overcome

expensive literary retreats to overcome mobile addiction

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February weekend, Welsh coast. A group of women sits around a table accompanied by appetizing portions of pasta and fruit. They ignore each other very politely. Nobody looks at their cell phones, but at the voluminous books they carry with them. They open them, begin to read their own in silence, and pay 1,200 euros (or more) for that strange privilege. Expanding business. In the United States and the United Kingdom, a new category of travel experience has been born: reading retreats. A group of people meets in a rural house or hotel boutique during a weekend to advance their personal readings, in friendly silence and without obligation to read a common book, as happens with reading clubs. Very expensive and exclusive, prices vary from company to company Page Break (between $1,000 and $1,200 per weekend) up to Ladies Who Lit (£3,450 for four days in Mallorca) or Bad Bitch Book Club (between $950 and $1,750). It’s his thing. Although today it is perceived as a solitary activity, reading as something introspective is a historically anomalous perception. For centuries, reading was a social practice: families gathered by the warmth of the fireplace to listen to loud sermons, women sharing stories while they sewed, travelers exchanging books in train cars. In fact, the appearance of the railway in the 19th century generated an entire industry: the publisher Henry Walton Smith began selling cheap novels on the platforms of London stations, and Allen Lane installed a vending machine for books from the Penguin publishing house (the Penguincubator) in the subway lobbies. It is read less.The decline in reading rates is well documented. From 2003 to 2023, the share of Americans who read for pleasure daily fell from 28% to 16%, approximately 3% annually. The report from which these data come, prepared from more than 236,000 participants, indicates that the drop is more pronounced among the population with the lowest income and lowest educational level, although the decline affects all demographic groups. Teleworking has also affected a historical reading space: the commute to work. The importance of BookTok. But in the face of this general decline in reading rates, especially in more modest classes, there is a demand for reading as a form of leisure that disconnects from the connected and hyperactive rhythm in which we live. Paradoxically (coming from a social network), the TikTok reading community has a lot to do with this new vision of reading: with 200,000 million views under the hashtag booktokthis social network is already a sales engine that rescues titles from oblivion and catapults works by independent authors to the best-seller lists. According to the founder of The Literary LeagueAccording to Gabi Valladares, who has organized reading retreats at the Scribner’s Lodge resort in the Catskills, “book vacations offer a built-in connection point,” adding that they are “undemanding,” combining time with authors and other fans with free hours to simply read. It disconnects. The idea, even though the Internet is the platform for disseminating this type of retreat and its philosophy, is to disconnect from the online world, in search of recovering uninterrupted reading. As Leah Price points outauthor of ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Books’, the current problem is not work, historically the main competitor to reading, but “the competition from short-form digital content.” The year 2018, when Wi-Fi reached the entire New York subway network, was described as “horrible” for reading in the subway by Uli Beutter Cohen, who interviews travelers about their reading for his Instagram account Subway Book Review. Some clubs. Bad Bitch Book Club was born in 2018 as a Facebook group of friends with common interests. By 2020, confinement boosted the page to 38,000 members worldwide, receiving income of around $200,000 annually through a Patreon subscription of 14 per month. Their summer camps in The Forks, Maine, received 500 applications for 240 spots spread over three weekends. Page Breakfounded in 2024 by Mikey Friedman, has a different proposal: participants read aloud (in turns, we imagine) the same novel throughout the weekend, interspersed with frugal meals and themed games, getting closer to the idea of ​​a traditional book club. For a recent retreat in the Joshua Tree, California desert, the company received 50 applications for 15 spots, which were assigned by lottery. Your goal: millennials and zetas too busy to commit to a conventional book club. Women. The profile of attendees is overwhelmingly female. Emma Donaldson, founder of Boutique Book Breaks (spa hotel retreats in the English countryside), notes that to date she has only had one male guest. The organizers attribute this bias to the feminization of the publishing industry in recent decades and to marketing for these retreats that adopts the language of well-being: candles, bath salts, non-alcoholic cocktails… Theorist DeNel Rehberg Sedo connects the popularity of these women’s reading clubs with the awareness groups of the 1960s and 1970s, speaking of spaces that “continue the training of women and distance them from domestic responsibilities.” The metaphor of well-being is not accidental. When the debate Often focused on choosing between reading as accelerated consumerism or as a reflective practice, these retreats offer a middle ground. The possibility of reading slowly, without being accountable to any algorithm, in the company of other people who also do not understand why the hell reading a book has become something that costs so much work these days. Header | Photo of Michael Kyule in Unsplash

The Artemis II countdown has already begun, but many critical points must still be overcome

