painting

In 1611 Brueghel the Elder painted a baroque painting full of birds and bats. Without knowing it, he was 400 years ahead of modern science

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The god Apollo crosses the firmament aboard his chariot drawn by steeds, the muse Urania shows us an armillary sphere while resting on a cloud and, in the distance, we see a cloudy sky full of birds. The painting ‘Air’, painted in the 17th century by Jan Brueghel the Elder It shows a mythological scene that served the artist to make clear his ability with brushes and colors. Now a group of Spanish researchers has confirmed which is something more: a treatise on zoology that was 400 years ahead of modern science. It turns out that Brueghel the Elder was also a skilled chiropterologist. The value of details. Beyond its composition or technical quality, something must be recognized in ‘Aire’, a allegorical painting painted around 1611 by Jan Brueghel the Elder and preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon: it is full of details. It is something that is verified with the naked eye but is (re)confirmed by observing the study of detail published by the French institution. In it we see, in addition to Urania, the central figure of the painting, an enormous number of birds. The experts have counted 60 different species. There are specimens of ostrich, turkeys, swans, flamingos, cranes, owls, chickens… and a vast etcetera of winged creatures that either rest perched on the ground or branches or cross the sky. The latter also include three species of bats, including at least one Nyctalus lasiopterus or “giant noctule”, a large bat that can reach 46 cm wingspan. Much more than art. For the vast majority of people, pieces like ‘Aire’ are basically works of art. There are, however, those who have seen something more in them: valuable (and above all graphic) clues to study the fauna of centuries ago. That is the case of Pedro Romero-Vidalan ecologist at the Doñana Biological Station (EBD), who embarked on a project to identify animals in historical paintings. When he came to Brueghel the Elder’s 1611 work, he noticed a detail that activated his instinct: “I had never seen a similar scene in any of the many paintings I had examined.” admits to ScienceNews. But what the hell is that? What caught Romero-Vidal’s attention was a detail located in the upper right margin of the painting, almost at the edge of the composition. There the artist depicted a large bat flying away from the rest of the figures. The creature that came out of the brushes of Brueghel the Elder has been there, clearly visible, since the 17th century, but when the CSIC experts analyzed it they realized something: It doesn’t fly alone. In its jaws it carries a small bird. “Pedro saw the bats and it seemed that one of them was a noctule carrying a bird in its mouth,” explains to elDiario Miguel Clavero, researcher at the Doñana Biological Station and one of the authors who sign the article (just published in PNAS) in which they report their discovery. To understand its scope, one fact must be taken into account: science did not document until well into the 21st century how noctules hunt passerine birds and are able to devour them while they fly, which makes Brueghel the Elder ahead of his time. four centuries before. As recognize EBD-CSIC itself, the painting by Brueghel the Elder reveals that “the hunting of passerine birds by nocturnal bats was already known in the 17th century, 400 years before science was able to demonstrate it.” Zoologists obtained the first “solid evidence” that Nyctalus lasiopterus They fed on small passing birds several decades ago, observing their feces. However, we had to wait until 2025 to obtain a definitive study on its behavior. That confirmation did not arrive until October and it also did so at the hands of a scientific team led by the EBD-CSCI. “He managed to demonstrate that the great noctule, the largest bat in Europe, could hunt and consume birds in mid-flight,” points out the CSICwhich recalls that researchers captured for the first time the sound of a specimen preying on a European robin during flight in Doñana. “The first direct evidence of this behavior.” Or so they believed until someone noticed a painting from 1611. Pioneering scientist… with nuances. Of course, it is one thing to capture a scene observed in nature with brushes and another, very different, to document animal behavior with 100% scientific criteria. In fact, the CSIC itself clarifies that what Brueghel the Elder shows in his painting “does not exactly coincide” with what we know today about these animals and their strategies. “Carrying it in its mouth like a raptor is unfeasible. Bats at night are guided by sound and make calls,” Elena Tena clarifies to elDiarioone of the scientists who studied this habit. “To be realistic, the bat would be holding the bird with its hind legs and bringing them forward toward its mouth.” In any case, this does not detract from the painter’s merit or from the fact (confirmed by the CSIC) that art galleries can be valuable sources for zoologists. Images | Wikipedia and EBD-CSIC In Xataka | The mere existence of donkeys has been a mystery of natural history for decades. One we have solved

