passes

Artemis 2 passes its life test and clears the path to the Moon

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The mission Artemis IIwhich aims fly over the Moon againdid not have the best of luck in its rehearsals before launch due to the fuel and a hydrogen leak. But now NASA can breathe easy, since the second general test with fuel of the gigantic SLS rocket It has been a resounding success. and opens the way for humanity to return to the Moon half a century later. Without a doubt. Between February 19 and 20, 2026, engineers from the US space agency managed to complete the loading sequence of propellants without serious incidents, stopping the countdown exactly at the expected moment: T-29 seconds. The doubts about the engineering team are left behind and an imminent launch window opens that could start as early as March 6. Master hydrogen. Filling a 98-meter-high rocket with more than 2.6 million liters of superfrozen fuel is no easy task in practice. That is why in the previous test, carried out on February 3, we saw how it had to be aborted when the clock read T-5:15. And the culprit was none other than NASA’s old enemy: liquid hydrogen leaks. It must be taken into account here that liquid hydrogen is an exceptionally efficient propellant, but tremendously elusive, since it requires cryogenic temperatures of -253 °C. This extreme temperature causes the materials shrink in the rocketfacilitating escapes and increasing safety risks for the crew. Although this is what NASA found during the Artemis 1 mission in 2022. The repair. For this second attempt, NASA technicians meticulously replaced the defective seals and filters and the truth is that the move went perfectly. And during this last test, the filling was completed normally and the exhaust controls worked wonderfully. One step closer. The success of this trial is essential so that the Artemis program is not further delayed and neither is everything that will come after it. If we put ourselves in context, the Artemis mission was scheduled for September 2025, but was delayed until spring 2026 due to technical problems in the heat shield, batteries or control system of the Orion capsule. A big blot on paper that NASA needed to make up for with some success like this. When will it be released? In this way, the space agency already has its sights set on the launch window that opens from March 6 to 30the most optimal being to do it between March 6 and 11. That is why if everything follows the planned plan, the Orion capsule will be launched on a free return trajectory on a trip of approximately 10 days around the Moon, without landing on the moon. The objective. On board will be four pioneers who will take over the Apollo missions: Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen. Its mission is not only historic because it is the first manned flight of the program, but because it will serve to validate all life support systems before the main course: Artemis III. A project that has its sights set on carrying out the first manned landing on the south pole of the Moon since 1972 and, above all, overtaking competing countries such as, for example, China, which makes very significant progress in the space race. Images | POT Pedro Lastra In Xataka | NASA has managed to grow lettuce in space. What he discovered next was not part of the plan

Every minute that passes is a piece of Napoleonic jewel that will never be recovered

