perfect

It is not a mobile phone, but a perfect mouse for professionals who travel frequently

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I usually work outside the home very frequently and I always have the mouse on me. And it’s not exactly a small one, because it’s the Logitech MX Vertical. But it seems that the brand has hit the nail on the head by offering an alternative dedicated to users like me who tend to travel frequently: a foldable mouse. The Logitech Mobi Fold is available in two versions: Logitech Mobi Fold by 79.99 euros. Logitech Mobi Fold For Business (with Logi Bolt) for 84.99 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A foldable mouse with very fast charging He Mobi Fold It is Logitech’s first foldable mouse and it is quite interesting to save space when having to carry it in a pocket. Personally, I find it especially interesting as long as we are going to use it outside the home very frequently. It’s good for me for traveling, but it’s also practical to take to university, for example. What we have been seeing for years in folding mobile phones we now have, bridging the gap, in a mouse. The Mobi Fold has a shell formatand perhaps the displayed design is a little strange, but the posture we must have with our hand is very similar to that we have with a traditional mouse. In fact, the design displayed is not far from what we have seen other times, such as with the Microsoft Surface Arc. Of course, the functions that are activated or deactivated when opening or closing the mouse cannot be missing, and that is that When you deploy it, the mouse will be activated and when you fold it it will turn off. In case this is something that worries you, Logitech itself mentions that it can withstand 15 years of daily use. However, this must be taken with a grain of salt because the tests are carried out under controlled conditions. As far as the scroll wheel is concerned, there is no one: the mouse incorporates Touch Scrolling, which by touch allows you to use this function that is so necessary for everyday life. In addition, the brand also comments that its autonomy is approximately 30 days and with a charge of 1 minute it offers 22 hours of autonomy. To top it off, it is worth mentioning that, as we see in other Logitech models, the Mobi Fold supports the Simultaneous connection with up to three devices at the same timeand of course it is compatible with a good variety of devices: Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Android, iPadOS and Linux. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: Logitech Mobi Fold ✅ THE BEST Yesu format: The fact that it can be folded makes it smaller, something very interesting to use outside the home. Your battery: Beyond its autonomy of up to 30 hours, the most interesting thing is the fast charging that, with one minute of charging, offers up to 22 hours of use. ❌ THE WORST Your fold: Logitech mentions that it can last up to 15 years, but at the end of the day it is a fold that, depending on use, can last less. 💡 BUY IT IF… You usually study or work outside the home and want to take a very compact mouse with you. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You are going to study or work mostly at home, since there are cheaper, although less transportable, mice within the brand. You may also be interested Logitech Lift Ergonomic Vertical Mouse, Wireless, Bluetooth or Logi Bolt USB Receiver, Silent Clicks, 4 Buttons, Compatible with Windows/macOS/iPadOS, Laptop, PC – Sand The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Logitech MX Master 3S, High Performance Wireless Mouse with Ultra-Fast Scrolling, Ergo, 8000 dpi, Glass Tracking, Discreet Clicks, Bluetooth, Windows, Linux and Chrome – Graphite The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Logitech In Xataka | Best keyboards for writing and working: which one to buy and six recommended models In Xataka | Best gaming keyboards. Which one to buy and 11 recommended gaming keyboards for different users and budgets

