people

There is a city that has scanned the faces of more than 3 million people on the street and it is not in China, but in Europe

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A few days ago a man was walking down the street when, without realizing it, a camera scanned his face. As he continued walking, a sophisticated system compared his face to a police database, sent the alert, and within minutes he was arrested. It happened in London. The city of cameras. London is one of the most surveilled cities in the world; according to some sourcesin its streets there are more than 600,000 cameras controlling everything that happens. For some years now, in addition, they have a real-time facial recognition system to identify dangerous criminals, and it seems that the system is being as effective as it is controversial. In numbers. London’s Metropolitan Police say that since the beginning of 2024 they have made 2,500 arrests, of which 2,100 are related to violent and sexual crimes against women and girls. The system scanned more than 3 million faces in one year and only generated ten false positives. During a pilot in the Croydon district at least 470,000 passers-by were scanned with only one false positive. According to the police, the result of this test was a 10.5% crime reduction. How it works. The facial recognition cameras they have installed are capable of scanning up to 5,000 faces per hour. What they do is send the data to a police operations room where an AI system, signed by the Japanese company NEC, is dedicated to compare them with the police databasewhere there are more than 17,000 registered suspects. When there is a match, an alert is issued to officers in the area so they can make the arrest. Opposition. Organizations like Big Brother Watch has carried out campaigns against this systemarguing that it risks normalizing mass surveillance in public spaces and calling the technology ‘Orwellian’. Furthermore, they strongly question its true operational profitability since, while the police boast of making an arrest every 35 minutes, they warn that these statistics hide the enormous number of hours of the agents and the immense logistical resources that the system requires on the streets, diverting efforts from traditional and more proportionate police work. The debate has intensified after the unprecedented use of the system in a political protest in London. Big Brother Watch took the case to the High Court, but it ruled in favor of the legality of the technology, paving the way for its expansion. In favor. Despite opposition from some organizations, according to Police Director Lindsey Chiswick, the technology is “revolutionary” and completely secure, stressing that the biometric data of those who do not match the list of suspects are immediately destroyed. There are also fears that the algorithm discriminates based on race, but the police hide behind the fact that the tests carried out concluded that the system is accurate and does not present ethnic or gender biases. According to Chiswick, citizen support is around 80% in surveys. Image | Levi Meir ClancyUnsplash In Xataka | Concern over mass video surveillance has created a new product: anti-facial recognition glasses

They have measured the brain age of people who usually meditate. The result is that he looks six years younger

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The age reflected on our identity card does not always coincide with the real age of our organs. In the field of neuroscience, the “brain age” has become a fascinating biomarker to understand how our nervous system ages and what factors can protect it. And now meditation seems to have a fundamental role in delaying this clock at least during our rest hours. A new study published in the magazine Mindfulness has found that people who practice meditation At an advanced level they have a “brain age” during sleep that is almost six years lower than their chronological age. A striking fact that opens doors in the study of neuroplasticity and the role that this habit can have in the lives of many people. Although logically we must move away from the idea of ​​suffering a miraculous “rejuvenation” How it has been seen. To understand the finding, we must first understand how this “brain age” is measured, and here the researchers did not use MRIs to see the size of the brain, but instead analyzed the electrical activity through electroencephalograms (EEG) during sleep. Its evolution. Something that is known is that, as we age, the brain waves we produce when sleeping change in predictable ways. Under this pretext, algorithms have been used to calculate a “brain age index” based on these electrical patterns. With these data, if the brain produces waves typical of someone of a similar age, the index is similar to zero, but if waves are produced from someone older, the index is positive. The method. The research team evaluated 34 people who meditate at an advanced level, belonging to the discipline Inner Engineering with an average age of 38 yearsand compared their sleep records with those of several control groups who did not meditate. The result here was that people who usually meditate showed an index that corresponded to people six years younger. That is, their brains, electrically speaking and while sleeping, behaved like those of people almost six years younger, while the control groups showed values ​​close to zero or slightly positive. One more biomarker. The findings fit like one more piece in a scientific puzzle that has been years in the making. Previous research already pointed to global changes in the EEG spectrum and greater neuroplasticity, and it was even seen that regular meditation caused an increase in brain gray matter and a possible neuroprotective effect. However, from a clinical standpoint, it is critical not to confuse an EEG marker with literal rejuvenation. The fact that the brain shows younger electrical patterns at night is an excellent biological indicator of brain health, but this study does not clinically prove that meditation is a proven tool for reversing cognitive decline. You have to be cautious. In this case it cannot be categorically stated that meditating rejuvenates the brain because there may be other factors that have not been measured. We must also keep in mind that we are dealing with a study on only 34 people, so the sample should be increased with the aim of extrapolating it to the entire population. Images | Drazen Zigic in Magnific In Xataka | The best 18 meditation, relaxation and mindfulness applications to have better mental health

