people

In Brazil people are changing caipiriñas and cocktails for beer. And they have a good reason: methanol

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São Paulo is famous for many reasons, but probably none as universal as The caipiriñasthe drink made with Cachaza, Lima, Sugar and Ice that has exported to virtually all bars on the planet. For days, however, in the Paulista capital they are served much less caipiriñas. Also It has come down the consumption of whiskey, Geneva and in general any distillate. The reason: fear of Methanol poisoning. São Paulo, without caipiriñas. Something has changed on the nights of Brazil. Especially in those of São Paulocapital of the homonymous state and the most populous city in the country. Instead of asking Caipirinhasthe famous drink based on Cachaza, Lima, Sugar and Ice that is a native of the Paulista state, the young people They ask for beers or wine. Anything but to take a glass with distilled liquor to the lips. “Customers are worried,” Recognize to Associated Press (AP) Edilson Trindade, manager of an establishment of São Paulo. Last week he did not dispatched a caipiriña, when it is usual to serve dozens and tens. And it is not the only one. In A report Posted yesterday, the Paulista magazine Exam He shares testimonies from other bars that have seen how their activity collapsed 80% or young people who choose to stay at home or change cocktails for cans. A percentage: 50%. The Bloomberg agency points That, in general, the bars and restaurants of the state of São Paulo fear that its sales collapse up to 30%, a percentage that falls short if the data already handled by the federation of hotels, restaurants and state bars are taken into account. According to their calculations, last week some establishments saw how the consumption of vodka, whiskey, gin and other distillates collapsed about 50%. “Even beer demand has dropped because there are almost no customers, so general sales have been affected,” regrets The owner of a bar. But … why? That people are consuming less spirits in Brazil (and especially in São Paulo) have little to do with a sudden abstemious zeal. The reason is another: fear. The drop in demand comes after what seems like a OLA of poisoning by methanol caused in turn by the intake of adulterated alcohol. On Sunday, Brazil’s Ministry of Health talked about 255 cases16 confirmed and another 209 suspects. Of them the vast majority were recorded in São Paulo, where the authorities handled 14 confirmed episodes and studied 178. Is it so serious? Yes. Methanol can cause vomiting, blindness and even death. The government already speaks of 15 possible deathsalthough for now there are only two confirmed. “Until there is total clarity about the magnitude of these crimes, the population must refrain from consuming distilled drinks,” I recognized On Friday in an interview with the CNN Brazil chain, the country’s health minister, Alexandre Padilha. “Our recommendation is that people avoid distillates, especially if they are not sure of the origin of the drink.” “Adulterated drinks”. The authorities have not limited themselves to controlling the number of poisonings or giving advice. Also They have increased Their provisions to treat methanol poisoning and above all try to locate their origin. The Government It relates them With alcohol consumption and has inspected bars and distributors to clarify what happened. “We determine that methanol contaminated adulterated alcoholic beverages. So we need to understand how,” Point out Artur Dian, police chief of São Paulo, in statements to AP. Only in São Paulo the state authorities have confiscated since the end of September more than 7,000 bottles To investigate them. They have also closed a dozen establishments provisionally to take samples. Another percentage: 28%. The unknown of whether the drink was contaminated on an accidental way, although the police recognize that there are those who adulterate the liquor with substances such as methanol to improve their benefit margins. “Although we know that small quantities do not contaminate and are not able to cause damage, we do not know the exact amount that could remain in a bottle,” Share Dian. The National Association of Distilled Manufacturers handles studies that show that adulterated drinks are already monitored more than a quarter of the Brazilian market (28%), a high percentage that achieves thanks to prices that reduce by 35% to legal beverages. Images | Nathalia Segato (UNSPLASH), Mark Broadhead (UNSPLASH) and Ian Talmacs (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | The youth of the Elite Tech of Silicon Valley have left alcohol: their new “party” is to work 92 hours