the perfect shelter for your cows

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Having a solar installation on rural land is something that can benefit both humans and animals. We have already told on other occasions how the agrivoltaics can have positive effects on animals, such as in birds and insectseither even in sheep. A team from the University of Minnesota has discovered that it also provides benefits to a much larger and much more heat-sensitive animal: the dairy cow. And they have answered the question of what would happen if we let cows graze under the shade of a solar panel system. What is the study about? According to the authors of the work themselvespublished in the proceedings of the AgriVoltaics2021 conference, there was no previous research that analyzed the use of a ground-mounted solar system to shade dairy cows and measure how it affects them. So without further ado, they got to it. Everyone wins. Livestock farming is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, with the economic and environmental cost that this entails. The idea of ​​agrivoltaics is to kill two birds with one stone, using the same land to generate clean electricity and, at the same time, to produce food. In the case of a dairy farm, the panels could shade cows during heat waves, as heat stress directly affects their well-being and production. On a farm in Morris, Minnesota (where the study was done), about 275 cows are milked twice a day, figures that represent the average for the State. How have done. In the summer of 2018, they installed a 30-kilowatt ground-mounted solar system in a pasture, with the panels placed 8 to 10 feet high so the cows couldn’t reach them. The animal study was carried out from June to September 2019 with 24 cross-breed cows, divided into two groups: half with access to the shade of the plates and the other half grazing without any shade. To measure everything without relying only on the human eye, each animal wore a CowManager ear sensor (which recorded whether it ruminated, ate or was active) and a SmaXtec bolus housed in the stomach reticulum, which measured internal body temperature, activity and how many times they drank. Added to this were daily visual observations of hygiene, lameness and injuries, as well as fly counts. Maximum temperatures during the study ranged from 27 to 34°C. What didn’t change. On many key indicators, there were no differences between the two groups. Not in the number of flies, nor in the production of milk, fat or protein, nor in body weight, physical condition, how many times they drank, injuries or the way they walked. So the shade did not trigger milk production as one would expect. The reasons for the absence of these changes, according to the authorsis that the cows were only in the shade 28 of the 175 days they grazed during the summer. That is, the experiment was too brief in actual exposure to determine long-term effects. They themselves point out that, if it had been under the plates all summer, perhaps changes in the milk would have been observed. What did change. Where the sun really shines, the plates made a difference. During the afternoon, the shaded cows breathed more slowly (about 66 breaths per minute compared to 78 for the unshaded cows), a clear sign of less heat stress. And the internal body temperature also confirmed it, because between one in the afternoon and midnight, the cows without shade registered temperatures up to half a degree higher. During the middle hours, between milkings, the cows in the shade stayed cooler. Bad. The shady cows ended up with dirtier bellies and legs. The reason is that the cows used the shaded area to rest and lie down, and since they also defecated and urinated right under the panels, the floor became dirty. Added to this was that the ground under the plates was cooler and more humid, and the cows tended to crowd into less space. It was also observed that the cows with shade had fewer peaks of high activity, because they spent the hottest hours quiet under the panels. ANDenergy. It should not be forgotten that the system was still, above all, a solar plant. During 2019, those 30 kilowatts generated 35,535 MWh of energy. According to the environmental benefit calculations that collect the studythat is equivalent to saving 37,238 kg of CO₂ emissions, the same as planting about 2,066 trees, according to what they say. Conclusions. The team says it is possible that the cows sacrificed pasture time in exchange for shelter in the shade. Even so, they conclude that agrivoltaics can be a more than acceptable method to combat the heat in grass-fed dairy cows, while generating energy and reducing the carbon footprint of the farm. Additionally, they say, incorporating agrivoltaics into a pasture dairy system could improve cow health, reduce heat stress and increase land use efficiency. And now what. The study was explicitly a starting point. The team itself announced a new project that same year with the idea of ​​designing solar structures that serve as both shade in summer and windbreaks or screens against snow in winter, in addition to testing solar tracking systems and arrays on marginal lands. To do this, they built a “portable solar shade station” towed by an electric tractor. In that study they concluded that good quality forage grows under the panels and that they improve the well-being of livestock by providing shade in summer and protection from the wind in winter. Of course, they also said that in total shade, grass production plummeted, so the key was to balance shade and cultivation. Cover image | Twin Cities PBS In Xataka | Zaragoza rests on a gigantic aquifer. And he is exploiting it in an exemplary way to lower his electricity bill

The Silver Route seemed like the perfect train for the Spanish west. They seek to recover it with one objective: forget about Madrid