Separations between people over 50 are growing. And there are two words that explain it: gray divorce

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The term may be striking, but one thing must be recognized: it does not leave much room for misunderstanding. The “gray divorces” They are neither more nor less than that, separations carried out by couples with gray hair, spouses who are over 50 years old and often have been married for several decades. Until not long ago they were a relatively strange phenomenon; But as the population pyramid widened at its upper end and society changed, they have gained weight. So much, in fact, that there are already experts investigating its causes to understand them better. New times, new trends. Divorces with last name. There is nothing written about love. About heartbreak, either. There are those who end their marriages just a few years after saying “I do”, those who do so after decades and those who sign the divorce papers after the age of 60, when both spouses have gray hair. Sociologists and academics specialized in demographic phenomena have even given the latter a name: “gray divorces”. The term is not entirely new. In 2004 I used it and to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and in 2012 researchers from the Bowling Green State University They even spoke of a “gray divorce revolution”, but since then it has attracted the attention of more and more experts. Today the expression is replicated in a good number of essaysincluding a extensive article published in 2024 in Sage Journal and that seeks to investigate its causes. A rising phenomenon. It takes reviewing some figures to understand that interest. In the US, the divorce rate among adults at least 50 years old has more than duplicate in a matter of two decades to the point that in 2010 almost 25% of separations could be considered “gray divorces”. Some experts have detected that their incidence has stabilized over the last decade or that they have even decreased after the pandemic, but still almost 40% of the people who decided to dissolve their marriages in the US in 2022 were still over 50 years old. Beyond the USA. The phenomenon is not exclusive to the US. The INE also leaves some brush strokes interesting about what is happening in Spain. For example, almost a third (31.8%) of divorces made official in 2024 were carried out by couples who had been married for at least two decades. Another key fact is that, although the highest number of separations occurs between spouses who are in their forties (40 to 49 years old), the average age at which they decide to follow different paths has not stopped growing in recent years until it is approaching 50. Among men it is already close to 49 years old. In general, the INE estimates that over the last three decades, senior divorces, between couples over 50, have skyrocketed by around 40%. Accented from 65 onwards. “Divorce in old age is increasing in the Western world, even in family-oriented societies like Israel, in which the most common family status for older adults, aged 60 or over, is to be in a long-term heterosexual marriage with adult children,” a group of researchers from the University of Haifa reflected a few months ago in an article focused precisely on the drift and causes of gray divorces. In their analysis, they also see a particularly marked increase among couples with members who are 65 or even older. Average age of spouses at divorce (YEARS) Women Men 2015 43.8 46.3 2016 44.2 46.7 2017 44.8 47.2 2018 45.2 47.6 2019 45.5 47.9 2020 45.6 48.2 2021 45.5 47.8 2022 45.9 48.4 2023 46.2 48.7 2024 46.6 49 And why do they separate? The big question. And there is no single answer. The first and obvious thing is that not only those who get divorced have changed; society itself has done it, increasingly older in regions like Europe or the US. Considering that the average age of Americans has gone growing gradually since the 1970s or that the population over 64 years of age hasn’t stopped to gain weight, it makes sense that there are also more and more divorces involving couples who have blown out all 50 candles. life expectancy has been stretched Furthermore, which broadens the life horizon of couples. “Your ability to enjoy has improved”. “In these societies, older adults enjoy relatively good health and functioning, and these conditions have improved their ability to enjoy life,” they add the Halifa researchers, who point both to the transformations of the population pyramid and at the cultural and social level. “Later-life divorce is increasing due to changes in marital and family structures and demographic trends.” Although that is the general framework, there are those who appreciate important nuances. After observing a slight drop in divorce rates among couples aged 50 to 60 from 2022, a study Recent research from Bowling Green State University raises an interesting reflection: gray divorces could be “largely” a phenomenon associated with couples Baby Boomersformed by spouses born around the middle of the 20th century. One process, two phases. During your studio Researchers at the University of Halifa discovered something else: they concluded that divorces that occur after the age of 50 or even in old age are usually the result of a “complex” and long process, lasting several years, during which two well-differentiated phases can be identified. “The first, continuous and prolonged, is that of staying together despite the distance. The second captures the moment of the final decision to separate, with a point of no return or inflection and several accelerating factors in the background.” The experts too have identified two large layers in divorces between older couples: the “interpersonal” and the “demographic”, such as increased life expectancy. Of the two, the most curious are the first, since – the researchers highlight – they do not differ much from the reasons that lead younger couples to break up: distancing, infidelities, health or financial problems, poor communication, behavioral changes or an imbalance of roles in the home. Second … Read more