one thousand people trapped by a storm

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As much as we have touristifiedas much as we have accustomed to see their camps and slopes full of mountaineersEverest still is a resort. Today the planet’s summit is much more busy than in times of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (The pioneers who crowned the top in 1953), but the mountain is still a dangerous space full of challenges. And if we had forgotten Everest himself, he has just remembered us big. What happened? That Everest has just remembered own and strangers that it is not a tourist attraction, but a mountain with extreme climatic conditions that can be twisted at the most unexpected moment. That is at least what just learned the hundreds of mountaineers who were surprised on their slopes this weekend for an intense and copious snow. Snow was expected, but the intensity of the storm surprised even the most experienced, which forced the authorities to be launched to rescue the trapped groups. “The weather this year is not normal. The guide said he had never faced such a climate in October,” Explain a mountaineer affected. Where did it happen? On the eastern slope, where the blizzard caught hundreds of people in the camps. Chinese media talk about about a thousand Of affected, hundreds of hikers who were stranded by the storm that started on Friday at the last minute and lasted throughout Saturday. Other sources They point out that temporary surprised more than 500 people in the TINGRI region. And how are they now? According to The latest information Shared by Laura Bicker, a correspondent for the BBC, rescuers have already guided 350 people to a safe place located in the municipality of Qudang, on the Tibetan side. They have also managed to contact another 200 hikers. The British chain Precise That hundreds of villagers and rescuers have been deployed through the area to clear the access roads, blocked by snow, at an altitude of more than 4,900 m. It is not clear if the snowfall has affected hikers of the north face. How strong was it? “When we woke up, the snow already had about a meter deep,” Geshuang Chen recountswho on Friday had left Qudang with a group of more than ten mountaineers heading to the Base camp of Cho Oyu. On Saturday, however the storm frustrated its plans. “We are all experienced hikers, but even so this blizzard was extremely difficult.” Another mountaineer, Eric wen, has counted To the Reuters agency that his group could barely sleep because the snow fell so copious that they had to remove it from the covers of their stores every ten minutes. “If not, they would have collapsed.” Despite their care and equipment, three colleagues suffered hypothermia. How was it possible? For a sum of factors. The main is the meteorology. They have not been easy days in the region. To the south of Tibet, in Nepal, heavy rains have caused landslides and floods that, in addition to blocking roads, have left several deaths. In the last hours Europa Press He spoke Already 52 dead and 53 injured, in addition to a long dozen of missing. The other key factor is the festive calendar. China is in full Golden Weeka high season period for local tourism. “Many people come to do hiking, but this year snow is exceptional,” Chen points out. That coincidence of dates and climate explains that this week they arrive at the Karma Valley, which leads to the Eastern Kangshung face of Everest, hundreds of people. Why is it important? What happened this weekend at Everest is not important just because of the event itself. It is also (and above all) for what it reveals about the mountain and tourist saturation of Himalaya, a problem that experts They have been warning and of which the authorities They are aware. Some calculations estimate that every year they visit the Sagarmatha National Parkdominated by Everest, some tens of thousands of people that generate in turn 20 tons of garbage. In the mountain the challenge is so serious that the authorities They have already raised Forcing mountaineers to bring bags to collect their feces. Does so many people go to Everest? Yes. The problem of Everest Massification became especially palpable a few years ago, in May 2019when a Nepalese mountaineer took a photo in which more than 200 people are seen in a row in full rise to the roof of the world. A human traffic jam like the one we would expect to find ourselves in a commercial street in Madrid in full discounts … only in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. Statista calculates that only in 2023 they were recorded 656 successful promotionsstill from the more than 800 from before pandemic. What happened this weekend reminds us that despite this enormous popularity and the growing massification of the mountain, even has increased ratesEverest is far (very far) from being a place for sports tourism to use. You don’t have to go very far to confirm it. In 2023 they disappeared Three Sherpas experienced in the Khumbu ice cascade, swelling the extensive list Dead and missing in the mountain. Images | Guillaume Baviere (Flickr), EMIFAULK (Flickr) and Statista In Xataka | To decongest Everest, Nepal allows you to access another 97 free peaks. The problem is that nobody wants to upload them