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If everything goes well, humans will return to the moon todayafter more than 50 years without manned trips to our satellite. The Artemis II mission has a two-hour launch window, which will begin at 6:24 p.m. local time in Florida (00:24 a.m. PST). Before that launch the countdown will take place. But not the typical 10-second countdown that comes to mind, but a much longer one that has, in fact, already started. During the 50 hours that the countdown lasts, each of the factors that could make it necessary to postpone the launch are analyzed point by point. Only if everything is fine or can be solved at the moment will we finally see this mission begin, which breaks records and barriers in many ways. Who. The crew of Artemis II They will be very different from those of the Apollo missions. Although all of them were crewed by three white American men, this time there will be more variety. The four astronauts who will go aboard the Orion capsule are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. The last three will be the ones that will make the difference, since Glover and Koch will potentially be the first black person and the first woman to travel to the Moon and Hansen the first Canadian to leave Earth’s orbit. The Artemis II crew will be pioneers in many ways So that. Artemis II will not land on the lunar surface. That will be the goal of Artemis III. However, its 10-day trip will include a flyby to the Moon, in which key systems, such as life support, navigation and communications, will be tested. Photographs will also be taken of the hidden side of the Moon, in order to analyze its geology. and other data of scientific interest. Meanwhile, astronauts will carry sensors that will help verify the alterations that their biological parameters experience in space. The countdown. While it is true that the true countdown lasts 10 minutes, during the 50 hours prior to launch There is a very well established testing and preparation schedule. It all starts with preparing the fuel loading systems and powering up the ship. Other important key points are, for example, the ignition of the batteries, which occurs 33 hours before or the cooling and subsequent filling of the various fuel charging and propulsion systems. These steps are taken starting 10 hours before launch. Also very important is the flight crew’s weather briefing, which takes place 6 hours before the rocket is launched. The real countdown. During the last 10 minutes, very sensitive tasks for the launch are carried out. Above all, in this countdown the last checks are made to all the systems and the refueling of the fuel tanks is carried out. This means that the tank is refilled to the optimal level to replace the fuel that has evaporated during the filling stages. In these last minutes, the final pressurization of the tanks is also carried out and the rocket goes into internal energy mode. That is, it stops using energy from the terrestrial electrical system and uses only its batteries. What can go wrong. Any minor detail that does not work properly during the 50 hours before launch could cause the mission to be postponed. The most sensitive points are, without a doubt, those that have to do with fuel. For example, many missions have been canceled when leaks were detected in the tanks that could not be solved at the time. Adverse weather could also force the launch to be delayed. When. A launch cannot take place at any time. The Earth revolves around the Sun and the Moon orbits the Earth. In order for a rocket launched from Earth to follow a suitable trajectory towards the Moon, it is important that it be in a suitable orientation, taking into account their respective orbits. These specific moments are known as launch windows. Artemis II will have one of these windows today for two hours. If the launch could not be carried out due to any error, this month there will be several more opportunities, on April 2, 3, 6 and 30. After takeoff. The first 8 minutes after takeoff are critical. The engines are working at maximum power to leave the Earth’s atmosphere and arrive, now, slowly. Above all there will be two critical ignitions in the rocket’s upper stage, known as ICPS. The first serves to stabilize the orbit and the second to take the rocket to high Earth orbit. It is important that these go well so that the mission can move forward. Once those critical 8 minutes have been passed, the mission will have a lot of flight ahead of it, but at least the most complicated part will have passed. Even so, still We will have 10 days to closely follow the work of these 4 astronauts which, of course, have already gone down in history. Images | POT In Xataka | Spanish technology in the return to the Moon: the system designed in Madrid that NASA will use in Artemis II

The latest publishing sensation is a 410-page billet that talks about something very specific: how to overcome the apocalypse