Spain has broken records in youth employment. The bad news is that one in three unemployed people is already over 50 years old

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Unemployment in Spain has been chaining months of good news. In April, the number of unemployed fell to 2,357,044 people, falling below 2.4 million for the first time since June 2008. The story, seen from afar, is that of a labor market that has finally left its worst unemployment figures behind. However, that story has a blind spot. When the data is broken down by age, the initial optimism gives way to reality: the labor market is improving, yes, but not for everyone equally. The workers over 45 years they continue to fall behind, and the latest data of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) confirm it. Senior unemployment is close to 60% of the total. Of the slightly less than 2.35 million unemployed counted in April 2026 in Spain, 1,376,550 unemployed were 45 years old. This represents 58.4% of all registered unemployment. In other words, six out of ten unemployed They are over 45 years old. The bad news doesn’t end there. Within this group of people over 45, one in three unemployed people is already over 50 years old. To put into perspective what that percentage implies, we must compare it with what happened in the same month among those under 25 years of age. Youth unemployment has improved its percentages with a drop of 10.2%, with 19,284 fewer young people on the SEPE lists. If we return to the data for those over 45 years of age, we find that only 19,990 people in this age group they found a job, but in this case the decrease has only meant a drop of 1.43%. That is, given the progressive aging of the active population in Spain, those over 45 years of age are the largest group, so although the number of people who have found employment are very similar, the weight as a whole is very different. Less unemployed, but more chronic unemployment. At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the segment of those over 55 years of age was close to 4.93 million employed people. This represents 22% of all workers in the country, with 242,500 more people than a year before. These are figures that reflect that, on the one hand, the active population is increasingly older and, on the other hand, he is retiring later and remains in the labor market for longer. The second bad news for those over 45 years of age is that those who lose their job at that age have enormous difficulties in recovering it. In March 2026, those under 25 years of age signed 308,094 contracts, compared to the 367,204 signed by the group over 45, which doubles the percentage of the active population in number. That leaves us with one conclusion: senior hiring is proportionally tiny. He Labor Market Report for People over 45 years of age 2026 prepared by the SEPE, indicates that this group will exceed 11 million employed during 2025, more than 50% of the total number of workers. Even so, this massive presence in existing employment does not translate into the same rate of access to new opportunities. This is an indicator that the barriers to the reintegration of those over 45 into the labor market continue to be insurmountable. once you lose your job. Proof of this is that 53% of the 755,500 unemployed people over 50 have been looking for a job for more than a year without finding it. Youth unemployment breaks its own record. The scenario for those under 25 years of age is diametrically opposite. unemployment among those under 25 years of age It closed April 2026 at 24.53% with a total of 169,693 people, the lowest figure in the entire SEPE historical series. In year-on-year terms, it represents a drop of 14.2% compared to April of last year, when there were 197,674 young people unemployed. A decade ago, in 2015, the youth unemployment rate in Spain stood at 44.4%. This sustained decline has no equivalent in any other age group, which makes youth employment one of the great successes of the Spanish labor market in recent years. In aging it is a determining factor. As the data show, age defines large differences in the impact of unemployment between the different segments of the active population, but this differentiation also means that unemployment punishes some communities more than others, with a special impact on emptied Spainwhere young people have moved to the large industrial hubs. By province, Zamora stands out strikingly because more than 62% of its unemployed are over 45 years old. Pontevedra and La Coruña also present very aging unemployment structures. In Xataka | There is a man who has been working for the same company for 85 years. And he has no plans to retire. Image | Unsplash (Hasan Mrad)

Many people wake up between two and three in the morning. And science already knows what they have in common