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Cáceres and Salamanca are separated by just 200 kilometers but the journey takes seven hours in the best of cases and requires passing through Madrid. We talked, of course, about going by train. And the capitals of these two provinces represent one of the biggest railway holes that our country has. The situation is not unique in Spain (from Murcia to Granada you also have to go through Madrid) but perhaps it is more bloody because one day there was that option that structured the west of Spain. It was known as the Silver Route. Now, more than 40 years after its closure, there are those who continue fighting for its reopening. A line that was born sentenced From Seville to Gijón, passing through Mérida, Cáceres, Salamanca, León or Oviedo. The Silver Route It was designed as a railway corridor for passengers and goods away from the large Spanish economic centers. It was about finding an alternative so that not everything went through Madrid, Bilbao or Barcelona. And, curiously, its origin must be sought very far from these cities. It was in Paris in 1877 when the contract was signed to build a railway between Palazuelo (current Monfragüe station) and Astorga, they explain in The Extremadura Newspaper. The project was ambitious as it passed through a lot of unpopulated area in its attempt to connect the north of Extremadura with Salamanca, Zamora and León. Yet, the line went ahead in the last years of the 19th century. Between 1893 and 1896, the four sections that would end up forming the most representative axis of the line were inaugurated from south to north. This was the backbone of a road that connected to the south with the Mérida-Seville section and the Venta de Baños-Gijón in the north. Without a large city to drive it and without direct access to a large port, the line was falling into ostracism. First, because the State did not find sufficient reasons to modernize it and, at least, electrify it. And without investments, the tortuous path became less attractive for passengers and companies. The axis survived the Civil War but beforehand an investment had been requested that never arrived. In 1933, the iron bridges were replaced by steel ones but no major efforts were made. In the following years, they point out in the local mediaderailments and accidents multiplied due to lack of investment. For decades, once sentenced, the line remained open but in 1984 its definitive closure was confirmed. By then, the trains were barely running at 50 km/h, an average speed lower than that recorded during their opening. A train bus accident in 1981 in which a woman died put the finishing touches on a decision that began decades ago when no one wanted to invest in the western axis. Let it come back! Today, the connection between Cáceres and Seville, passing through Mérida, continues to exist, although it is a single-lane railway and is not electrified. The connection between Salamanca and Gijón is also maintained. But how you can see on this Adif mapa hole separates Cáceres and Salamanca. From Plasencia, you will see a green line leaving towards the north. In Salamanca, another leaves in a southerly direction. Are they projects to recover this train? No, they are Greenwaysconditioning of the old railway section to convert them into easy paths for walking, running or cycling. What some institutions have been demanding for years is that these Greenways are not the only vestige that remains from those days. In 2023, the city councils of Salamanca, Cáceres, Béjar, Plasencia Guijuelo and Hervás together with the Chambers of Commerce of those first three cities signed an institutional declaration demanding the return of the train. “Employment, creation of opportunities, logistical development, diversification of the productive system and stopping depopulation,” with these words they began a text to justify their demands. It pointed out some technical issues such as that the section between Plasencia and Salamanca has 4G network coverage on 90% of the route. But, above all, it was remembered that the new train could be an alternative route for the transport of goods in the western area, capable of connecting the Atlantic ports in the north with those in the south without passing through Madrid. This was the premise, in fact, with which the idea of ​​resurrecting the West Corridorunder the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. A project that, as they remember in the text, was not carried out. in the diary Today They collected information that the Gijón Chamber of Commerce put on the table in 2022 to defend this line: it could capture up to 625,000 journeys for goods which now carry trucks going up the A-66, also known as Vía de la Plata. Beyond unfulfilled promises (in addition to Zapatero, José María Aznar also promised to reopen the line after Felipe González closed it to passengers in 1984 and to goods well into the 90s), one of the biggest problems that this Western Corridor has is that it does not fall within the plans of the European Union as far as the railway is concerned. The Trans-European Transport Network ignores this and maintains that hole already mentioned between Cáceres and Salamanca and Salamanca and the south of Asturias if it is not passing through Valladolid. Regardless of whether we are talking about a passenger or freight network, the result is the same. That is why from the Corredor Oeste platform, together with the city councils and the rest of the local organizations, They have been organizing mobilizations and meetings to press and get the project taken to Europe. According to his calculations, it would hardly be necessary to invest 1.9 billion eurosvery far from what is being invested in other corridors such as the Mediterranean, which already exceed 8,000 million in investment. They also defend that the new Silver Route railway would be key to connecting the Atlantic Corridor, which does have European approval, with the Spanish south, offering a … Read more

The new Ninja AutoBarista Pro coffee maker with which you will prepare the perfect coffee at home without being an expert is now on sale in Spain