Centuries ago someone thought it was a good idea to paint over a Rembrandt painting. The question is why the devil erased a man with a turban

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The fact that he has been dead for more than three and a half centuries does not prevent him from Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijnone of the great geniuses of baroque painting, continue to surprise historians. And in the most unexpected ways. In 2014, one of his youthful works appeared by surprise at an auction held in Cologne. Now, with your attribution already confirmedthe experts in charge of cleaning the canvas have had another surprise: under a subsequent layer of paint they have discovered a man with dark skin, a black beard and a large turban. It was once painted by Rembrandt himself, but someone decided to retouch the figure to turn it into a venerable old man with a white, wrinkled face, gray beard, and a traditional Dutch cap. The question is obvious: Why? Isn’t that a Rembrandt? The painting Let the children come to me It was probably painted around 1627, when Rembrandt was 21 years old. However, it did not rise to fame until almost 400 years later, well into the 21st century. To be more precise, we must go back to May 2014, when the canvas was included in an auction held in Cologne with a fuzzy business card. Its owners presented it as a piece of the “Dutch school” dating back to the mid-17th century and sold it for 1.5 million euros. It was a good pinch, but it ended in pocket change when some time later it was confirmed that in reality that anonymous 125 x 109 cm canvas (with frame) was neither more nor less than a work from Rembrandt’s youth. Recently Sotheby’s he put it up for auction again with an estimated value of between 9.3 and 14 million of euros. The work before the restoration, with the added modifications. And the (other) surprise arrived. Such a record would have been enough to give the painting a prominent place in Rembrandt’s legacy. Recently, however, Sotheby’s revealed that the canvas hid another secret. What we have seen so far was not exactly what the Leiden artist painted, but rather a version adulterated by a hand less skilled with brushes, a contemporary artist by Rembrandt. There are those who even have a name: Claes Cornelisz Moeyaert. Given that experts believe that the Dutch painter left the work “partially unfinished”, working hard on the upper part of the painting and sketching the lower part, it is understandable that someone would want to finish it. The intriguing thing is that in doing so that anonymous hand did not simply follow Rembrandt’s design. In addition to finishing the canvas, he repainted it, erasing, adding and modifying it to taste. We know this because in recent years technicians have studied the work with X-rays and have dedicated themselves to carefully eliminating overlapping layers. Does things change that much? Yes. It comes with taking a look at the photos that were released on the day of the painting and those disclosed by Sotheby’s following the last auction to prove it. The motif of the painting is the same: the biblical scene, collected in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Lucasin which Jesus uttered his famous phrase: “Let the children come to me.” If we look closely, however, differences can be seen between its status in 2014 and 2026. The elimination of the repaintings changes the color, has made some figures emerge and eliminated others. A boy in the foreground who was wearing an ocher suit now looks how Rebrandt must have seen him, with his back bare. However the most powerful alteration It is another: we now know that one of the central figures in the scene was a dark-skinned man with a turban who the artist who retouched the work completely modified, turning him into a venerable old man. For some unknown reason, the original exotic turban ended up becoming a red Dutch hat and the black beard became a long, gray beard. The work already restored and as presented by Sotheby’s. More than a detail. That detail has attracted attention of media from half the planet. And it’s normal. There are those who believe that if Rembrandt initially opted for a man with a turban, surely Muslim, it was not for an aesthetic reason. He wanted to capture what he saw in part in his own country in the 17th century, a multicultural environment, marked by religious rivalries, the coming and going of thousands of refugees and the social tensions that this generated in the streets. As remember historian Andrew Graham-Dixon, “in 1627, when Rembrandt began the painting, Leiden was going through a humanitarian crisis.” “The Thirty Years’ War was at its peak and hundreds of thousands of people arrived as refugees in the Dutch Republic,” he adds. It is estimated that in 1626 alone approximately 10,000 refugees arrived in Leiden. …and more than paint. Was that context transferred to Rembrandt’s canvas? Did you want to capture the spirit of what you saw on the streets of your city, the position that in your opinion should be maintained towards refugees arriving from other places? “It depicted a mass scene of Christ welcoming children and families. It was very controversial at the time. There were people in Leiden who did not want to receive them,” Graham-Dixon abounds. “What we gather is that Rembrandt was on the side of humanitarian aid. So I think this is more than just a painting. It’s a statement of his moral stance.” The truth is that in the work we see a crowd in which religion is represented. Jewish and Christian. “It looks familiar”. The figure wearing a turban is not the only surprise. Experts have identified in it a self-portrait of Rembrandt himself, who represented himself at the top, as a young man who appears to be looking at the scene perched on a pillar, although in reality he is looking at us. “His physiognomy is familiar to us thanks to the numerous painted self-portraits, drawings and engravings that he made over … Read more