more than 30 meters long and capacity for 350 people

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The DAF Super Citytrain seems to the story of a mythological creature, an assembly with metal sheets, equipped with motor and tires and designed to move on the asphalt with hundreds of accommodated people inside. Little has been published about its history and even less about what its destiny has been, achieving an image of yours is almost an impossible mission and its origins date back a few decades ago, but nevertheless there it follows, in Guinness Record pagesholding the longest bus title ever manufactured. Although There are those who point That the world’s largest service record is already held by other more recent models, their data continues to impress. Don’t say bus … No, I gave better DAF Super Citytrain, the biggest bus ever built, at least according to the Guinness World Records registration, than so much in Its web edition as in The printed one Published in 2015 it presents it as the longest coach in the world. Bazas has to be. According to the British publicationthese huge articulated buses of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reach 32.2 meters long with an empty weight of 28 tons and can transport comfortably inside about 350 passengers. His size is so stunning that In 2015 They still presented themselves as the longest buses ever built, with a length and capacity that exceeded the Extra Grand German Auttram or the Chinese Youngman Jnp6250G. And that the DAF Super Citytrain is not exactly a novelty of the automotive industry: Guinness Data His record in 1989, more than 30 years ago. What is your story? It is not easy to spin it. Very little has been written about the DAF Super Citytrain. One of the most complete chips on the articulated vehicle and its chronicle was de facto a company in the sector that is far from the Congo: the Transport Firm Slovaca Zvolen. On your website rescue A brief article Posted in September 1989 by the magazine Commercial engine In which it is explained that the manufacturer Daf International had just closed the sale of the “largest bus in the world” to a Kinshasa coach company, the largest capital and city in the Congo, then known as the Republic of Zaire. Although brief, The article It is interesting because it gives us an idea of ​​what the DAF Citytrain was like: “It consists of a standard DAF power unit coupled to a local manufacturing stepped structure trailer with a special bus body.” The chronicle points out that the capacity of the vehicle was 450 travelers – higher than that indicated by Guinness – and among other curiosities indicates that a company in the country was responsible for blocking the two upper marches of the model to limit its speed to less than 42 kilometers per hour. Is there more data? Yes. And quite interesting. The review of Commercial engine It reveals that the bus measured 18 meters long and slides an important idea: given its success, in 1989 the company proposed to deliver 55 extra units and already worked in “an ‘Super’ version”, a vehicle equipped with a second trailer that would offer capacity for more than 500 travelers. That coletilla, that of “Super”, is the one mentioned by the Guinness World Records in its texts, although the English publication reduces its places. As neededit can transport “comfortably to 350 passengers.” We also know that for the same datesin the fall of 1989, a semi -trailer bus began to circulate that took the name City Train of its operator. When a trailer was added, the last name “Super” was added, which indicated that his capacity had been expanded: on board 170 people sitting –110 in the first section and 60 in the trailer – and 180 standing, most also in the first section of the vehicle could travel. That on paper, of course. Given the population of Kinshasa, there are those who assure that the Super Citytrain traveled more loaded. An obsession that remains alive. The use of extragraduate articulated motor skills – or rather of bus trailers, for the photos we do of the CityTrain, without the extra section of the “super” -, is greatly explained by the need for displacement in the metropolitan area of ​​Kinshasa, where According to Macrotrends data around 16.3 million people reside today. The obsession with the XXL coach is not however exclusive to the Congo of the late 80s: years before Wyane Corporation had produced in Indiana A huge model Of 23 my during the last decades different companies have announced huge models. The sector has launched surprising designs, such as Great Arte 300, Yongman JNP650g o Autotram Extra Grand, which He appeared in Germany with a length of 30.7 meters and For some You can boast of being today the largest bus in the world. Its dimensions do not reach however, which the emblematic DAF Super Citytrain reached. In Xataka | It is not a ship, it is a floating “Empire State”: the one overcoming the container record on board In Xataka | If you always dreamed of having your own cold war plane for 30 euros, we have good news for you