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Another manual for preparationists in case it happens to us the final blackout? Well, not exactly: the recently published in Spanish ‘The Book: The definitive guide to rebuilding civilization’, by the Hungry Minds collective, is much, much more than that: an illustrated encyclopedia that recounts the crucial discoveries that have taken place throughout our history. But it’s not just an instruction book. What is ‘The Book’. Above all, an imposing tome that rejects any pretension of portability: it weighs more than two kilos and its dimensions (approximately 24 x 35 centimeters) make it a a museum piece rather than a table read. 410 pages containing more than 700 original illustrations and now Duomo Editions (who have already faced “difficult” books such as ‘The Ship of Theseus’ or ‘House of Leaves’) publishes in Spain fully translated. There are 23 thematic chapters that make up a progressive itinerary: from basic survival knowledge (obtaining water, lighting a fire, identifying edible plants) to complex conquests such as navigation, aviation, cultural festivals or psychotherapy. How it was born. In December 2020, while the world was still navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic, a collective of artists launched a seemingly far-fetched proposal on Kickstarter: creating a visual encyclopedia to rebuild human civilization after an apocalyptic collapse. The answer exceeded expectations with more than 21,000 patrons and $2.3 million raised: it was the third most successful publishing project in the history of the platform. crowdfunding. Since then, nearly 300,000 copies have been sold worldwide, going far beyond its initial niche of illustrated books. Some precedent. The question of how to reactivate civilization after a cataclysm is not new. British astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell published ‘Open in the Event of an Apocalypse’ in 2014, a manual that became a best-selleralthough it adopted a technical and textual approach, explaining chemical processes and physical principles. The Long Now Foundationa foundation led by Brian Eno and dedicated to promoting thought on a civilizational scale, in a time frame of 10,000 years and as a counterweight to the current accelerated culture, incorporated the work into the ‘Manual for Civilization’ project. Hungry Minds offers a radically different approach. Where Dartnell provides practical instructions, the collective creates a visual artifact that evokes medieval codices. The genesis occurred during the 2020 confinementwhen those responsible asked themselves: if everything stopped, what essential knowledge deserves to be preserved? With the incorporation of Artur Stelmakh, an expert in crowdfunding campaigns, they transformed that philosophical concern into a viable editorial project. Who are Hungry Minds? A decentralized creative studio without physical headquarters: its members (artists, illustrators, scientists and historians) work from different corners of the planet. Illustrator Lev Kaplan, an advertising veteran, took on the art direction of the book and spent months refining each illustration. The initial team was joined by university professors who were experts in specific disciplines, as well as writers, editors and proofreaders who verified the precision of each data. The result fuses historical references ranging from the mysterious Voynich Manuscript from the 15th century (considered the most enigmatic codex in the world) while the conceptual classification draws on the ‘Summa Technologiae’ of the Polish Stanisław Lem. The object-book market. As the entertainment industry migrates towards digital formats (streaming, downloadable files, ebooks), large-format illustrated books exhibit a certain paradoxical health. According to data collected by The Booksellersales of large-format artistic monographs experienced an increase of 70% in the British market, defying the general trend in the sector. In the United States, a similar phenomenon was experienced: Independent bookstores increased their orders for travel titles by 23%, design by 20% and art by 12%, always referring to large formats. This phenomenon responds to a demand that digital files do not satisfy: the tactile and visual experience of the book. He crowdfunding is partly to blame, democratizing editorial projects that traditional publishers would consider unviable. ‘The Book’ was originally published this way, without the backing of a major company, and in fact, Hungry Minds took the experience further, expanding the book’s concept with an experiential pop-up in Manhattan, transforming the book into an immersive installation. In Xataka | A new movement has emerged in the US: ordinary people with AR-15 rifles preparing for a social collapse

Openai is demonstrating to be able to overcome the goal in virality. His mission was not supposed to be that

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Openai has launched Sora, its social application with which it invites users to create short videos generated by AI and then share them on that network. The product has turned out to be an immediate viral success, extremely simple to use and highly addictive. So much that he has totally left the company that theoretically dominated this segment perfectly. What happened. Traditional social networks are being filled with videos generated with Sora 2the new and striking video generation model by IA. The expectation seems even to have exceeded what I already generated I see 3Google’s model, but it is that Openai has not been confirmed to offer this model, but has accompanied it with a mobile application that is actually a new social network. One in which all the content is those videos and images generated with Sora. Vibes goal, ridiculous. The first surprise is not so much that the application has been successful, but has left Meta Vibs in an absolute background. The company led by Mark Zuckerberg announced a few days before of Sora 2 its new social network totally dedicated to the content generated by the only days before OpenAi, but the impact, at least in terms of the “noise” generated on social networks, is minimal. There are those who criticize that Vibes is “half cook” and it’s “obtuse” for the difficulty when using it in front of Openai. What Altman’s company has achieved is to win in this New career for the economy of attention. OpenAI strategic turn. But the really remarkable thing about this launch is that it seems to raise a strategic OpenAI turn. The company led by Sam Altman has been promising that We will have an AGI in a few thousand days. That diffuse promise contrasts with a reality: GPT-5 is a good modelbut does not represent a specially striking leap regarding the state of the current art. And given that slow evolution and progression, the solution seems to be to offer AI toys. They already did it with the Studio Ghibli Style Imagesbut Sora 2 and Sora’s app go further. They are AI toys … dangerous. Ai Slop. This model contributes even more to that future in which the “spleen generated by AI” (AI Slop) becomes the most widespread type of content in social networks and the Internet. But there are also (among others) a potential and gigantic privacy problem with Sora’s “cameos”, which can end up helping the generation of deepfakes to shoot. The future was a meme factory. That viral success of the app Sora makes the line be blurred between creators and content consumers and does more than ever who consume it end up creating it and realiment the phenomenon. And that makes AI a meme factory, and not a technology that helps us solve real problems. It is true that there are sectors that are taking advantage of it in professional fields, but the danger is that the focus of AI ends in entertainment and content that can also end up being toxic. The Killer-App of the AI ​​was to create videos. Chatgpt and AI continue without having a “Killer App” definitive practice: they help (more and more, true) to programmers, summary documents and rewrite emails, but for now the current models seem to fall short in their promise to revolutionize our world. Openai has managed to market technology better than anyone, but not because cancer heals or solves economic inequalities: he has caused anyone to create absurd and irresistible videos. The chatgpt of the video has arrived. The truth is that despite whom despite, this is a unique time in the frantic evolution of AI. If Dall-E and Chatgpt were those inflection points for AI that generated images and text respectively, I see 3 and Sora 2 have shown that the video generated by AI is prepared for the mainstreamfor mass consumption, although its long -term value may be questionable. Of course its use as the center of a new era of entertainment is. In Xataka | Differentiating the AI ​​content on the Internet is increasingly difficult. The solution goes through something similar to fillets