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From the moment it was known theft of the Napoleonic jewels Inside the Louvre in Paris, France began two parallel races where they sought to try to recover part of the loot. The first one didn’t last long. The next day he found out that he was not going to receive a single euro. by insurance because French law prevented it. The second, and more complicated, is a race against time, because every second that passes is a piece that may not be able to be recovered. A global black market. I counted this week The Wall Street Journal that the assault on the Louvre has immediately activated the semi-clandestine ecosystem through which stolen art and, in particular, historical jewels circulate: an international circuit that moves billions and that connects diamond cutting workshops in Dubai or Delhi with discreet jewelers in New York, Antwerp or Tel Aviv. The priority now is not only to recover the pieces, or those that can, but to do so before they come in on that circuit and suffer the most feared fate: being dismantled, separated from their mount and converted into anonymous gems and molten gold without a past. Jewelry is not paintings. Unlike a Picasso or a serial watch, a stolen jewel can disassemble in minutes: the gold melts, the diamond is cut, the emeralds are rearranged and historical traceability disappears. Although they lose their premium for Napoleonic symbolic value, they retain their value as raw material. The situation reinforces the incentive: the ounce of gold exceeds $4,000 after go up 60% in one year, detonating a wave of metal thefts throughout Europe. And unlike pictorial art, ancient gems lack microengravings or universal databases that allow them to be blocked from being released to the market: once split and relocated, they disappear. The method. The media counted this week that the coup combined speed and daring, but left a trail unbecoming of a professional command: the assailants used a moving elevator to access through an upper window, burst display cases with radials and fled on scooters… leaving abandoned the elevator itselfthe tools, part of the costume (work vests) and even an imperial crown from the 19th century with 1,400 diamonds and 56 emeralds. For former specialized agents, this distances the Pink Panthers profile (disciplined groups that leave no trace) and suggests a bold but technically weak team, capable of entering, but not maximizing value or minimizing exposure. What will the thieves do now? For the Journalif the museum does not pay a reward or admit negotiation, the only viable commercial path is cutting and atomization: re-cut large diamonds into smaller sizes to erase the mark, separate secondary stones easily absorbed by the gray trade and melt the gold to sell it as metal. The experts remember that a receiving network remains up to 90% of value: the thief usually receives only 10% of the legal market (the “price of silence” that is distributed among those who participate in the risk, the conversion and the shielding of concealment), but even so the black reward can be higher than that of a stolen painting, the trace of which jumps to public bases. The crux. The incentive persists because the penalties are low compared to profit and because the stolen jewel, once decomposed, leaves few traces to incriminate. Experts they propose to reclassify the looting of heritage as cultural terrorism (harnessing penalties and sending a regulatory signal). Plus: it forces museums to raise standards physical and procedural, from the control of systems such as cranes or external platforms to, as a deterrent idea, verifying the identity of visitors elevated to sensitive parts, although this clashes with the tourist experience and the flow of masses. The Louvre remained closed after the robbery, remembering that beyond the property loss there is an immediate reputational and operational cost. It only works in the shade. Everything in the jewel crime revolves around at speed: the faster they pass into the hands of cutters and smelters, the more irreversible the evidentiary damage is and the more liquid the exit to the black market. Delay, on the other hand, increases the logistical risk, multiplies leaks within the criminal chain, opens cracks for denunciations and devalues ​​the loot before it produces income. That is why the decisive race is not so much between thieves and insurers, but between stopwatches: the clock that marks how long it takes the receivers to volatilize the identity of the pieces compared to the one that measures how long it takes the State to close the perimeter and cut escape routes. The only window. If you want, the Louvre robbery embodies the Achilles heel of historical jewels: they allow a high-profile crime with a low profile outlet because their cultural identity is destructible at the will of the gangsters and its material value remains. The paradox is that an imperial loot can end up becoming in minor gems sewn into the lining of a jacket heading to an unknown jeweler before the police complete the first sweep. Thus, the only real window to rescue the assets is not in the trial, but in the very brief interval between the blow and the cuttingand once that threshold is crossed, what is stolen ceases to exist as part of history to survive only as matter. Image | Benh LIEU SONG In Xataka | No wonder the theft of jewels from the Louvre has been so easy: the museum’s security has been a disaster for more than a century In Xataka | If the question is why Napoleon’s jewels were stolen from the Louvre, the answer is simple: to break them into a thousand pieces.

Half of all the oil we need passes through two runners, and one is right now the hottest point of the planet