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Waking up in the middle of the night can be a pleasant experience when we look at the clock and see that we still have several hours of sleep left. dream. However, for many people it can become a frustrating routine that reduces their ability to achieve restful sleep. It is therefore likely that people may wonder why this happens and to what extent it can be prevented. Many things can wake us from our sleep at night. From a mosquito stalking our bed to serious cases of insomnia. Each circumstance may have its particular characteristics, but in any case, a significant part of the population ends up waking up at some point during the night with some frequency. And why does it happen? Beyond the external factors, there are two internal processes related to this. The first is the circadian rhythm, and the second is the sleep cycle. The circadian rhythm refers to “biological clock“which tells us the sleep and wake cycles. It is a collection of biological processes that activates us throughout the day and prepares us for sleep in the afternoon and night. It does so through substances such as melatoninthe “sleep hormone” that transmits this information between different parts of our brain. Our body takes advantage the light we perceive as an indicator of when to secrete melatonin or not. The sleep cycle, for its part, refers to a series of stages that occur and repeat throughout our daily sleep. A night of sleep has between four and six sleep cycles, each with four stages: a REM (rapid eye movement) stage; and three non-REM stages, each deeper than the last. Although the cycles are repeated in their structure, each of the four phases can have greater or lesser presence in each cycle. In the first cycles, the deeper stages predominate. That is why from the first hours of sleep it is easier to wake up and more difficult to fall asleep again. However, there are numerous factors that can affect how often we wake up at night more or less frequently. It is about both internal and external circumstances that can affect our circadian rhythm or our sleep cycle. The age It is one of the main factors. Over time our circadian rhythms changejust like our need for sleep. Age is a determining factor to the point that older people can have their sleep interrupted up to four times a night. The menopause It can also affect our ability to sleep straight through (as well as pregnancy). Age is also linked to nocturiathe interruption of sleep caused by the need to go to the bathroom. Our psychological state can also affect. Stress, as well as disorders related to anxiety either depression They can have a negative effect on our quality of sleep. This is bad news if we take into account that poor sleep quality can aggravate these problemswhich has the potential to generate a vicious cycle. From a mild headache to chronic painphysical pain can also affect our sleep. Like some medications such as beta-blockerscorticosteroids, antidepressants or diuretics They can negatively affect our sleep. How to avoid interruptions Understanding the causes of our sleep problems can serve as the first step to solving them. Adapting to changes in our body can be complicated, but some general guidelines They can also be useful. Guidelines such as correct “sleep hygiene”. Something that can help us is to introduce changes to our schedule. The usual recommendations in this regard usually begin by maintaining regular schedules, going to bed at “prudential” hours, that is, ones that allow us to achieve the recommended seven or eight hours of sleep. Another habit change can happen eliminate nap. Napping can negatively affect our night’s sleep. However, in this sense, science tends to consider that the differences between individuals are high, so there may be important differences from person to person. Another important guideline is to avoid screens or other blue lights in the last hours of the day. Physical activity can also help, although it is usually recommended not to leave it until the last hours of the day. That is, not exercising before going to bed. Eliminating alcohol and tobacco in our daily lives can also help us improve our sleep. Many of the techniques that aim to help us sleep are relaxation techniques. These can also help us so that sleep interruptions do not result in hours of lost sleep. “Empty” our thoughts in a notebook before going to bed, controlling our breathing… these are ways to prevent our stress from affecting our sleep. Lack of sleep and rest has important effects on our physical health and our mood. It is not surprising therefore that it is an issue that worries Spaniards more and more, to the point of becoming one of the countries with increased drug consumption to sleep like benzodiazepines. Like any other health problem, many times treating it is not in our hands but rather health experts must be the ones to tell us the appropriate guidelines to solve our problem. Of course, taking the first steps towards a better dream is still in our hands. In Xataka | There are people who sleep four hours a day and are still functional. It’s the closest thing we have to genetic “superheroes” In Xataka | Drink water right before going to sleep? Science has finally clarified whether it is a good idea or a terrible enemy of sleep Image | Mathieu Bigard *An earlier version of this article was published in May 2023