How some salt has managed to overcome the efficiency of solar panels

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In the kitchen, a pinch of salt is enough to give life to a dish. In the laboratory, another very different salt promises a similar effect, to give a new flavor to solar energy. What for the scientists of the University College in London is a simple chemical additive, it could become the seasoning that revolutionizes the energy future. Seasoning the panels. A team from University College London (UCL) has proven To add Guanidininum Tiocyanate to Perovskitas allows you to manufacture more efficient and stable solar cells. In trials with tin and lead perovskitas in the lower layer of tandem cells – they achieved a 22.3% efficiency, near the record for that family. Scientists have underlined a double effect: more performance and more useful life by reducing microscopic defects during crystals. Just a pinch of salt. The secret is how crystals form. Normally, during manufacturing, Perovskita crystals are formed in a disorderly way, with microscopic imperfections that reduce their efficiency and shorten their useful life. In this way, the guanidinium tiocyanate enters that acts as a modulator: it slows down and controls that process, achieving smoother and more uniform layers. It is as if adding salt, the crystals had time to grow more orderly, without leaving holes or defects that then act as electrons traps. A complementary study at ACS Energy Letters deepened in this mechanism. According to the authors, Guanidinio cations not only improve the quality of the glass, but also facilitate the extraction of electric charge, reduce ion migration and increase stability. This is especially important in the inverted structures (PIN), which are considered more stable in the long term than conventional ones. In the words of the first author of the studyYueyao Dong (UCL): “By modulating the formation of crystals in a controlled way, we were able to create much higher quality films, a change that translates directly into more efficient and durable devices.” The next solar border. The implications go far beyond a laboratory record. The issue is that each layer of Perovskita’s tandem can be designed to absorb different parts of the solar spectrum, which allows to take advantage of more light and turn it into electricity. So, According to UCLusing this type of “salt” in the lower tandem layer could further push records, since other Pervskita tandem They have exceeded more than 40% laboratory efficiency. Can you climb? Perovskitas have another advantage: they are manufactured with low temperature processes, simpler and less energy intensive than silicon. That opens the door to light and flexible modules, integrable in facades, windows or Curved surfaces. However, the interesting thing about this finding is that the additive acts during the manufacture, without the need to redesign the device. In theory, this facilitates moving it from laboratory cells to industrial modules. A door that still has to cross. However, the biggest challenge is still pending: Long -term certified durability. Perovskitas still have to demonstrate that they resist years of sun, humidity and heat without degrading. To this is added the question of lead, present in many formulations. Precisely UCL’s work bet by the tin-pull mixture, with focus on stability and reduction of defects. They are steps in the right direction, but not the final goal. ACS ENERGY LOTTERS STUDY Add a curious nuance: Small dose of Guanidinio help; Too much can be counterproductive and stop cargo transport. In other words: this seasoning works as in the kitchen, where an excess of salt ruins the recipe. A simple touch makes the difference. Like a pinch of salt, it enhances the taste of a dish, a pinch of guanidinio tiocyanate can turn Perovskita into the main ingredient of the energy transition. What until recently was a promising but fragile material, it begins to consolidate as a real alternative to silicon. If science manages to stabilize and climb it, we could be facing the beginning of a new solar era: cleaner, more powerful and more accessible. Image | Unspash and Unspash Xataka | All solar panel technologies that exist and which are more efficient, in a graph that goes 1975 until today