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We can think that overall supply chain It is solid due to the number of transport options. However, commercial networks in huge airplanes, the rail transport that China wants to boost With his new ‘Silk routeor the road transport They remain in the background if we compare it with The reliable old man: the ship. And, when we talk about oil transport worldwide, this is something that is much more evidenced. This graph prepared by Visual Capitalist It reflects it perfectly. The data. Talking about oil is talking about certain countries that brings together the bulk of reserves. However, not always the most oil is the one who produces the most (to tell Venzuela), and world trade in crude passes through a few points between Asia and the Middle East. If these funnels have any problem, the entire world will also have it because the estimated amount that moves every day is an absolute barbarity: Millions of barrels a day in 2023 Strait of Malaca 23.7 Ormuz narrow 20.9 Suez Canal 8.8 Bab el-Mandeb 8.6 Cape of Good Hope 6 Strait of Denmark 4.9 Strait of Türkiye 3.4 Panama Canal 2.1 Malaca is the big funnel. With 23.7 million barrels per day moved in 2023, you have to talk about the first name of the list: the Strait of Malaca. It is a narrow complex due to its depth and wide, but it has become the main oil transport channel in the Middle East to Japan, South Korea and, above all, China. The Asian giant is the main oil importer (Although the batteries are being put to become one of the main producers) and it is estimated that 25% of the maritime transport of crude passes through this corridor. Its location between the Peninsula of Malaysia and Sumatra makes it the shortest and, therefore economic road between the Indian and the Pacific. And is responsible for Singapore is the largest gas station in the ocean. Ormuz, the hot spot. If Malaca’s is vital for the crude that goes to Asia, that of Ormuz It is essential for the one from the great producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Arab Emirates, Kuwait or will go to the rest of the West (although a lot of production also goes to Asia). The Strait has about 167 km long and about 40 wide, but navigation routes are much narrower. Now, its peculiarity is that it has sufficient depth to allow the transit of the great oil tankers and entrepreneurships. The problem is its location. This is the only significant maritime exit (for trade) that the Persian Gulf has and, like Malaca’s, it is a strategic point that Recently it has been in the foreground due to the War between Iran, Israel and the United States actions. Fragile balance. Being the 20% output point of the oil worldwide, and also moving much of the Liquefied natural gas which is consumed in the world, a block would have deep effects on the economy and global energy dependence. The estimate is that about 20 million barrels are moved daily and, if that flow is compromised, prices HE They would shoot at levels similar to the right views after Start of the Ukraine War or in the 70’s oil crisis. In addition, other points such as Suez or Malaca They would receive more ship influxwhich would carry overloads, shipping delays and would not serve to relax the barrel price increase. And the most important thing that lets us see this map is that, although there are several critical points for oil, two of them bring together almost half of the crude oil movement of the entire planet, which implies a balance that the Geopolitical tensions They can destabilize easily. Saudi Arabia and Arab Emirates are promoting the creation of pipelines to diversify the supply routes, and in the aforementioned ‘New Silk route’ are also raised alternatives to reduce the dependence of the narrows in the oil that moves to China. But, for the moment, Malaca and Ormuz are the hottest points of oil worldwide. In Xataka | The world capital of rare earth is being made of gold thanks to them. And it is also poisoning

Every month that passes, Tesla’s breakdown is greater. And that begins to be a real problem for the company