Anxious people get sick less because their brain detects risks before the rest

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There is a deeply rooted stereotype in our society: the anxious person, the one who worries about everything, the one who checks their symptoms on the internet at three in the morning, is condemned to live less. We tend to think that constant stress, that label of being the “pussy” or the “anxious” of the group, is a one-way ticket to physical and mental exhaustion. However, science has given a fascinating twist to this belief. What if living in a state of alert was not a factory defect, but a sophisticated survival mechanism? Psychology and medicine have begun to discover an extraordinary paradox: always being on alert has a hidden reward. Certain levels of anxiety and constant worry make people less sick from serious ailments, simply because their brain works as an anticipatory radar that detects risks long before the rest of us, allowing them to dodge bullets that the most “relaxed” do not even see coming. The dual nature of neuroticism For decades, the medical community has warned about the dangers of neuroticismdefining it as the general tendency of an individual to experience negative emotions such as worry, depression, irritability and emotional instability. Traditionally, it has been associated with a greater susceptibility to physical and mental disorders, a lower quality of life and, epidemiologically, with a higher risk of mortality. However, as explained in an article published in the scientific journal Science Bulletinwe were missing half the movie by ignoring the evolutionary perspective. From this point of view, having minimal reactions to threatening stimuli—that is, being an extremely relaxed person or with very low neuroticism—is generally not advantageous for survival. To mitigate risks and ensure survival, both animals and our human ancestors needed automatic responses to immediate and future threats. This biological need manifests itself through adaptive emotions such as fear and its anticipatory form: anxiety. The study even rescues an ancient Chinese proverb that perfectly summarizes this philosophy of survival: “Life springs from pain and calamity; death comes from ease and pleasure.” Thus, scientists propose that neuroticism is a paradox. It has evolved in different dimensions to adapt to ecological and cultural changes, influencing our lifestyle in very diverse ways. The claim of the worried We all know someone who is hypersensitive to environmental risks, or perhaps we ourselves suffer from that constant worry about health, the future or security. This new scientific approach offers gigantic emotional validation: that anxiety is not necessarily a weakness, but rather an ancient protective shield. Understanding this changes the rules of the game. It shows us that channeling this hypervigilance well translates into tangible benefits. That inner voice that forces you to go to the doctor when you notice a strange mole, the one that makes you put on your seat belt without thinking or the one that stops you from making a reckless decision, is the evolutionary legacy of your ancestors keeping you alive. But this is not just an abstract evolutionary theory; Clinical data are already demonstrating this. To understand how anxiety saves our lives, we have to look under the hood of personality. Recent large-scale research, such as the macro study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychologyhave shown after analyzing more than half a million people that our personality traits are a key driver that directly impacts our mortality risk. Going one step further to break down which parts of that personality protect us, an exhaustive meta-analysis published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research analyzed longitudinal data from six studies with 335,715 participants. Their conclusion was blunt: putting all anxiety and neuroticism in the same bag masks vital relationships between personality and health. Researchers found that neuroticism has different “facets,” and not all of them are bad. While traits such as pessimism or cynicism increase the risk of mortality, there are other dimensions that act as real life jackets. The survival mechanism has two aspects: The “Worried-Vulnerable” facet: Data revealed that people with high scores on this dimension have a reduced risk of dying from all causes, highlighting significant reductions in mortality from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases. As explained in the studyWorried people tend to be extremely vigilant about their health care. They become concerned at the slightest symptom and seek medical help much sooner, resulting in early diagnoses and life-saving treatments. The “Inadequacy” facet: Characterized by shyness and the feeling of incompetence in the face of adversity, surprisingly also reduces mortality. The key here is danger avoidance: these people are much more cautious and less likely to expose themselves to cumulative risks over time. On the contrary, the study confirm that the destructive facets are cynicism and pessimism, since these individuals tend to abandon themselves, smoke more and, above all, underuse health care services. The reward comes with age If youth and early adulthood are the battlefield where our “threat radar” (neuroticism) works overtime to keep us alive, old age is the time to reap the rewards. There is a false belief that older people become grumpy or rigid. However, the psychology has been demonstrating for decades that aging is, in reality, a process of psychological refinement. Based on the theory of the big five personality traits (Big Five), it has been observed that the passage of time sculpts us for the better. After the age of 60, an astonishing positive evolution occurs. Conscientiousness increases (we become more responsible and focused), kindness increases and, most importantly in this context, neuroticism drops dramatically. The emotional storms of youth and that constant hypervigilance that protected us from danger give way to profound emotional regulation and calm. The human brain appears to be programmed to prioritize stability and social cohesion as we age. Furthermore, current research shows a clear “advantage boomer“. Those born between 1946 and 1964 are aging better than their predecessors, maintaining high levels of extraversion, curiosity and personal agency. Reports like the Mental State of the World by Sapien Labs reflect a generation gap where those over 65 and 70 years old … Read more

the day Naples rejected a Boeing 787 with 200 people on board because it would not enter the airport