Thousands of people have been drinking apple vinegar for years before eating to lose weight. The fault has an erroneous study

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A couple of months ago, the last viral trend of social networks was taken on an empty stomach in the morning recently raised: the “morning sucks.” There were all kinds: apple vinegar, of grass Or even A tablespoon coconut oil. Everyone promises the same: flat bellies, express detox and accelerated metabolism. Under the appearance of natural remedy, the illusion of a quick solution was really sold. In particular, apple vinegar stands out as the biggest protagonist, since a study endorsed it, but it was a misinterpretation. The origin of the myth. We have always heard that phrase of “speaking people understand”, although quite simplistic it is that misunderstandings are the order of the day and in science they are usually given. To get to the origin of that study, the tracking takes you to a study published in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. This research became popular to ensure that apple vinegar helped lose weight. However, According to Sciencedailythat study has been retracted after detecting inconsistencies in data and serious errors in statistical analysis. In science, a retraction is an exceptional mechanism: it means recognizing that the results are not reliable and, therefore, that the study should no longer be cited as evidence. It is a guarantee of self -correction, but it is late when the finding has already traveled media and viral videos. The viralization of myth. The networks did the rest. Under hashtags like #guthealth or #morningritual, vinegar It settled In morning routines with other “shots” that promise express benefits: ginger, turmeric, teas detox. As we detail in Xatakathis phenomenon is understood in the framework of the culture of immediacy: we live at a time when rapid and visible results are sought. A morning drink fits perfectly with that promise of instant change. The problem is that neither vinegar nor any of these mixtures fulfill what they promise. And in some cases They can have adverse effects: Excessive consumption of fasting vinegar can irritate the stomach and esophagus, damage tooth enamel and cause digestive discomfort. More studies. Beyond the retracting study, there are research that has analyzed the effect of vinegar on metabolic health, although scientific evidence remains low. A systematic review, Posted in Pubmed Central in 2021evaluated clinical trials on this product. According to this work, vinegar can have modest effects on the reduction of blood glucose and total cholesterol. But the same review warns: there is no solid evidence that it causes clinically relevant weight losses. In other words: vinegar is not a burning, much less a magical solution to lose weight. The mirage of detox. The rise of these “morning shots” also relies on the language of the detox. However, experts Remember that Detoxification does not work like this: the body already has organs such as the liver and the kidneys that fulfill that function continuously. Chupitos do not “clean” the organism, but they do perpetuate the idea that there are miraculous shortcuts to compensate for excesses. An even greater paradigm. The history of apple vinegar is, in the background, a lesson on how health myths are built in the digital age. A study with methodological errors, amplified on social networks, became a global ritual. And although today we know that there was no evidence behind, the practice was already installed in millions of morning routines. The lesson is clear: easy solutions are rarely, and health is not built with shortcuts. Image | Freepik and Pexels Xataka | There are people taking a “sucking” apple vinegar in the morning. Science has an opinion about it