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We begin to have sales data in European countries. The acea data will arrive in the last week of May but, little by little, we are knowing sales in the main European markets. And, once again, the data for Tesla are dramatic. It was expected. It was almost waiting. With each new quarter that begins, Tesla lowers its sales. The company has long followed a registration strategy that leads to enroll a greater number of vehicles in March, June, September and December. Consequently, January, April, July and October, when the quarter begins, pays the consequences with a good hangover. Spain. The data in our country confirms it. In January the brand already gave evident symptoms that something did not march well. Neither the Tesla Model 3 nor the Tesla Moda and sneaked into the 10 best -selling electric cars of our country which gave an idea that the company had cars stored in stock After a final push in 2024 to make up the photo of the year. Now, three months later, Tesla Model 3 loses the first position again. In March he had recovered ground (and is still the best selling car in what we have been) but the Renault 5 and Kia Ev3 They have overcome them again. Right now, Tesla is leaving in our country more than 16% fall. The damage in the case of Tesla Model 3 is lower. It is 9% compared to the accumulated of January-April of 2024 and it is not a bad figure if we take into account that the Tesla Model and is falling 25.46%. The electric SUV was its best selling car and right now it has placed almost half of the units that a model 3 in setback. Still worse. The data They are still worse Out of Spain. Our country does not cease to have a relatively small electric market, so the oscillations are more evident and represented by larger numbers. However, the fall of Tesla in the main markets are striking. In April 2025, the following falls are counted with data from Bloomberg: Sweden: -80.7% Netherlands: -73.8% Portugal: -33% France: -59.4% Germany: -46% United Kingdom: -62% In April, the company only grew in Norway and Italy. In the accumulated of the year, Tesla has fallen 60% in Germany, more than 50% in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark and the only reason why it barely falls in the United Kingdom is because They could have diverted cars from other markets with a right -hand flyer to the islands. In a very bad time. So far we have been talking about the Tesla Model and Juniper hangover. The electric SUV update has undoubtedly slowed the sales of the new car. Because the production has reduced, there is a stock of the outgoing model to which it has had to leave and because there will be clients who have waited for aesthetic update to buy the most affordable models (it arrived exclusively wearing the most expensive option). The problem is that after a year in which the electric car noticed the first symptoms of wear, Europe has put the direct With this technology. We still have no official data from the entire continent but it is palpable that the number of electric cars in what we have been over is higher than 2024. The electric car market share has gone from 12% to 15.1% in the continent and have registered 412,997 units for 333,428 last year in the first quarter. We are at a growth of 23.9%. The competition squeezes. That means that competition begins to eat ground to Elon Musk’s company. Every day that passes is market share inside the electric car that is being left in Europe. With data from the first quarter of 2024, in Europe Tesla has gone from 2.4% market share of 1.3%. A 45%drop has been left. Volkswagen It has become the Super Survents of electric cars. After many problems with a Volkswagen id His secret has been the sale of the Great Electric Berlina. But, in addition, to these sales we must add those of Skoda, Cupra and Audiwhich improves the general photography of the group. At the same time, Kia Ev3 has entered the market very force And the Renault 5 is being a sales success in these first measures of the year, especially in France. A bump? As we say, it remains to know if what we have in front of Tesla is a bump, if it is going through a bad time that will remain as mere anecdote or if it really begins to have problems to place their cars. The arrival of Tesla Model and Juniper should end these sensations but the doubts begin to emerge. Because although in our test we count that the Electric SUV of Tesla remains a product that is above Of the competition, the truth is that there are more and more alternatives that move in about 30,000 euros and there Tesla is missing. It seems urgent for the company that can put a more affordable electric car on the market. Begins to be urgent. Seen what last numbers presentedfor the company it is urgent to lift the flight. The company has opted in recent months that it would begin to generate money with its autonomous driving systems, either with Robotaxis or with Sales to third parties. A commitment to which they have not taken revenues yet. At the same time, sales figures are not being expected. For the first time, in 2024 Tesla did not sell more cars than the previous year. Start worrying about 2025, just when competition You need to sell more cars electric And we have no 25,000 euros car Not one cheaper version of the current Model 3 or Model Y. The perspectives, of course, are not the best. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | Tesla begins to discover what happens when you lose your competitive advantage: its benefits have collapsed 71%

LaLiga breaks with mediopro. Production passes to Telefónica and a Swiss giant who comes from retransmitting world