In the midst of an extreme heat wave, the French have started painting their windows with white chalk. It makes perfect sense

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Yes, we are in 2026. Yes, there are air conditioners, very effective fansair conditioners and even paintings ultra-white (literally) with such a reflective capacity that they help refresh the surfaces on which they are applied. And yet, despite all that, in France there are people who are opting for a very simple method to withstand the heat: painting their windows with chalk. So much so that the demand for blanc de Meudona calcareous clay extracted from the quarries of Meudon, near Paris, has been shot in hardware stores. Looking for solutions at 40ºC. In the middle of the heatwave and with the Paris thermometers fooling around with 40ºCthe logical thing is that people start buying air conditioners, fans, fans and ice bags. In France, however, there is another item that has been as or even more in demand these days: the blanc de Meudona white powder made up mostly of calcium carbonate. The new toilet paper. It is so requested that a few days ago Le Parisian dedicated an extensive report in which he explains that there are craft stores that are depleting their supplies of blanc de Meudon and businesses that have run out of stock. Even people who order it online receive it late. “My wife went to all the DIY stores in Auray and couldn’t find it,” confess to Western France Philippe, a Frenchman who had no choice but to go to another town to buy white chalk. There are those who already compare their compulsive purchasing with what they experienced with toilet paper during the pandemic. @daphneblt I have tested the astuce of the blanc de Meudon 🕵🏼‍♀️🥵 Comme vous j’ai vu passer cette astuce partout sur mon fil d’actualité, although je n’arrivais pas à en trouver, tous les magasins étaient en rupture de stock 🫠 Le dosage : 1 dose of pour + 1 dose of water and form a small liquid to apply on the fenêtres to reflect the light (in théorie) ☀️ And the white of Meudon c’est de la craie donc réduire en poudre des craies ou bien utiliser de la poudre d’argile blanche c’est la même chose 👀 Mon verdict: c’est mieux que rien et je suis passée de 36/37 à 35 degrés dans mon appartement parisien sous les toits (cc Yann Barthès 🤠) orienté sud 🤔 Bon c’est mieux que rien, évidemment si vous avez des recos je suis preneuse, parler de l’aluminium qui apparemment colle aux vitres et de la couverture de survie qui visibly réchauffe les voisins d’en face 😭 Bon courage à tous et allez voter en 2027, vu l’état currentuel des choses c’est le geste avec le plus d’impact qu’on puisse faire (avec le fait de manger moins de viande 🥩) ✨🗳️ One of my first thoughts to Bernard Arnault who probably passed all the same since we are on a yacht, on a private jet, in a climatized villa or on a private island. ☠️ #responsibleconsommation #consommermieux #cunning #blancdemeudon #ecoresponsible ♬ are original – daphneblt Why’s that? He blanc de Meudon It is not a new product. On the contrary. It has always been marketed, although it is normally used in houseworksuch as cleaning cutlery or marble. Also it’s usual that merchants use it to cover their store windows during renovations. Basically the blanc de Meudon It is a calcareous material that is mixed with water to form a whitish paste with a milky texture. These two peculiarities (composition and color) have made it a popular and cheap resource to cool homes in the heat of the heat. It is not a new remedy, but in the last month it has gained followers thanks to articles and videos that sell their supposed benefits. Of course, the method is simple: the clay is mixed with water until it forms a paste and then, with the help of a brush, it is spread directly on the windows. The result is not what is called aesthetic, but its defenders say that it helps to refresh the houses. A couple of degrees less. In reality, there is little surprising about it. White surfaces are known to reflect sunlight and heat. In fact, commercial paints can cool at 1.7ºC the opposite side of the