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It hasn’t been long since dawn and the passengers are stretching one day in June 2025 thousands of meters above sea level. They left Philadelphia last night and are about to land in Naples. They are about to discover that, whether they slept better or worse, they are going to have a bad awakening. And when they approach eight hours into the trip and already see the Italian coast on the screens in their seats, a voice informs them that they will not land in Naples. There is not much to fear, everything is in order. All. Except for a small bureaucratic error that is currently diverting them to Rome. They will probably find out about that later. All they know is that their flight from Philadelphia to Naples has had to be diverted. And this time it was not due to a breakdown, a storm or a health emergency. The reason is simple: the plane is too big to land in Naples. Two meters, specifically. Two meters that no one noticed The Philadelphia-Naples route operated by American Airlines is a very good option if you want to travel from the United States to Italy and do not have the need to go through the large airports of New York or Rome. It also has the advantage that it flies at night, which makes it easier to deal with jet lag. Encouragement that, surely, was appreciated by the 231 passengers who had to travel on a Boeing 787-8, according to C.B.S.. However, that day, the airline could have put someone else on board. And, for operational reasons, American Airlines used a Boeing 787-9 On that trip June 3, 2025, a plane slightly larger and with greater capacity than usual on a route that It has been operating since 2024. The aircraft are almost carbon copies. Of course, a Boeing 787-8 measures 57 meters long but the 787-9 already extends to 63 meters long. A difference that has implications beyond the number of passengers. And, according to air safety regulations, a Boeing 787-8 can land in RFFS Category 8 airports (Rescue and Fire Fighting Services) or higher. But a Boeing 787-9 does not have it so easy, it needs to do it at airports in Category 9 RFFS. The difference is small but it is substantial. A Category 8 RFFS airport can accommodate aircraft up to 61 meters long. Yes, two meters shorter than the Boeing 787-9. And you can imagine what category Naples airport has. Indeed, about 70 miles awaythe American Airlines flight asks for a runway in Naples but from the control tower someone realizes the problem: the aircraft is not the same as always. For logistical reasons, the airline was using this second, larger version of the Boeing 787 and therefore exceeded the maximum permitted limit of 61 meters. No one in the company updated the documentation or notified of the change. Technically the problem is not in the size of the trackthe problem is in the security measures. And Naples is not prepared to deal with a possible incident involving a plane of this size. Airport categories are not only classified based on the size of the runway, but also take into account their ability to accommodate emergency and firefighting services. From the control tower they see it clearly, there is no choice but to warn the pilots: they must land in Roma Fuimicino. The capital’s airport is the closest airfield where flights the size of a Boeing 787-9 can land and is therefore where the passengers were ultimately taken. From there, they were finally transferred by bus to Naples, a trip that takes between two and three hours. A lesser evil for a problem that would have been much more serious if the aircraft had had a problem when landing. Photo | Dominic Bieri and Flightware In Xataka | The inevitable increase in air travel is leading us to a reality: there are no places, no planes, no planet for so many tourists.

their young people remarry

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It is not very clear how it has done it and if it is something specific (the result of the post-pandemic hangover) or a change in trend that will be consolidated over time, but South Korea has achieved something that until recently sounded almost unthinkable: increasing marriages between young people. Their latest statistics show that, after years in free fall, relationships between men and women in their twenties or who have not yet turned 35 are increasing. It is a fundamental fact for the country because, although the mentality of young people is changing little by littlein conservative South Korean society, marriage and birth rates remain closely linked: it is estimated that something less than 5% of births occur outside of marriage. Young people at the altar? The tables from Statistics Korea are clear: after a decade of decline, relationships involving young people (both boys and girls) in their twenties have begun to rise. Also among South Koreans in their early thirties. If we talk about women, in 2015 the statistical observatory accounted 109,300 links in which girls between 25 and 29 years old participated. In 2023 that figure had plummeted by 49%, until it stood at 55,700. In 2024 the curve reversed with 64,300 marriages and in 2025 the increase was consolidated with 69,300. In the case of men the ‘photo’ It’s very similar. Between 2015 and 2023, unions involving young people in their twenties (25-29 years old) plummeted by 44%, from 67,100 to 34,600. However, in 2024 the number of marriages in that age group rose to 39,800 and last year the growth was consolidated with another 42,500 unions. The same happened with young adults between 30 and 34 years old: since 2022 they have risen by just over 40%, a trend that is again seen among both men and women. Why is it important? Beyond what these data can tell us about the way of thinking of young South Koreans or the cultural changes that the country is going through, marriage statistics are relevant because they are closely connected to birth rates. And the latter are key in a nation that has spent decades mired in a demographic catastrophe who threatens to boycott his economysocial balance and even national security and that only now seems (seems) to be reversing. It is estimated that in 2022 only 2% of babies born in South Korea were born out of wedlock. Other statistics They approximate the data to 5%but in any case they give an idea of ​​how unwilling South Koreans are to become parents without having made their relationship official. In 2024 Statistics Korea published a survey conducted among young people in which it explored precisely this issue and reached an interesting conclusion: although more and more people support having children outside of marriage, less than half of the population (42.8%) sees it as ‘acceptable’. That does not mean that the number of babies born to single parents has grown little by little, going from 6,900 in 2020 to around 9,800 in 2022. What is the change due to? The million dollar question. To begin with, there is an important fact: in South Korea not only do weddings seem to be increasing among twenty-somethings. They do it in general. Official statistics show that in 2025 they will be registered in the country 240,000 linksdoubly good information. Sample an increase of 8.1% compared to 2024 and above all it represents the third year of sustained growth, breaking with more than a decade of declines. Statistics Korea figures show In any case, a good part of those relationships involved brides or grooms who had not yet blown out the 30 candles. Why this interest? There are those who believe that to a large extent this wedding boom is basically explained by the pandemic, a phenomenon that has occurred in many other countries. Those who wanted to walk down the aisle in 2020, 2021 or even 2022 had no choice but to postpone their wedding plans, which explains why this ‘pocketed demand’ has begun to be released in the last three years. Another key factor is what experts call ‘demographic echo’: Today there are more South Koreans around 30 years old getting married basically because there are more South Koreans around that age, the echo boomers. But that doesn’t explain everything, right? No. The pandemic or the shape of the demographic pyramid may explain why weddings are generally increasing in South Korea, but it does not fully clarify why twenty- and thirty-somethings decide to walk down the aisle. Throughout the last half months as Korea Times, Korean Herald either The Straits Times They have tried to clarify this point and have mainly introduced two ideas: a change in mentality and the search for greater stability thanks to the combination of salaries. It is not the only factor, of course. Studies suggest that young people are also changing their conception of marriage, which little by little stops being seen as a social imposition or an institution that restricts individual freedom. In fact, even though the voluntary singlehood movement has arrived to South Korea, there are studies that suggest that young people seem to show more interest for weddings. Is everything perfect? No. Beyond the social trends that may occur naturally, it is undeniable that the State has been deploying measures designed to promote birth and the creation of couples. In fact Korea Times slide an important key: government support for newly married couples, especially in terms of housing. According to the media, in 2025, 39,121 public rental applications were submitted for couples who had just said ‘I do’. Not bad at all if you take into account that they were fighting for an offer of 1,686 homes, which leaves a rate of 23.2 candidates for each accommodation. In certain areas of the country this figure skyrockets to exceed one hundred requests per apartment. There is another important fact and that is that, whether there are more or fewer weddings, in general terms … Read more