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LaLiga has closed the contest to renew its audiovisual production and has done so marking distances: Mediapro disappears after decades to the front, and enters strong HBS (Host Broadcast Services), which takes three of the five blocks offered. This Swiss company is the new person in charge of showing the world the first and second division matches during the next five seasons, which at least until 2027 will continue to be broadcast in Spain by Movistar and Dazn. This affects production. Why is it important. Production is no longer an addition, it is part of the product. In an industry that competes for global attention, how football looks is almost as important as the game itself. And LaLiga, which in this sense has been winning for years, wants to play in the same league as the Premier and the Champions. The backdrop. HBS is not new in this. It has been producing all soccer World Cups since 2002, and has worked in Champions, Eurocups and Olympic Games. His arrival in LaLiga is marked by the technical and quality approach to retransmissions, with a commitment to international standards and centralization of key services. In detail: HBS will be in charge of the production of LaLiga EA Sports and LaLiga Hypermotion (1st and 2nd division) parties, in addition to technical and centralized services. TSA (Telefónica Audiovisual Services) will deal with the contribution and distribution block, that is, to bring these signals to national and international operators. Mediapro is out of the scheme after years being the main supplier. Telefónica, which already distributes LaLiga and European competitions, reinforces its position as a sports technical infrastructure, in turn part of Its strategy of being less and less telecus and more technological. He is not the protagonist, but a key part of the ecosystem that holds the viewer’s experience. Yes, but. One of the five blocks has been deserted: the content creation. LaLiga reserves that space to integrate it with other contracts. Perhaps for wanting to have more control and flexibility about the narrative that surrounds its most valuable product. The big question. Why now? The change is part of a new stage for LaLiga: greater control, greater international projection And an answer to criticism – as those of Real Madrid– On the editorial approach of retransmissions. In fact, six years ago The White Club already broke with Midopro For these same criticisms. In Xataka | There are people paying $ 100 to see basketball matches in the cinema. The immersion is amazing Outstanding image | LaLiga

Without tolls, the AP-7 has become hell. The solution passes through speed limits of 60 km/h

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The AP-7 is known as the Mediterranean highway. It is an essential axis for Spanish traffic since it allows to circulate without interruptions between Tarragona and Alicante. And if we add their links to other roads, it allows to circulate between France and Cádiz. A road, yes, that until 2021 was marked by various tolls. Some sections, in fact, They were one of the most expensive in Spain. The road, however, is fought from the Tolls in 2021. What it was A historical claim In the area it soon became a problem. In its first year, the road saw tourism traffic increasing 40% and 80% of trucks, collected in The country. The obvious result: more jams, more accidents … and more jams accordingly. Specifically, only the first year the AP-7 concentrated 20% of the dead on the road throughout Catalonia. A figure that contrasts with the trend of the rest of the country where the deceased on the road They concentrate on secondary roads. The New free routewith France at one end and Barcelona to one of its sides, it has turned the road into a parade of merchandise vehicles. And the problem is such that since then solutions are being sought. First with a partial reduction of speed limits. An action that has arrived in 2022 and added 82 kilometers. The next step is to copy Europe. A solution to the European Since then, the AP-7 situation has not improved much. Although mortal figures have been reduced over time, only in 2024 more than 1,600 incidents on the road. The response of traffic managers has been to reduce speed. How much? It will depend on the Meteorology and traffic congestion. Because the proposal goes through a changing management of the maximum speed of the road. A solution that already applies to other roads in Europe and that can reduce the maximum allowed limit to 60 km/h. The person in charge of announcing the measure was the Minister of Interior, Núria Parlon. They point out in The newspaper that this section of variable speed will extend for 150 kilometers between Maçanet de la Selva (Girona) and the Vendrell (Tarragona). For this, panels controlled by artificial intelligence will be implemented that will limit the traffic speed based on the different circumstances that are giving. The measure takes as reference what happens, for example, In German autobahn. On these roads there is no defined speed limit. In fact, if circumstances accompany, There is no speed limit. But at nightfall, when it rains or if there are works on the road, the panels show a speed limit equal to or less than 130 km/h. The operation is exactly the same as on the German roads but the director of the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT), Ramon Lamiel, already warns in an interview with EFE: The speed can be reduced up to 60 km/h at some points. At the moment, the project is in the development phase by the Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT)who has the competitions on Catalan roads. In the second quarter of the year it should be written to be able to get it as a tender. They explain in The countrythat the intention is to deploy a progressive reduction in the maximum speed before the driver is suddenly with a bottling that forces him to reduce the speed much more drastic. Speaking to the newspaper, Lamiel insists that speed will be reduced Only in the most congested sections since they believe that the increase in accidents is derived from a greater volume of traffic and not from the danger of the road. In addition, he points out that they already proposed this measure to extend it nationwide by the roads that are the competence of the DGT but that its proposal was dismissed. The truth is that The theory says that when we circulate more slowly, traffic jams are reduced. Atasco are a sum of errors. When we circulate at a lower speed, the time to alleviate errors is greater and these are reduced. It is a matter of effectiveness and not so much speed. Traffic circulates more slowly but flows. If we circulate too fast, the braking are more abrupt, it costs more to recover a sustained speed and, little by little, we end up stucking the road. Photo | ENRIC In Wikimedia In Xataka | Catalonia has its own DGT Pegasus: Falcó is the most powerful radar in Spain and the most complicated to detect