surface on which they are applied and there are researchers working on ‘ultra-white’ versions able to reflect 98% of social radiation. Some studies claim that, with an appropriate combination, daytime temperature could be reduced in more than 7.5º. @abou.addict J’ai testedé un truc à 3€ contre la chaleur, maintenant c’est en rupture partout.. Une astuce simple et qui marche partout: dès que tu as une fenêtre exposée plein sud que tu ne peux pas protéger avec des volets ou un store, le blanc de Meudon fait office de bouclier anti-chaleur. On dilute, on apply on the glass, and the remaining piece beaucoup plus fraîche. Ça marche also bien dans une école, une mairie, un bureau ou chez soi: partout où il ya du vitrage qui prend le soleil toute la journée et qu’on ne peut pas équiper autrement. On availability I posted this astuce l’an dernier et elle a fait plus de 600 000 vues, donc on la repartage avant la prochaine vague de chaleur (et pendant qu’on en trouve encore, parce que ça part en rupture de stock). #canicule #cunning blancdemeudon maisonfraîche #fraicheur ♬ âm thanh gốc – Coach sportif – Coach sportif “An excellent option”. Added to these advantages are those offered by calcium carbonate. “Chalk is primarily composed of CaCO3. It absorbs very little sunlight, even in the visible range, which gives it its white color. Additionally, it does not absorb UV radiation and very little near-infrared light, making it an excellent choice,” comment Xiangyu Li, Purdue researcher, told the BBC. On the France3 channel they assure that only covering the windows with blanc de Meudon can be earned between two and three degrees of indoor comfort. It is not the same as an air conditioner, although it is also much cheaper. … Read more

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

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

It looks like a painting, but it’s a Samsung TV with a 65-inch screen and it has one of its best prices to date

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Samsung usually launches some TVs that stand out above all in their design. We have not seen it a few times and the smart TV Samsung The Frame It is ideal for those looking for a characteristic design that can be used to decorate the house. Its price is 1,999 euros, but right now Amazon has it for 999 euros in what is the new historical minimum price of the store to date. Samsung The Frame (65 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A QLED TV with Alexa that reaches 144 Hz The Samsung The Frame (LS03F) is a smart tv which stands out mainly for its design, since more than a TV it looks like a painting. It includes a support with a double base to place it on a piece of furniture, but it can also be placed on a wall thanks to its compatibility with VESA mounts (400 x 300mm). Incorporates a 65 inch QLED screen which offers both 4K resolution and a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz. It is compatible with the format HDR10+comes with Filmmaker mode and its speakers that offer a 40W audio power (RMS) They are also compatible with Dolby Atmosin addition to Q-Symphony. On the other hand, Samsung TV comes with Alexa integrated and its operating system is Tizen, the brand’s own. It has Multi-View technology to play two contents at the same time, comes with several video game-oriented technologies, such as VRR or FreeSync Premium, and incorporates four HDMI ports (one 4K at 144 Hz), a pair of USB (USB-A and USB-C) and Bluetooth, WiFi. You may also be interested Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, Streaming device compatible with Wi-Fi 6, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and HDR10+ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Sound Bar HW-S700D/ZF 2024 – Ultra Slim Design, Wireless Dolby Atmos, Q-Symphony, 3.1 Channels and SpaceFit Sound The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Samsung In Xataka | Best home theater projectors. Which one to buy and five recommended models from 299 to 18,000 euros In Xataka | Mega-guide to set up a home theater: projector, screen, sound system and more