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Making specialty café-quality coffee at home typically requires two things: a significant investment in individual tools and some time learning to master grinding, pressing, and texturing milk. To break this barrier, Ninja has just announced the launch in Spain of the Ninja AutoBarista Pro (899.99 euros) an all-in-one automatic system that seeks to unify the versatility of barista drinks with the convenience of a single button press. Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Coffee Maker The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A coffee maker with full automation: from grinding to foam type This device comes to the market with a clear proposal: eliminate complex manual steps through an intelligent system that automates the entire process, from the bean to the cup, without the user needing prior knowledge. The core of this coffee maker lies in its AutoBarista technology, a set of sensors and calibrated systems that make technical decisions for the user. Instead of having to manually adjust the grinder’s coarseness or control the extraction time, the function Grin iQ It analyzes the type of grain selected and adapts the grinding automatically to extract the maximum flavor. To these is added a pressure and temperature management that adjusts depending on whether we are going to prepare a espresso short or a long filter coffee. Versatility is another of its strong points. It incorporates two independent 340 gram bean tanks, allowing you to switch between different varieties of coffee cleanly and without mixing the beans. It also has a double brew function to make two doses of espresso simultaneously. He milk texturing This is usually the most difficult step to replicate at home. To solve this, the system FrothPerfect It allows you to work with both milk and vegetable drinks, offering five different consistency levels that range from hot milk without air to extra dense foams or, a highly requested function in summer, cold foam for recipes with ice. Finally, and thinking about individual preferences, the coffee maker allows configure up to two user profiles to memorize the exact intensity, water volume, temperature and preferred foam style. ⚡ IN BRIEF: Ninja AutoBarista Pro Automatic Coffee Maker ✅ THE BEST Extreme versatility (hot and cold): what really makes the difference is the ability to do Cold Brew and foam cold milk automatically. It’s not just a coffee maker espresso; It’s a complete beverage station. Double grain tank: It is a rare genius in this price range. It allows you to have, for example, specialty coffee in one and decaffeinated in the other, or change varieties without having to empty the tank manually. ❌ THE WORST Oh, the price… Enter fully into the field of legendary brands. For 900 euros, the competition is fierce and some users may prefer brands with a longer history in espresso machines. Size… Being an all-in-one system with two tanks and so many functions, it is a bulky machine. You need good free counter space. 💡 BUY IT IF… Your favorite coffee is a Flat Whitea Latte or a Cappuccinothis machine gives you a professional foam texture without you having to learn how to use the steam wand. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You like the manual process, using the poltrafilters, trying different degrees of grinding for yourself and playing with the machine, this Ninja is going to bore you a little because it does it all for you. And if you are looking for something cheaper, you may be interested in these other coffee makers Ninja Prestige 2-in-1 filter and capsule coffee maker with built-in frother The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Ninja Luxe Essential 2-in-1 Latte, Cappuccino and Espresso Maker with Integrated Grinder and Milk Frother The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images: Ninja In Xataka | Smart coffee makers: what you can do (and what you can’t) with connected coffee makers In Xataka | Five ideal accessories to get the most out of your super-automatic coffee machine

This ice cream, sorbet or slushie maker is perfect for small kitchens. And it doesn’t reach 100 euros

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I don’t know about your community, but here in Andalusia it is already terribly hot. Fighting it with water or any cold soft drink is fine, but much better with an ice cream or slushy. If you are one of those who prefers to make it at home and not have to go buy it on the street, you can have it much easier with this refrigerator that our TikTok colleagues have found on AliExpress: it remains in just 98.35 euros with the coupon ‘XATAKAES10‘. Teendow KF-2501U1 Ice Cream Maker with 8 Preset Programs, Self-Cleaning Function, Blend and Swirl Functions, Countertop Model for Home The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A refrigerator with 8 different functions and easy to clean @xataka.seleccion I’m already an adult and I can buy the refrigerator I always wanted 😭 Taking advantage of the AliExpress Summer Sale (until June 10), I found this: 🍦 Teendow Refrigerator 👉🏼 8 programs to make: ice cream, sorbets, frozen yogurt, slushies and more 📲 Super easy-to-use front panel (with drawings included 😌) ✨ Function for creamier textures 🧼 dishwasher-safe pieces 📖 includes recipe book 💸 Price: €108 👉🏼 with the code XATAKAES10 it stays at €95 💥 And be careful, because there are MANY more offers in the Summer Sale 🔗 Links in bio #Aliexpress #Bargains #Summer #Ice Cream #Offers ♬ original sound – Xataka Selección Being able to make ice cream, slushies or sorbets at home is not only convenient and healthier, but it also allows you choose the flavor (or flavors) that you most fancy at that moment. Almost certainly at some point in your childhood you have dreamed of being able to do this yourself and with a refrigerator like this one from the Tendow brand you can do it (without spending too much, too). This refrigerator, called Teendow KF-2501U1, is a fairly compact appliance that will not take up much space in the kitchen. It has 8 different functions and, also, very intuitive to use: each one has a small drawing of its usefulness. In addition, it has another different function for cleaning and its parts are dishwasher safe, which is always very useful. It comes with three different ice cream cups, which is very useful for storing our desserts. And, by the way, includes a recipe book that will help us get ideas to prepare drinks or ice creams this summer. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Aliexpress, American Heritage Chocolate In Xataka | American refrigerator or 70 cm Combi? Be careful with making mistakes when buying liters that you may not be able to use In Xataka | 1200 vs. 1400/1600 RPM in washing machines: is it worth paying extra to spin faster?