a yogurt that now thousands of people are looking for

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Every morning, for more than a century, María Branyas Morera repeated a simple gesture: open a yogurt and eat it slowly. It was always of the same brand, the Fageda, made in the Catalan garrotxa. When he died in 2024, at 117 and 168 days, he not only became the longest person in the world, but also the protagonist of unexpected finding: that daily habit could be one of the keys to his surprising health. The yogurt key. The media focus He unleashed For a seemingly simple detail: Branyas took daily yogurts of the Catalan brand La Fageda. After knowing the results of the investigation, the company received calls from the United Kingdom of people interested in buying or even distributing them, As explained by its director in the window. But it seems that he did not settle for one. According to the study, Posted in Cell Reports MedicineBranyas ate up to three daily yogurts of this Catalan brand, known for its social work. In addition, their yogurts are made with their own farm milk and a fermentation process designed to keep bacteria alive until the end of the useful life. Far beyond dairy. The scientific analysis concludes that the intestinal microbioma was “almost youthful” despite its advanced age. In his samples there was an unusual abundance of bifidobacterium, bacteria that usually decline over the years and that help reduce inflammation and improve metabolic health. The yogurt could contribute to this balance, but the researchers themselves warn that it is not the only key. “It cannot be confirmed that only yogurt explains its longevity, although it probably modulated its microbiome,” They point out in the study. A combination of favorable factors. Beyond the yogurts, the biology of María Branyas hid a surprising puzzle. Genetics gave her winning letters: variants that protected her from dementia, cancer or heart problems. Even their telomeres, those structures that are wearing with each cell division, seemed to play against – they were very short – but in their case they could become a shield in front of the tumors. As for his biological (or epigenetic) clock, he revealed, that in biological terms, it was up to two decades younger than his ID. To that advantage was added an still energetic immune system and an enviable cholesterol metabolism. The rest she put it: Branyas continued A Mediterranean dietan eight -cereal shake drank every morning, never smoked nor drank alcohol, He walked daily Until entry into advanced age and maintained an intense social life. He survived two world wars, Spanish civil war, Spanish flu and even COVID-19, which was recovered with 113 years. A new research route. Manel Esteller’s team from the Josep Carreras Institute, Believe that this case You can open the door to therapies that imitate the effects of “good genes” or a rejuvenated microbioma. The study even points to the possibility of developing drugs that replicate the benefits of a healthy intestinal flora. A new debate. As always happens when a line of study opens that not all experts coincide. Harvard’s immaculata immaculata, He recalled that Extrapolar from a single case is risky: “Longevity depends on probabilities, not absolute.” From Johns Hopkins, oncologist Mary Armanios added that the genes associated with long life do not always predict the future: what seems advantageous in some may not be in others. In addition, social inequality itself introduces differences of up to 20 years in life expectancy, as Armanians illustrated with Baltimore’s example. Beyond the anecdote. The story of María Branyas shows that aging does not have to get sick, As The Guardian titled. Its longevity seems the result of a delicate balance between a resilient genetics, healthy habits, a positive social environment and, perhaps, also a daily yogurt. Image | Unspash and Unspash Xataka | We already had an ozempic to lose weight, now someone has created one for the eternal youth: NAD+ promises

Accenture does not want employees who do not know how to adapt to AI. That is why they will replace 11,000 workers with people who do know

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The Accenture Technology Consultant has announced a radical transformation of its template. In the last three months, the company has fired about 11,000 people from its ranks, a round of mass layoffs that will also combine with massive hiring rounds for a single reason: adaptation to AI. And is that according to They point From Accenture, those employees who fail to recycle in AI will have to leave the company. Change of strategy. “We are dispensing within a compressed period of people for whom recycling is not a viable way,” explained Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, at a conference with analysts. The consultant has reduced her global workforce in more than 11,000 people in the last three months, from 791,000 employees to 779,000. The business optimization program will cost 865 million dollars, mainly in compensation. They are not just cuts. While they dispense with workers who cannot adapt, Accenture plans Increase your template Total in the next fiscal year in markets such as the United States and Europe. The company has doubled its number of professionals specialized in AI and data since 2023, from 40,000 to 77,000. Besides, They assure Having trained more than 550,000 employees in the foundations of the generative AI. “Our number one strategy is training”, assured Sweet, although also acknowledged that ‘the rhythm demanded by this new transformation does not allow everyone to wait’. Figures. Accenture billed 69.7 billion dollars in the last fiscal year, a growth of 7% that the company attributes directly to the mass demand of its clients to implement AI in its organizations. The generative AI projects represented 5.1 billion dollars in new hiring, compared to the 3,000 million of the previous year. “Our early investment in AI is paying off,” Sweet explained in the middle CNBC. Adaptation. Although Accenture presents AI as an expansion engine, the reality of the sector is more complex. The consultant foresee that income growth slows up to between 2% and 5% in this fiscal year. The demand for short -term consulting projects has been weak for two years, and the cuts in the spending of the US federal government, which represents 8% of its income, complicate the forecasts. Accenture actions They fell 2.7% after the ad, reaching its lowest level since November 2020. Mass layoffs in Big Tech. Accenture’s movement is not unknown. And is that great technology They have been replacing employees for some time traditional by specialists in AI. Microsoft has cut thousands of positions This year, but his CEO Satya Nadella confirmed In July that the total template remains “relatively unchanged” thanks to new hiring. Goal He fired 5% of his staff At the beginning of the year, although he later filled many of those positions with specialists in AI during the summer. Nor do all companies seem to be right in that balance, since Klarna, After breastfeeding their plans from AIhas reallocated engineering and marketing employees to customer service, as revealed by the Business Insider medium. What comes now. Accenture wait Save more than $ 1 billion with this restructuring, money that promises to reinvest in your business and workforce. “Each CEO and Board of Directors recognize that advanced AI is critical for the future. The challenge now is that most companies are not yet prepared for AI,” pointed out Sweet Cover image | Roberto Fiadone In Xataka | Bill Gates had a tendency to procrastination until he found an infallible remedy: Japanese companies

