after the attack from Washington to Caracasone idea is repeated insistently: this would not have happened to Pyongyang. That uncomfortable idea. Yes, after the attack, a phrase is repeating in the analyzesgatherings and networks:“This would not have happened to North Korea”. It is not an ideological slogan or a gratuitous provocation, but an almost empirical verification that points to the heart of the real international system, not the one taught in manuals. The reason: Venezuela lacks nuclear weapons, and North Korea has intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads capable of reaching US territory. That difference, alone, explains much more than decades of resolutions, treaties and solemn declarations on sovereignty, legality and world order. International legality as a story. It happens that the operation against Venezuela has been described by jurists and international organizations as a flagrant violation of international law. However, that sentence has not had (nor does it seem that it will have) practical consequences. It has not stopped the operation, nor reversed its effects nor imposed real costs on the actor who carried it out. From that perspective, it is not an anomaly of the system, it is, rather, its normal functioning. International legality has never been an independent coercive mechanism, but a regulatory framework whose effectiveness ultimately depends on the balance of power. When this balance does not exist, the law is reduced to a moral language that accompanies the facts, but does not condition them. Nuclear deterrence: the frontier. The contrast with North Korea is revealing. We are talking about a nation capable of launching missiles simply because the “neighbor” visits China. Pyongyang is an isolated, sanctioned State, with a violation history of human rights and UN resolutions against them much more extensive than the Venezuelan one. And yet, no one is seriously considering a direct military operation to capture their leader or impose regime change by force. The reason is starkly simple: North Korea may respond with what we call nuclear escalation. In that sense, deterrence does not guarantee peace or justice, of course, but it does guarantee survival. In the real international system, the nuclear weapon functions as the only fully recognized life insurance. Iran and Venezuela. The Iran situation fits the same logic. Tehran has been getting closer for years to the nuclear thresholdaware that Libya, Iraq or Venezuela show the fate of States that renounce (or do not arrive in time) to this type of deterrence. Until Iran definitively crosses that line, it remains exposed to limited attacks, sabotage, targeted assassinations and indirect military pressure. Venezuela, without a nuclear program or credible deterrence umbrella, has proven to be even more vulnerable: not only to sanctions or pressure, but to a direct intervention designed to “extirpate” the political leadership, just as it has happened. The Non-Proliferation Treaty. He Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty It was born with an implicit promise: States that renounced nuclear weapons would obtain collective security and respect for their sovereignty. What’s happening? that the reality has denied that promise over and over again. At least until now, no non-nuclear state has been defended militarily by the international system against a great power determined to act. On the contrary, states that have managed to equip themselves with nuclear deterrents (from North Korea to Pakistan) have ensured their practical inviolability, regardless of their internal or external behavior. The message that other countries draw seems obvious and deeply destabilizing: following the rules does not protect you, but having the damn bomb does. USA and the royal hierarchy. If you also want, the Venezuelan operation It does not inaugurate this logic, but it makes it visible in an almost pedagogical way. The United States has not acted outside the international system, but from its top. It has shown that the global hierarchy remains asymmetrical and that sovereignty is conditional for those who cannot impose an intolerable cost on an aggressor. Seen this way, the comparison with North Korea is not an anti-Western provocation, but rather an a priori, realistic reading of the facts: the law is applied where there is balance, and where there is none, force rules. What we don’t want to say. This being the case, the lesson left by the attack on Venezuela is uncomfortable because it dismantles decades of rhetoric, or almost so. International legality has not disappeared now, perhaps because it has never existed as an autonomous shield. It has always been a reflection of power. and North Korea is not untouchable because he is right, but because he can just destroy. Venezuela was not attacked because it is more illegitimate, of course, but because in that sense it is weaker. That is why Iran is moving towards the nuclear thresholdbecause he has learned that lesson by observing others. That the international system does not reward compliance, but rather the ability to deter. Everything else is story. Image | GoodFon, Gary Todd In Xataka | North Korea is sending its soldiers to the most sinister place in Ukraine: one where drones are not the problem, but where you step In Xataka | The North Koreans are hungry, so they have started hunting tigers. It’s just the tip of the iceberg

Science has discovered that the original “home” of primates was the cold of the north