More and more countries in the world are painting their colored roads. The goal is the same: reduce accidents

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A road with a huge red line. Another with a green line that shines in the dark. Stripes to the sides, circles in the curves and even pedestrian crossings that have become murals. The fight to contain traffic accidents is living its own fever: the fever of painting roads and streets. And it makes a lot of sense. Really It’s about deceiving our brain. When a driver or motorist perceives that it circulates through a narrower step, he lifts his foot from the accelerator instinctively. The same happens if you approach a crossing where the entire ground has been painted to get attention. It is obvious that this narrowing does not exist. Everything is in our mind. It is proven that a vertical signal does not generate the same perception of risk as road paint. Simply because a signal is easy to ignore it but when the view detects that the ground has a lower “free” surface a signal is sent to the brain that perceives a greater risk and the driver decreases speed. The samples are multiple and are being tested with them worldwide. Of course, Spain is also doing its own tests. A generalized illusion It doesn’t matter if we talk about Spain or any other place in the world. The human being behaves the same in Scotland, the United States, Malaysia or Andalusia. We have the test that in all these places solutions are sought to a recurring problem with an equally recurring mechanism: paint the soil. Within the cities The most striking cases are found in countries where urban distribution is designed for the car (United States) or where a road crosses a town (France). Nor are the evidence in school environments or small populations where it is common to cross walking (Spain). The first example is not only a test. As rescued in BloombergNew York City implemented Asphalt Art Initiativea project to draw large murals at conflicting crosses in the city. The results have been striking, before launching the project, 50% of the pedestrians who had suffered an outrage had suffered injuries. Painting the soil, the vehicles circulated more slowly and the percentage of pedestrians that referred injuries after an outrage had been reduced to 37%. Dragon teeth on a Madrid school Reducing the speed at which it circulates is especially important in these cases, The DGT He points out that at 30 km/h, the possibility of dying in an outrage is 10% but that at 50 km/h, the risk increases to 80%. That is why the measures taken with the educational centers where in recent years have grown up of those known as “Dragon teeth” They aspire to generate the sensation of narrowing in the streets. In Spain we have other cases. El Campillo, municipality located 70 kilometers from Huelva, He is studying If painting on zebra crossings that generate a 3D perspective It can help reduce drivers. It is not a new idea, much less, it is something that has also been tested in Iceland and USA. Of course, in the latter case they received criticism from the Federal Highway Administrationwho claimed that it was simply a false security sensation for pedestrians but doubted their direct impact on specific cases. Criticism focuses on that, really, there is nothing that really prevents the driver from continuing to circulate at a high speed. However, in France they have another idea. Tired that Beuné’s journey (a town located near Angers, west of the country) was taken as a real highway, the neighbors decided to paint the streets of the municipality. And the results were positive … at least As far as your perception is concerned because they recognized not having data from whether drivers had really reduced speed. Click on the image to go to the original publication More slowly Getting drivers to raise their foot from the accelerator when passing through a town is one of the biggest problems with which a town can fight. Especially if, as in the case of This Italian peopleit is the road that starts in two the municipality. In that case, Acchetico, a town of just over 100 inhabitants, ended up installing a radar that sanctioned 58,000 drivers in 10 days. It was a desperate measure. In Spain, work has also been worked on the secondary roads, although otherwise. In recent years, those painted on the ground that generate the feeling that the lane is narrowed before reaching a town have been popularized. It is exactly the same that is used in the streets of the School Centers although in this case they are at the entrance of some municipalities such as Nava de Roa (Burgos). It is only one of the examples that the DGT has launched in recent years. In northern Madrid, road marks such as implemented in Catalonia where some circles located in the line that divides the two lanes helps the bikers draw the curves safely and remove some gas in their path. It is a pilot test that has also been implemented in other places such as Austria. In the latter case they affirm that the simple road marks of the soil has an immediate effect in the perception of the motorist. With an investment of just 3,000 euros, it was estimated that the percentage of bikers who violated the norm and entered the opposite lane was 44%. Before painting the soil, 77% exceeded their lane. Specifically, the best data was reported from the Tyrol, where accidents had been reduced by 80%. Although the clearest example of recent years in Spain has been implemented by the DGT with a red line on a secondary road in Andalusia. On the A-355 road, which connects the populations of Marbella and Cártama, Traffic has painted a huge red line with the aim of reducing accidents on one of the most dangerous roads in Spain. When the road was created in 2014, a traffic of 7,000 cars was expected, today more than 20,000 vehicles are calculated daily. … Read more