It’s why there are so many people trying

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His name is Alexander Chusov, he is native of the Moscow brain and, as they count on Associated Pressjust shattered the largest pumpkin record ever cultivated in the country. 969 kilos of pumpkin to be exact. And the question that is asked now half the world is not how the hell it is possible to cultivate a pumpkin of a ton, but something even more basic: why do it? And the answer is more curious than it seems. “It is a scientific job.” Or so I explained it Chusov himself. Not only had he carefully selected the seeds, but had built a special greenhouse (with heating in the floor and in the air) and has been calibrating “with great precision” the “nutritional and risk needs of pumpkin”. But perhaps more than tracing a parallel with “science” it is better to draw it with “sport.” Yes, yes. With sport. Because, although The idea is of Daria Yermilovaorganizer of the Giant Vegetable Contest in Moscow, it has all the meaning of the world. For more than a decade, giant vegetable competitions They raise passions In different parts of the world. Giant vegetable competitions? Although they are tremendously popular in the Anglo -Saxon world, the strength of competitions such as Moscow shows that the fond of Pantagruélica horticulture grows worldwide. In fact, if we are thorough, we can verify that Chusov’s pumpkin is not (or far) the pumpkin larger than has been cultivated in Europe In recent years. In 2024, Mario Vangeel swept the European pumpkins championship held every year in LuisBurg with A copy of 1,152 kilograms. What does a thousand kilos pumpkin know? Nothing. That may be the most curious. Giant pumpkin varieties that are usually used in this type of competitions are not cultivated by their flavor. These varieties have a very high water content: that is what allows them to grow so much, but also what makes it completely tasteless. For years We have been complaining that many vegetables (And especially tomatoess) They had been genetically selected to improve their appearance and productivity to the detriment of their flavor. What we are in the world of competition vegetables is this, but raised to the nth power. It is an obsessive career to find the greatest vegetables and vegetables at what it costs. In the Sidamon pumpkin contestIn Lleida, you can see this same weekend live and direct. Behind every circus … There is an important lesson: that nature has an almost infinite capacity to change shapes and colors. That is, behind the world’s largest pumpkin there is a message of hope. Image | Great Pumpkin Comonwealth In DAP | This is the Sidamon Giant Pumpkins Fair, the town of Lleida where specimens of up to 1,500 kilos come together

The FBI thought that burning the methamphetamine they had requisition was a good idea. They sent fourteen people to the hospital