There are people very angry about the inaccuracies in Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’. But not because of the uniforms: because of the diversity

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The most expensive and ambitious film of the summer of 2026, ‘The Odyssey’ by Christopher Nolanhas generated a controversy that already sounds old, but that the conservative factions of the Internet never tire of recovering again and again. The African-American Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and, possibly, the trans actor Elliot Page as the Ghost of Achilles are two casting choices that have defenders of fidelity to the original text infuriated. Delivery and delivery. The first film of Nolan’s career shot entirely on 70mm IMAX cameras hits theaters on July 17. Nolan, very cleverly, announced his casting practically in full (Matt Damon is Odysseus, Anne Hathaway is Penelope, Tom Holland is Telemachus, Zendaya is Athena, Charlize Theron is Calypso, Jon Bernthal is Menelaus, Benny Safdie is Agamemnon and Robert Pattinson is Antinous) and left out two additions that he knew would make a certain part of the internet up in arms. Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy has been announced later, and Elliot Page as the Ghost of Achilles has not yet been officially confirmed. The rich cry too. The negative reaction came, in large part, from X, with Elon Musk as the main amplifier. The owner of the platform accused Nolan of having chosen these actors to satisfy the diversity quotas of the Hollywood Academy, summarizing his thesis with the phrase “He wants the awards“(He wants the prizes). Kevin Sorbo, known for playing Hercules in the 1990s television series (not exactly the best example of adapting classic myths faithful to the sources) joined the criticism. According to has been countedare recurring themes in Musk’s speech, who, for example, published content alluding to racial theories or anti-immigration conspiracies on 26 of the 31 days of January 2026. We have already seen it. We have seen this reaction on numerous occasions, always from the same sector of the public, and always criticizing casting choices to make it diverse. Disney has suffered it with the latest versions of ‘Snow White’ and ‘The Little Mermaid‘, he made a considerable mess with ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘ and his racialized elves. And the Star Wars universe has been enduring these criticisms since the premiere of ‘The Force Awakens’. Troy, bad example. The film that Musk and a good part of his followers invoke as a counterpoint is ‘Troy’, Wolfgang Petersen’s peplum starring Brad Pitt that was released in 2004. There were those who did direct comparisons between Petersen’s version and Nolan’s. But there are countless problems here. ‘Troy’ adapts ‘The Iliad’, not ‘The Odyssey’, and does so very loosely: Patroclus becomes Achilles’ cousin rather than his companion; Briseis kills Agamemnon, destroying the ‘Oresteia’ in the process; Andromache and Astyanax flee through a system of tunnels; compresses a ten-year war into a few weeks; and completely eliminates the Olympian gods. About the Oscars. The most widespread accusation is that Nolan is diversifying the cast to meet the Academy representation and inclusion standardsapproved in 2020 and effective from 2024. The reasoning seems solid at first glance. But the Academy system works differently: a film has to meet two of four possible standards. Standard A refers to the cast, but standards B, C and D cover the creative team, distributor training programs and the composition of the marketing teams. It is perfectly possible to meet the criteria with Caucasian actors. And there is one’s ownOppenheimer‘ (entirely white cast, seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director) to prove it. How did he get it? Its costume designer, production director, editor and makeup manager were women; Universal, the distributor, has scholarship programs and marketing managers from underrepresented groups, including a woman as president (Donna Langley) and a black man as head of domestic marketing (Dwight Caines). That accusation falls by itself. Nolan’s response. The director, without needing to mention Musk’s tears, alluded to the controversy in an interview. Nolan defended the historical rigor of the production (including the blackened Mycenaean bronze of the armor, which some users had compared to Batman’s suit) and justified the casting of rapper Travis Scott as an aedo with an argument of artistic coherence: he wanted to emphasize that ‘The Odyssey’ was transmitted as oral poetry, and that rap is the contemporary equivalent of that tradition. The intention, according to the director, is not that the public agrees with each decision, but rather that they do not think that the material has been taken lightly. In Xataka | “It’s not completely understood”: Christopher Nolan admits the harsh reality about ‘Tenet’ and proposes a solution