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The mental image is almost universal: an ape-like ancestor jumping among vines in a hot, humid jungle. For almost a century, paleoanthropology has assumed that primates are children of the tropics, however, an ambitious study published in PNAS by researcher Jorge Avaria-Llautureo and his team has blown up this paradigm, since they have seen that the primates were not looking for the sun. The ‘Tropical Dogma’. Until now, the predominant theory regarding evolution pointed out that primates evolved in warm, stable climateswhere food, such as fruits, were available all year round. In this way, it would only be millions of years later when some species had ventured into more hostile climates such as extreme cold. A great twist of script. Science has changed this paradigm by analyzing data from none other than 66 million years of history. To do this they have crossed the fossil record with climatic reconstructions that were made with great precision to see that the ancestors of all current primates originated in environments that had significantly low temperatures. Nothing to do with the tropical and arid landscapes that we may have had in mind until now. Survival training. How is it possible that a species that we associate with the jungle was born in areas that today would be equivalent to temperate or even boreal forests? The answer is in the adaptability. Science points in this case to the fact that early primates lived at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere, as is Eurasia and North America. And at that time, they were not constant paradises, since the animals had to deal with months of cold where the plants did not bear fruit. Your adaptation. This forced primates to stop being “fruit specialists” and become generalists capable of eating insects, shoots or bark, when the weather got bad enough. And this was crucial for their biology, since their metabolism was forced to adapt to these extreme conditions, which resulted in a brutal competitive advantage when they finally expanded. The researchers point out that this metabolic adaptation to tolerate adverse climates was the basis on which their evolutionary success was based. The paradox of the Tropics. If they were born in the cold, why do almost everyone live on the equator today? The study reveals a fascinating phenomenon: southward migration. And as the global climate changed, primates moved towards tropical bands. There they found an environment where their ‘survival kit’, which was developed in very harsh conditions, allowed them to thrive with great ease. That is why the Tropics were not where primates were made, but rather it is where they diversified explosively because, compared to the north, life there was much easier and they had a large amount of food. In short, the tropics were a refuge for biodiversity, but the spark that makes us primates was lit in the cold. Change the rules of the game. In addition to seeing the past differently with this new study, it also forces us to look at the future differently. Specifically, understanding how species moved between thermal niches over millions of years is vital to predicting how today’s primates will respond to climate change. global warming accelerated. But it also lets us see that if primates have an important history of resistance to cold and seasonal scarcity, it opens the door to our own ability as humans to colonize all corners of the planet as a form of evolution. Images | Anthony In Xataka | Human evolution has not stopped: in fact, there are reasons to think that it is more accelerated than ever

In 1919 the Germans decided to sink their entire fleet in the North Sea. The steel from those ships ended up in space

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At 11:20 in the morning of June 21, 1919, Admiral von Reuter’s ship began to signal to the rest of the German ships in Scapa Flow Bay, England. The taps and water intakes were opened, the pipes were destroyed, the portholes were dismantled: no one noticed anything. Until around midday, the Friederich Der Grosse began to list to starboard. It was already late, the German flag was flying from the 74 masts. Scapa Flow. The image tells the story of Scapa Flowthe sinking of the German fleet immediately after World War I. While the Allies negotiated the terms of the Armistice with Germany, the fleet was held captive and stationed off the British coast. Von Reuter feared that the Allies would divide up the ships, so he decided to sink it completely, at any cost. The British naval ships that were on maneuvers arrived at 2:30 p.m. and were only able to save one ship. The last to sink was the battlecruiser Hindenburg. Nine Germans were killed, 16 were wounded, 1,774 were detained. 52 ships were sunk on June 21 at Scapa Flow. But they are no longer there: they are on the Moon, Jupiter and beyond the orbit of Pluto. steel is steel. A tough guy, with bad temper and few words. But in 1945 (or a little before), everything changed. We didn’t realize it at first, but we quickly discovered that although all steels are equal, there are some steels that are more equal than others. I’m not going around the bush: what happened in ’45 was the atomic bomb, the device of the Devil that made us change geological era. The problem. Since the first atomic bombs exploded on the Earth’s surface, the air contains traces of radioactive elements. They are there, dissolved in it, but the amount is so small that they are harmless. Unless for some strange reason you have to blow in enormous amounts of air in the manufacturing process of some material. It’s almost useless to us. That is, all steel manufactured after the explosion of the first atomic bomb is radioactive. Very little, almost nothing. But enough so that some medical, physical or astronomical instruments do not work correctly. For example, radioactivity monitoring systems used by spacecraft. He tells it David Bodanis in “E = mc². Biography of the most famous equation in the world“, a book that, although it has become somewhat outdated, is still a delight. You may have heard the story, but it is a good story. Steel = expensive. In the book, Bodanis explains that, faced with this problem, uncontaminated steel became very expensive. Above all, because before ’45 we did not make steel in quantities so industrial as now. I imagine dozens of NASA engineers rummaging through their family’s cutlery so they can send reliable machines into space. Until someone remembered Kaiser Wilhelm’s ships. The peculiarity of Scapa Flow. There are sunken ships in many places, but there are not many shallow inlets with 52 sunken ships in their waters. Not all of them were there, but a few were enough for us to manufacture the equipment that the Apollo mission left on the lunar surface, that which the Galileo probe took to Jupiter, and that which the Pioneer probe is taking even further. The evil, the sea. In Xataka | Quantum find in Cambridge points to solar ‘Holy Grail’: single-material solar panels In Xataka | The Atacama salt flat is the key on which the electric car industry pivots. And it’s starting to dry

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