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If you have ever wondered what the police do with the drugs they requisition, surely the Montana Police method, in the United States, does not leave you indifferent. The last stash they have destroyed has made fourteen people have to be treated emergency and has forced to transfer more than 75 animals. What happened. They tell it in Associated Press. The event occurred in an animal shelter in Billings, Montana. The installation has an incinerator for animal corpses, which the authorities occasionally use to destroy illegal substances. In this case it was almost 1kg of methamphetamine. The problem was that, at the beginning of combustion, instead of leaving the extractor, the smoke began to fill the building. They should have had a fan by hand to avoid it, but nobody found it. It is also believed that they did not use the right temperature since, if he had done it, the toxins would have burned and would not have had major consequences. Consequences. Fourteen workers from Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter had to be treated at the hospital after inhaling smoke. The director of the refuge assured Associated Press that employees did not know that the incinerator was used for such purposes and did not give importance to smoke. Among the symptoms they presented had headaches, throat pain, cough and dizziness. They were not the only ones affected, the animals that were in the shelter also inhaled the smoke. At least 75 dogs and cats had to be transferred to reception houses. Fortunately there was no regret victims. Other cases. It is not the first time that drug burning has consequences of this type. In April of this year, Lice Police, in Türkiye, burned 20 tons of marijuanacausing dizziness, nausea and even hallucinations in some of the inhabitants. In 2015 Something very similar happened in Palmerah, Indonesia. How is it done in Spain. It is also incinerated, but more controlled through concessions with waste elimination companies. According to the independent, In 2022 Spain spent 300,000 euros a year on the destruction of shells on two floors that were in Asturias and Toledo. The Grande-Marlaska Minister did not see viable the construction of a specific incinerator for this because it would mean an even greater cost. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | A tooth has revealed the beginning of one of the oldest practices of the human being: when we begin to consume drugs

“Young people don’t want to work here.” The solution to the problem was there since 1914

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Henry Ford was not only A bold businessman which founded an automobile empire, was also the cornerstone that Revolutionized cars manufacturing and a strategist of the economy. For this reason, it is not strange that Jim Farley, the current CEO of Ford, found in the founder of his company the inspiration to solve a serious labor problem. As Farley himself told during An interview With the writer Walter Isaacson, Biographer of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, who during the 2019 union negotiationshe visited some brand factories to directly ask his employees. The CEO confessed to Isaacson that the most veteran told him: “Young people do not want to work here. Jim, you pay 17 dollars an hour, and they are very stressed.” As Farley explained during their interview, the workers told their boss that the new workers, most of them temporary workers, worked for eight hours at Amazon or other works, and then making their turn in Ford sleeping just three or four hours to be able to come to the end of the month due to precarious salaries. A decision inspired in 1914 The Ford template was in a complicated situation since the low wages were moving the youngest, who preferred other ways to obtain a sufficient salary to livewhile the average age of Ford’s fixed personnel was increasing and the vacancies that were leaving They were not covered. In this critical context, Farley decided to pull internal newspaper library and look at what Henry Ford himself did more than a century earlier. The legendary founder of Ford doubled in 1914 the daily salary of the operators at $ 5 per day, much more than average at that time. Ford did not upload the salaries of its employees for a sudden goodnessbut with a very clear logic: “I do this because I want my factory workers to buy my cars. If they earn enough money, they will buy my own product,” Henry Ford confessed. According to Farley, applying this measure “was not easy. It was expensive. But I think that is the type of changes we need to implement in our country.” As a result, the company made temporary workers full timewhich allowed them to access higher wages, participation in profits and better medical coverage. In addition, temporary workers managed to reduce the time they should be working for Ford before opting for fixed job. The objective of the measure implemented by the current CEO of Ford is exactly the same as Henry Ford’s in 1914: ensure a stable, well formed template and be able to retain the best talent to improve the productivity of its assembly lines. Not only is money, it’s also training Despite the salary improvements that were signed in Ford, Farley was convinced of the need to have a good professional education for young people. According to published Fortunein the next decade about four million operators will be needed for the manufacturing industry as the current operators are retired. This scenario is not exclusive to the US. In Spain the demand for qualified labor He shoots In sectors like construction or the renewable energies And there is not even enough young people to cover itnor have they necessary training. “In Germany, all the operators of our factories have an apprentice from high school and each position requires about eight years of practical training,” said Farley, who was convinced that this model ensures the generational relief and quality of the staff. In Xataka | If the question is whether having a university degree improves the employment situation, the data leaves us a figure: 5.7% unemployment Images | FordUnspash (THISISENGINEING)