Western brands are looking for the perfect car. Their way of achieving this is to sell us renowned Chinese cars

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There was a day when China lured Europe with the promise of vacant land and cheap labor. Today those days are over. Today the automobile industry has taken the road back. Today, more and more Western manufacturers are partnering with Chinese companies. And the reason is obvious: to sell you a rebuilt Chinese car as your own. What is happening? That traditional manufacturers are assuming Chinese technology to simply sell their product to you cheaper. A product that has little of its own and a lot of Chinese, for better and for worse. The reasons They are different: Pressure to jump to the electric car Complications in making that leap (either due to monetary issues or internal difficulties) Duty A Chinese technology that is above Brands that are on the verge of bankruptcy For some of these reasons (or the sum of several), more and more traditional manufacturers are intertwining with Chinese companies to advance their products. Products that, as we say, are sometimes pure Chinese cars “disguised” as Western. The Stellantis case It is the most recent but far from unique. It is also probably the most complex. The automobile conglomerate has faced serious financial complications in recent years. The cost reduction in many of its models led to the PureTech scandal. With the obligation to manage 14 brands, some of them have lost all types of identity. And their partnership with Leapmotor has shown them that they can get a lot of juice out of the Chinese electric car. During the presentation of its latest strategic plan, the company confirmed that they have reached an agreement of 1,000 million euros with the Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng to produce Peugeot and Jeep cars in China. They will be New Energy cars (NEV). This is what they call electric cars and plug-in hybrids in China. At the moment, not many more details have been given but a key detail does seem confirmed: These are cars designed to be sold in China and exported. That is, they are not cars manufactured in China whose main market is Europe. This suggests that they will probably be entirely Chinese cars that adopt the design language of these two Western brands. Chinese production is not the only one that is compromised. The agreement opens the possibility for European plants to produce Dongfeng cars, specifically the Voyah brand. This allows Stellantis to keep the work committed in its plants (specifically, the Rennes plant in France is targeted) and Dongfeng could sell these electric cars without paying tariffs, as is happening right now. But in addition to this latest news, China has become more and more rooted in the bowels of Stellantis. Since 2023, this automobile conglomerate manages the distribution and sale of Leapmotor outside China. This company is one of those that seems to have greater potential when it comes to selling electric cars at a low price. For now, Stellantis has already confirmed that some of these cheap cars will be produced in Europe. Specifically, Figueruelas (Zaragoza) has been one of the chosen locations. This plant, therefore, will carry out small electric cars from Peugeot, Citroën and Opel and, in parallel, those from Leapmotor because they do not share a platform. However, the latter has already begun to be debated. Tianshu Xin, director of Leapmotor International, pointed out a few weeks ago that “Leapmotor vs Stellantis They are two independent manufacturers and have their own platforms. However, one of the strategic objectives of this alliance is to generate synergies, which could include platforms and their components. “About 65% of Leapmotor components are manufactured in-house, and there are synergies that would allow Stellantis to use Leapmotor parts in its future platforms,” ​​in words reported by forumelectriccars. A few days ago Stellantis presented its STLA Onethe new modular platform that will replace STLA Small for segments B, C and D. This leaves the door for the smallest size, that of segment A, just where the new Citroën 2 CV will arrive, which has fueled rumors about a greater presence of Chinese components or software in the car. To this we must add that A new Opel electric car from 2028 will have Leapmotor technology but German dress. And the relationship between Stellantis and China does not seem to end here. In recent days the rumor has gained strength that the automobile conglomerate could look to JAC for a collaboration to move Maserati forward. The Italian sports car firm has already thrown away billions of euros in its jump to the electric car and JAC manufactures luxury cars together with Huawei in China. Producing them would allow Stellantis to put an electric Maserati on the street without taking more risks. Are you sure it’s western? That a car uses Chinese technology and is re-bodied like a Western one does not have to be bad in itself. In fact, automotive conglomerates such as Stellantis or the Volkswagen Group have made their synergies between brands one of the keys to building their success. However, in some cases yes it can be a problem. When a brand boasts of being different and unique, it has a problem if it only uses a “disguise” to camouflage that what is under its body comes from outside its factories. This is what can happen to Maserati and what Mazda is playing with. Until now, the Maserati customer has bought Maserati because, quite simply, their product was a Maserati. Italian elegance with a heart inherited from Ferrari to conquer a public that preferred its cars to, for example, Porsche. When you buy this type of car, not only buy numbersbuys an aesthetic and a sound and boasts of going against the grain compared to the majority German options such as Porsche or Mercedes. Just give up the engines ferraristas It was a serious problem for his image.. The Mazda 6e and CX-6e have a Chinese heart and soul despite the fact that the brand defends the Japanese philosophy in both cars If Maserati only … Read more