I have tried the new Magic V5 honor and it seems difficult for Apple to overcome it in design with its folding

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It has cost, but I can finally recommend them to anyone. The new folding have nothing to do with what we had a few years ago. And the new Magic V5 honor is the best example. They still have the same format, but Hand experience has finally equated to use a traditional mobile. A point that has not been easy to achievebut that in the middle of 2025 we can already say that it has been achieved. In my case it was with the OPPO FIND N5 When I had this feeling for the first time. That of a folding that did not seem heavy or uncomfortable. With the Magic V3 We experience it, with the Samsung Galaxy Z fold7 We have proven that it is the new norm and with the Magic V5 honor we ask ourselves directly to what extent the folding can improve even more in their external design. There is no finer folding In a presentation event in London, Honor has presumed to launch the thinner folding smartphone in the world, with Only 8.8 millimeters thick. This figure does not include the high part of its generous camera, but it doesn’t matter. The sensation in hand when we fold it is the same as when we use a traditional high range. It is not an ultralight mobile, because it weighs 217 grams, but it is not a figure that differs from many flagships. If we compare it with the iPhone 16 Pro Max (227 grams), we have a lighter mobile. Using it folded is practice to use a normal mobile. And we do not say it to say, the truth is that we have seen the majority of colleagues Use it for a large part of the folded time. Literally forgetting that we are facing a folding mobile. Only when it is needed is when we consider opening it and taking advantage of its 7.95 -inch interior screen. When opening it and putting it on the table on the table we realize how really fine it is: 4.1 mm thick in its white model. Fortunately it does not feel at any time fragile. Honor explains that he has also added an anti -raying shield and the inner panel is reinforced with carbon fiber. But If you transmit security despite how thin it is, it is mainly for the hingewhere this year there have been improvements. In the absence of an analysis with more time of use, the feeling that I have to open and close it is excellent, although I would not say that very different from what we have with the Z FOLD7. The Magic V5 honor has IP58 classification of dust and water resistance, a level of security that exemplifies how well integrated and sealed the hinge is. It is ahead of the IP48 of the Z Fold 7, although at this honor point behind Google with its new Pixel 10 Pro foldthat although it is considerably thicker, it does reach the IP68 certification. Neither one nor two, until three If the folding ones have so much potential, it is for all the possibilities that it allows for such a large screen. In addition to improving their design and hardware, these devices are also taking great steps in terms of software. The Magic V5 honor comes with much AI, how could it be otherwise in 2025. Honor has allied with Google To offer presinstalized Gemini. This allows access to functions such as Gemini Live to ask things that you see through the camera or the creation of videos through images with I see. I liked that honor will create a Quick shortcut to access Gemini, simply touching the back twice. Long life to gestures, both tactile and physicists in different parts of the device. Artificial intelligence also makes an appearance in photo editing, call translation and conversations translation. As well as in the portrait mode and the zoom, with that triple camera with a 50MP main sensor, ultra wide angle of another 50MP and 64 MP teleobjective. But the function that we will probably use is improved multi-flex mode. We can Use up to three applications simultaneouslywhich is a more step with respect to the multipant that we usually have in Android and one of the strengths of the folding book type. Honor and its magic layer 9.0 are taking steps in the good direction to take advantage of the format. In the case of the three applications, with a button we can change your address and the screen is divided into three zones. Unfortunately, as is the case with the multipant of two, not all applications or settings menus are compatible. Samsung has put the batteries, but honor is still at the forefront Samsung is an undisputed leader in Europe in folding. His Galaxy Fold He was the main pioneer and has earned his own right to be the reference. However, for many years Samsung has gone behind the competition. It was honor with his First Magic v The one who highlighted the importance of thinness in the folding and not leave hole when closing. Since then with its successive models it has been the manufacturer who has held the record of thinness. He Magic V2 Honor He was the first to get off the 10 mm folded and Magic V3 last year already marked a record with 9.9mm. The difference with Samsung was huge, because the Z fold6 It stayed above 12 mm folded thick. Fortunately Samsung has made a huge leap with its new Z Fold7 and the difference has been reduced to the minimum. In fact, it was Samsung’s goal to boast of having the thinnest folding, but Honor wanted to steal this position. The important thing although it is not the one who has the lowest data, but the fact that both have finally reached a pleasant point for the user. Millimeter to millimeter We have finally reached the state we all asked. In fact, the Galaxy Z … Read more

China is matching the West in a lot of technologies, but has already overcome something more crucial: research