Elon Musk has promised an autonomous car service in June. Time passes and only has a car like those of a lifetime

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“Before 2027, let me say so.” With these words, Elon Musk launched its last order: United States will enjoy a Tesla Robotaxis service operated by cars without steering wheel or pedals in less than two years. That was the great promise of the company’s CEO last October 2024 when Tesla presented her cybercab. The project cannot be more ambitious. At the moment, the only ones who had strengthened as operators were Waymo and Cruise And his work is known for operating in Some neighborhoods of San Francisco with traditional vehicles adapted to a driver without driver. Cruise, in addition, has decided to give folder To this race for the autonomous car after burning billions of dollars. The background They would shake anyone and, above all, they doubt that Tesla is able to move forward such an ambitious project in such a short time space. Despite this, Elon Musk already advanced in January that yes, that This summer We would see evidence of his Tesla Cybercab in Austin (Texas). With a steering wheel or flying, it is something that will only say time. The logical step For now, what we know is that Tesla has requested permission Transportation Charter Party to the California Public Services Commission (CPUC). This step is essential to be able to be able to be able to a fleet of vehicles that are used as a taxi service. They explain in Bloomberg That, until now, there was no record of this step although Musk had assured that he hoped to be able to put this business at the service of customers at the end of the year. That is, the first steps would take place in the Texan city of Austin and, later, in the state of California. The first step, yes, is to show that cars are safe and reliable for themselves. And, for that, they need a driver who verifies the possible problems or errors in which the system may fall. Waymo and Cruise cost them years operate in California and the latter left after star in various accidents. To reach this stadium, Tesla would have to request another permission in which its intention to work without drivers after the steering wheel is specifically collected. However, this permission has not been facilitated in California, according to internal sources to the economic newspaper and Reuters. It must also be taken into account that the process to be able to Operate in San Francisco It is slow. First you need to overcome the approval of the regulators performing tests with driver, then it could operate without them but as long as I did not charge for the service. The last step is to be able to charge for the paths. We will have to see how far the strip and loosen with the state of California (governed by the Democrats). It is a region that was willing to keep the purchase subsidies of electric cars despite The government aspires to end them. California’s answer has not only been resistance in this regard, he also wants Take Tesla of them claiming that they sell too many cars. In Texas, however, things seem to be simpler. They explain in Bloomberg That completely autonomous cars do not need special permits to circulate so that the bureaucratic steps to be given are minors. In addition, it would be necessary to wait if the figure that Elon Musk has in the Government, since the state of Texas is controlled by the Republicans but the city of Austin is governed by the Democrats. At the moment, all we have are images of the Tesla Cybercab performing tests with a steering wheel on the dashboard. It is essential for the electric car company to continue taking steps towards a future where you can make profitability to the service. A profitability that, in Musk’s words, should burn its first stage in June of this year when you should be offering “trips with self -employed cars for money”, in words used to a call with investors and published by Reuters. However, the time period given by Elon Musk is so narrow that he opens the door to doubt and think that we could be before the nth promise not fulfilled in a timely manner. Much more if we consider that the company itself is pending to receive the approval in California To be able to operate your Full self driving (Your most advanced driving aid system) without supervision, something that already Mercedes In very specific traffic circumstances. Photo | Gage Skidmore and Tesla In Xataka | Tesla unlocks in Europe one of its most advanced functions. And incidentally confirm that we will have the least autonomous tesla of all

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