In 2026 we are hooked on mobile. In 1929 people were alarmed by the “addiction” to crossword puzzles

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At a time when heroin and cocaine were legal tender, activists, journalists and legislators decided that what was really worrying, what was really was destroying western civilization They were crossword puzzles. Yes, as it sounds: crossword puzzles. Yesterday’s moral panics. Thanks to Jose César Peralesone of the country’s leading addiction neuroscience experts, we come to what is likely to become my favorite case of “moral panic”: the newspaper’s anti-hobby movements. Although I would have to search the monumental “Verbalia” of Marius Serra To confirm this, popular wisdom tells us that this evolution of magic square What we know today as a crossword puzzle was invented in 1913 by the English journalist, Arthur Wynne, while working on the ‘Fun’ supplement of the ‘New York World’ newspaper. where does it come from. The success of the hobby was spectacular and throughout the decade newspapers around the world incorporated it into their pages. In 1922, comic strips about people doing crossword puzzles were already circulating, and in 1924, the New York Library assured that “the latest fad to hit libraries is the crossword puzzle” complaining bitterly that “puzzle fanatics” monopolized “dictionaries and encyclopedias scaring away readers and students who need these books in their daily work.” Popularization. That library report was not something isolated. In fact, during 1924, voices of alarm against the threat posed by crossword puzzles became increasingly popular. That year, as the Harrisburg Telegraph stated“professors at the University of Michigan had banned crossword puzzles in their classes.” “Crossword addiction”. Concerned about crossword puzzle fever, the Kingsport Times-News, a Tennessee newspaper, denounced that “if legislators have acquired the habit, as they presumably have, it is difficult to see how they will find time to legislate” and lamented that “opposition to crossword puzzle addiction had not yet been organized”, although they were convinced that it would soon do so. After all, until now he had only “interfered with relatively unimportant matters”, but as the addiction grew the problems would increase. It sounds familiar to us. I have no doubt, As Perales himself pointed outthat opposition to crossword puzzles was nothing more than a “hobby” in those wonderful 1920s that blew up after the crash of ’29. That is to say, to the chagrin of the Kingsport Times-News columnist, that anti-puzzle movement was never organized (or turned into a lobby). However, it is a paradigmatic example of what moral panic is; that is, “a reaction by a group of people based on the false or exaggerated perception of some cultural behavior.” It is something that we have seen repeatedly with video games and that has become an urban myth. But it is when we see it in things like crossword puzzles (or in the dozens of examples that this “technophobia archive” has that is ‘Pessimists Archive‘) when it becomes especially evident. It’s good to remember it from time to time. In Xataka | Helping the waiter clear the table seems like a kind gesture: psychologists see something much deeper In Xataka | The mirage of the hyperpresent father: they dedicate four times more time to their children, but mothers are still on the verge of collapse In Xataka | “It doesn’t give me life”: the phrase that summarizes the vital state of an entire generation of Spaniards in their thirties Image | Ross Sneddon

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