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Two years ago, in spring 2023, Springer Nature Editorial announced an expected Sorpasso. China had surpassed the United States in the Nature Indexan index created to measure the contribution to the scientific production of countries and institutions. It has been time for that and everything indicates that Chinese science, far from loosening the passage, has increased its distance from its main competitor. Solo leader. The last review of Nature Index Research Leadersthe “classification” based on the index prepared by the editorial responsible for the magazine Natureis A new test of the consolidation of Chinese institutions as a key piece in the global scientific research model. According to those responsible for the index, China achieved in 2024 an index of 32,122, a 17% increase Regarding the previous year, consolidating a first position that he achieved two years ago. From the company that elaborates the index it is also highlighted that the Asian country has eight institutions among the 10 most outstanding worldwide. Evaluating global science. After China and the United States, two European countries occupy the Third and fourth positionrespectively, Germany and the United Kingdom. Asian countries are also consolidated in the national “top 10”, with four countries represented (in addition to China, Japan, South Korea and India), matching the four Europeans in these head positions. The Chinese Academicia opens the List of institutions most outstanding scientists, followed by Harvard University and by the University of Science and Technology of China. The first Spanish institution that we can find in this ranking It is the Higher Council for Scientific Research, the CSIC. Nature Index. But what exactly is this index? He Nature Index It is an index Based on the contributions of scientists attached to various research institutions (whether public, private or companies). These contributions are measured through articles published in a sample of various high -impact scientific journals. Beyond Covid. In 2023 We pointed out That the leadership of Chinese science owed the work done by Chinese institutions in the fight against COVID, for example in the identification and sequencing of the virus some of its variants. However, we also pointed out that this advance also responded to a trend that had already been occurring since before the pandemic. After five years of the pandemic, the data seems to confirm the weight of this ascending trend beyond the situation of the pandemic. An ascent that is exclusive to this Asian giant but is also shared by other countries of the continent, such as South Korea and India, which saw increase in several percentage points (4.1% and 2% respectively) its contribution. This promotion of fact allowed South Korea to overcome Canada, standing in seventh position in this global classification of countries with the highest contribution to science. Tenth place. And what about Spain? The index of Nature Place Spain In thirteenth place in the global, sixth classification among the countries of Europe. Spanish science would be between Italian and Dutch, exactly the same as two years ago. The index in Spanish institutions. We pointed out at the beginning that the CSIC led the Spanish contribution to world science. The contribution of this public institution occupies a leading first place since its index (218) bends to the index of the second institution in the ranking National, the University of Barcelona (86), which is in position 245 in the ranking global. The third position at the national level is held by Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). In Xataka | European science becomes serious: Eurofusion and CERN will work together in nuclear fusion and new collider Image | Julia Koblitz