The US is not a country for trains. They want to fix it with one that cross the country carrying people and trucks

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The train It is the spine of many countries. In Europe, communications between countries and within them They would not be understood without the trainbut there are others Examples like Japan or a China that has built almost 50,000 kilometers of high speed in record time. If we look at the United States, the case is the opposite: high speed that shines for its absence, with projects that are a nightmare and an overwhelming domain of the plane and the car for passenger transport. Of course, they have proposed to change the situation with a mastodontic project: a train network that connects New York and California. They have baptized him as ‘Transcontinental Chief’, and they will not have anything easy. Figures. First of all, some context and the proper names of this story. Amtrakor National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is the national passenger trains company in the United States. It was created as a commercial entity, but depended on federal and state subsidies for most of its routes. Its network covers more than 500 stations in 46 states and has a network of about 39,000 kilometers, including the NEC, the corridor between Boston and Washington DC Despite that huge network of roads and stations, in 2024 he transported about 32.4 million passengers. Much of the traffic corresponds to paths within the NEC and none of the paths exceeds 200 km/h. For comparing, in 2024, Renfe transported 35.2 million travelers in high -speed services and another 60 million in medium distance. We do not count the 442 million nearby, since they are short journeys. Chief Transcontinental. It is evident that the country needs a railway impulse, something that has been attempted on a small scale (even with trains that do not use fossil fuels), but the projects do not finish curdling. That is where Ameristarrail enters the scene, a private company dedicated to the proposal and development of long -distance interurban and high capacity interurban services. The project they are promoting is the one baptized as ‘Transcontinental Chief’ to connect New York and Los Angeles by train. He proposed itinerary He would connect the Hoboken station in New Jersey with Los Angeles, through cities such as Philadelphia, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and stop at the National Park of Grand Canyon. In this way, large urban and tourist poles would join. Recycling. He project From America has a couple of good ideas to get ahead. The first is to take advantage of what is already paid. That is, use the roads and stations that are already built to give new life to deficit infrastructure operated by other entities and by Amtrak itself (such as the Southwest Chief). Also use locomotives and wagons that already exist, such as beds beds and men’s restaurant cars because the full trip will be long, since the speed of those tracks is limited to 150 km/h. According to the company, if this plan is followed, a new legislation will not be necessary that would complicate and delay the project, but no additional public financing, since, in essence, the work is done and you only have to put the infrastructure up to date. Because although the United States does not have a solid passenger transport network by train, it does have a wide railway line focused on merchandise transport. Hybrid. The second good idea is to try to squeeze this train as much as possible. In addition to passengers, the idea of ​​America is to turn the train into a kind of ferry. This implies that private cars can be charged in platform cars so that a family, for example, can go from end of the country with their car, but without driving them. In addition, it has also been projected that there would be other cars capable of loading complex trucks, next to their drivers. Thus, truckers can get on the train, rest their mandatory time while the journey towards their destination does not stop. They have called it ‘Rolling Rest Stop’ would be a pioneer in the country, in addition to giving a boost to certain routes of merchandise trucks that cross the territory. MEH. Aim Football World Cup. Now, from Amtrak they don’t have it so clear. At the moment, the public company has release that they are not going to promote this proposal for America because they are not clear that public investment has to be made. It is not closed, eye, since the drivers maintain that there is enormous potential to convert long -distance services into profitable and sustainable lines, and that is something that Amertk needs. Images | Ameristarrail, Amtrak In Xataka | Renfe has a new and gigantic project in progress: a night train to connect Europe from this to west

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