Malaysia came up with the idea of ​​painting its roads fluorescent to illuminate them at night. The problem was the price

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In February 2024 we saw that the continuous line of a good part of the A-355, one of the roads with more accidents of Spanish territory, dawned with a thick continuous red line. It was a pilot measure by the DGT to highlight the prohibition of overtaking on that road. A few weeks earlier, a similar program was developed in Malaysia: repainting the road markings of certain roads with a photoluminescent paint. Not even a year has passed and it seems that they will not continue painting. The reason? It is too expensive, which has raised the question of… and they hadn’t thought of that before? The pilot. In mid-November 2023, the Government of Malaysia advertisement the launch of a pilot program that aimed to highlight the lines of certain roads. Using photoluminescent paint with the ability to glow at night. The authorities commented that these initiatives were suitable for dark areas that lacked public lighting. The lines shine for 10 hours and, in case of heavy rain, they also give off a certain shine that helps make them more visible, allowing drivers to stay in their lane. The images leave no room for doubt: it looks much better than the traditional white line, also better than reflective indicators. The project attracted attention. Initially, only 245 meters of road were painted at one intersection, representing about 490 meters of road markings, but other states began to carry out their own tests. Almost 20 times more expensive. The problems came practically from the beginning. The Malaysian Ministry of Works already warned that they were going to be very attentive to the results of the pilot program and the ability to paint on other roads, since the price of the new paint could be a problem. And so much so that it has ended up being an inconvenience. From the Ministry of Works reported that conventional paint costs about 40 ringgit per square meter, about 8.65 euros. Photoluminescent paint costs 749 ringgit per square meter, more than 160 euros. It costs 19 times more per square meter. Putting on the brake. Despite the enthusiasm with which the population received the measure, Malaysia’s deputy labor minister, Ahmad Maslan, commented a few weeks ago that it was not likely that they would continue painting. “The cost is too high, so we probably won’t continue with glow-in-the-dark lanes,” stated. It is curious when, months before, 31 roads had been identified that could have received this type of paint. Maslan stated that the tests did not meet the expectations of the ministry’s experts, without giving further explanations. Questions and suspicions. This is part of the eternal debate about priorities, budget and security, since we must remember that the areas that were going to receive this type of paintings are wooded and lack lighting, making it dangerous to travel through them due to interactions between humans. as by the action of animals crossing each other. And, evidently, the news has raised suspicions of corruption in local mediawith users who wondered if they didn’t know all this before starting the pilot project, what are those expectations that the painting has failed to meet… and that someone will have filled their pockets with the initial contract. Images | Alexander Nanta Linggi, Bernama (Azlim Mansor) In Xataka | The Tour de France has a team dedicated exclusively to something crucial: erasing penises painted on the roads

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