The competition is starting to overcome

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Things are not going well for Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical Ozempic and Wegovythe popular Drugs to lose weight. The company fell up to 30% in the stock market After presenting (bad) results. In the last year, the shares have fallen double, 60%. Although it will continue to grow, it has trimmed its expectations: from a growth in predicted income between 13% and 21% for annual sales, the company has dropped its fork to 8% and 14%. It is just a consequence of what is already living in several markets. Sorpasso. Novo Nordisk had been in a vulnerable situation, and its stock market value, which came to rise 400% from the pandemic, is reflecting what is already happening in the recipe market: according to the Financial Timesthe IQVIA research company reports that the Danish company has been destroyed in market share in the United States by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, its great rival worldwide. A painful loss in the largest market. With 607,000 weekly recipes, Ozempic has fallen below 622,000 Mounjaro, Lilly’s drug. Ozempic has dropped from 50% of sales for the first time, despite the fact that a judge of the Texas district prohibited the country in the country Marketing of Copies of Novo Nordisk products. For Novo, it means losing the leadership in the market where more semaglutida sells Worldwide: in 2023, 71% of sales arrived from the United States. The news adds to another negative: Wegovy had already been overcome by another proposal by Lilly: Zepbound. It was seen coming: in the United Kingdom, Mounjaro already exceeded Wegovy At the end of the year. The CEO of Chemist4u, an online pharmacy, said that in the last three or four months of 2024, Mounjaro won Wegovy in a 70-30. What are Zepbound and Mounjaro. Zepbound was the second commercial name that Lilly put to the Tirzepatidathe compound with which Lilly threw himself to compete against type 2 diabetes, such as Ozempic. If Novo Nordisk launched Wegovy to focus on weight loss as an alternative for the diabetic ozempic approach using the semaglutida, Lilly did the same with Zepbound with respect to Mounjaro. The FDA approved Zepbound’s medical use at the end of 2023. In Spain, it has not been approved for now, but for a year Pharmacies market Mounjaro under prescription for diabetes and obesity. This is how Novo Nordisk lost his advantage. The arrival of Danish pharmaceutical drugs to the United States was marked by a production that failed to meet the spectacular demand. According to Financial Times, Evan Seigerman, BMO capitalist Markets, prognosis problems had to do with a previous medication from Novo, SaxendaIt was not so successful. The supply problems led to the approved the Sale of Ozempic copies. Although Novo Nordisk managed to increase production by acquiring factories, the under supply gave Lilly time, which Mounjaro launched for diabetes in 2022 and Zepbound in 2023. A matter of marketing. When the huge success of Ozempic began, Novo Nordisk went from being a company focused on the sale of insulin that had to convince doctors through research to have to aim at the weight loss market, a massive market focused on the final consumer, and highly influenced by advertising and celebrities. Novo left the door open to Lilly, and Bernie helped. The marketing of the American pharmaceutical He started selling his online drugs. Being also Aggressive with discounts and several price drops. In this sense, Senator Bernie Sanders also did not help will report price differences of Ozempic in the United States compared to other countries ($ 600 per month for 59 of Germany), claiming that generic versions could be sold for less than $ 100, and accusing Novo of using the US market of “dairy cow“ Lilly tests that show advantage over Novo. According to the study results Surmount-5 Posted by Lilly, at 72 weeks, patients who took Zepbound lost 22.8 kilos in front of 15 kilos of those who took Wegovy. A 20.2% weight loss using the lilly tirzepatida versus 13% of the Semaglutida of Novo. With regard to diabetes, the essay Surpass-3 He showed that Mounjaro produced a reduction in glucosylated hemoglobin (A1C) between 2 and 2.3%, compared to 1.9% of Ozempic. A new (and something frustrated) hope. Novo is developing New Generation Drugswith a drug called to be the successor of Wegovy: Cagrisema. The problem with this drug is that initially, the company announced that it hoped to help patients lose 25% of their weight. The result of his trial provided somewhat minor general figures, With 22.7% loss in 68 weeks. 40.4% of the patients who received the dose of Cagrisema did reach 25% loss in that period, but the market was relentless and fruit of the disappointment between investors. Outstanding image | HAVEREDAS in Unspash In Xataka | “I never say that I have thinned thanks to Ozempic”: the taboo of the ‘Ozempicazo’, the people who hide them consume it

Robots will overcome their human employees in number

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In some of Amazon’s most advanced logistics centers, robots are no longer an aid: they are a majority. They move tirelessly, raise shelves, scan packages and feed a huge distribution network. Automation is ceasing to be a promise to become a reality that can mark the rhythm of the entire sector. Amazon has already deployed more than one million robots in its logistics centers. Company itself sayswhich has been automating many tasks before people. That figure is not only the highest recorded so far, it also reflects to what extent automation has ceased to be marginal to become a key piece of the system. According to data collected by Red Stag FulfillmentAmazon had some 2025 with some 1.56 million employees globally. Of that total, approximately 1.1 million worked in the United States. If we compare both figures, the number of robots begins to approach that of human workers. It all started more than a decade ago In 2012, Amazon paid 775 million dollars By Kiva Systems, a company that was then dedicated to manufacturing mobile robots to move shelves in stores. It was an unexpected operation, but full of intention: it was not just a technological acquisition, it was a declaration of principles. Amazon not only bought technology, bought control of its future automation. Since then, the strategy was clear. Amazon began to integrate Kiva technology into its logistics centers. What was once a specialized startup in material management became the heart of a Silent transformation that has redefined how millions of orders are processed per day. At first, Kiva robots They were limited to transportr shelves with products without packing. It was a very concrete solution, designed to eliminate physically demanding and repetitive tasks. But over the years, the role of robotics was expanding. Today, robots not only move things: package, classify, raise weights, organize loads and optimize routes inside the warehouse without rest. In some centers, more than 70 robotic arms classify millions of items, fill paper bags, close cast cars and They collaborate directly to human staff. “Kiva’s purchase marked the beginning of our robotic trip,” Amazon explained. “But it was just the beginning.” And what came later shows it. Amazon has not only multiplied the number of robots in their stores. It has also diversified its catalog to form an ecosystem of specialized machines, each with very specific functions and a degree of autonomy that continues to grow. One of the most advanced systems is Sequoiaa platform that uses artificial intelligence for Manage inventory much faster. They ensure that it allows identifying and storing products 75% faster than traditional systems. It does so by displacing the items directly to storage areas or to operators located in positions designed to avoid injuries, always at the right height: between the chest and the thighs. Other mobile units work next to him Like Hercules and Titan. Both are responsible for moving complete shelves – the famous pods – to work stations. Titan, more robust, is prepared to transport more bulky and heavy objects, such as small appliances or product pallets. Both models navigate autonomously by marked soils with codes, avoid obstacles and adjust their movement in real time. In more specific tasks it appears Vulcanthe first Amazon robot With “sense of touch”. It is able to detect how much force applies to grab an object and when it has made contact, which allows you to manipulate fragile or poorly placed items without damaging them. It works especially at the highest and lowest levels of the shelves. The chain continues with Sparrowa robotic arm that identifies products, grabs them and places them in the right container thanks to computer vision and automatic learning. Then involvement systems of the packaging intervene, which provide custom paper bags for each order using sensors and thermal sealed. Robin and Cardinal are robotic arms that collect packages, detect damage and place them in cars, even when weigh up to 23 kilos. Then Proteus comes into play, the first Amazon autonomous robot, which circulates freely through the warehouse and carries those cars to the exit zone without human help. In all this deployment, there is a category of machines that continues to generate special interest: humanoid robots. What role do they have? Are they starting to integrate into logistics centers? The answer, for now, is nuanced. Amazon has begun to try them, but their presence is limited and their very specific functions. In 2023, The company announced the start of tests With Digit, a bipedo robot developed by Agility Roboticsa company in which Amazon invested through its Industrial Innovation Fund. Digit measures 1.75 meters, can transport loads of up to 16 kilos. His first task has been to help in the recycling of totes, the empty boxes that are constantly transported once their content is processed. Images | Amazon (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) In Xataka | AI as chatgpt is possible thanks to the indiscriminate use of online content. Cloudflare just said that it is over

Minoxidil looked like the great miracle medication against baldness. A pharmaceutical company financed by Google has just overcome it

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The fight against alopecia is A thriving market. The first laboratory to achieve the “miracle treatment” that manages to avoid or reverse androgenic alopecia (conventional hair loss associated with age) could take a lucrative prize comparable with the success of formulas such as Ozempic. One of the best positioned laboratories in this race seems to be Pelage Pharmaceuticals. Preliminary results. A few days ago, the Pelage Pharmaceuticals laboratory announced “positive” preliminary results in the second phase of its clinical trials of the compound PP405. According to its announcement, the formula showed a quick and statistically significant response in these trials. PP405. The compound developed by this company, pp405, is designed for topical application and with the aim of reactivating latent follicular stem cells (HFSC), thus allowing the restoration of hair growth. According to Explain the laboratorythese cells usually alternate latency and activity cycles when they work conventionally. However, with age or in response to certain external or internal stimuli, these cells can be “blocked” in the sleeping phase of this oscillation. As highlighted, this state of latency does not imply its disappearance or loss of viability. Test treatment seeks to “restore the regenerative capacity” of these follicles, which entails the recovery of capillary growth. 78 participants. Preliminary results published by the company They belong to phase 2a of clinical trials of the compound. It is a randomized and controlled study in which 78 participants, men and women with androgenic alopecia have taken part. The participants were divided between the experimental group and control group or placebo: the participants of the experimental group applied the compound in their scalp for four weeks; while the control group received a placebo. After four weeks of application, a 12 weeks were monitored to check the effects on the participants. Results. The results now presented do not correspond to those obtained after the essay but to their eighth week (after four weeks of treatment and four subsequent monitoring). The responsible team observed that among men with more advanced baldness, 31% Of these they showed a 20% increase in capillary density. They stood out for this reason the speed of the response to treatment, at least in principle faster than that observed in contemporary treatments. A crucial difference. However, the key to this treatment was in its effect on inactive follicles. The experiment showed regenerative potential both in the areas of weak growth and in the areas where the hair was no longer growing. The treatments we have in the present are useful when reinforcing growth in weakened but active follicles, not those that have already fallen in a state of latency. “These early clinical results reinforce the potential of our approach to go beyond the slowdown of the hair loss process and directly attack the hair follicle tegeneration,” pointed in a press release Christina Weng, medical director of Pelage Pharmaceuticals. A long way to go. The results are preliminary and correspond to a study conducted in a limited sample, so we will have to wait for the company to give new data on the drug evaluation process. According to the laboratorythe last stage of this process, phase 3 of clinical trials, could begin in 2026. The support of a giant. The origin of the project is in the work carried out in the last decade by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles and other institutions. According to the company, the development achieved the support of investors led by Google Ventures. In Xataka | The hair industry in Türkiye has a new enemy: a protein that protects us from baldness Image | Donald Teel

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