They are perfect if you are looking to save and cut a subscription

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Spotify, HBO Max, and Apple TV are just three of the subscriptions I pay for religiously every month. The usual thing happens here: just one costs little, but when you start adding them up, the monthly expense hurts your pocket. For this reason, I have been thinking about cutting some subscriptions for a while, but it is difficult because, although it may seem like not, I use them all. So the solution is to look for a two-in-one subscription that allows me to remove at least one of them. This is somewhat complicated on streaming platforms, although not so much in tools that I use on a daily basis. I’ve had separate cloud storage and a VPN for a while now, but, Why not get a service that includes both? For this reason, there are three services that comply with this and have convinced me. Internxt The first option that includes both services is Internxt, a company of Spanish origin. It is a secure cloud storage service with end-to-end encryption, so not even the company itself can access your data. Besides, It is open sourceso anyone can audit it through GitHub, ensuring transparency. Its three plans include storage and VPN. The cheapest starts at 9.99 euros per month, although if we use the code ‘XATAKA’, the first month will cost only 1.57 euros. In exchange, we will have 1 TB of cloud storageencrypted VPN and, incidentally, antivirus. Internxt – One month trial The price could vary. We earn commission from these links NordVPN With NordVPN we go in the opposite direction: it is a VPN that includes cloud storage in some of its plans. It is one of the best VPNs currently available, offering a service that, in addition to being very secure, is also fast and with more than 9,400 servers spread around the world. Plus, with just one account, you can have VPN on up to 10 devices. In order to have cloud storage with NordVPN, we need to choose the ‘Full’ plan or the ‘Ultra’ plan. The first is the most economical and includes, in addition to 1 TB of cloud storageandpassword manager and protection against fraudulent calls. If we take their monthly plan, the price is 18.19 eurosalthough the most economical way in the long term is to choose their 24-month plan: that way, per month it will only cost us 4.79 euros. NordVPN Full Monthly Plan (2-year plan) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Proton Finally, we have Proton. It is another European service that has several different tools such as email, VPN or cloud storage, among others. We have the possibility of contracting some of these separately, but in this case the subscription that interests us is Proton Unlimited. Because? Because basically It is a service that encompasses everything. This subscription includes, in addition to a VPN (which is also considered one of the best), 500 GB of cloud storage, the possibility of having up to 15 encrypted email addresses, a password manager and even office tools to create and edit text documents or spreadsheets. Its price is 12.99 euros per month, although if we choose its annual subscription, the price drops to 9.99 euros per month. Proton Unlimited (one year) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Štefan ŠtefančíkInternxt, Proton, NordVPN In Xataka | Google Drive alternatives: the best cloud storage services for your files In Xataka | Best VPNs 2026: guide with the 17 best services to protect your online privacy

Despite the fact that it has been losing population and readers for years, Japan does not stop opening new libraries. And it makes perfect sense

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Japan has increasingly less people (in general). And less fond of reading (in particular). Despite one or the other, for years the country has been experiencing a curious phenomenon: its library network does not stop expanding, with hundreds and hundreds of new reading positions. To be more precise, Nikkei estimates that in 2024 there will be around 3,400 libraries spread across Japan, which is equivalent to 800 more than those that operated in 1999. The big question is… Why? The great paradox. In a country with less and less people and in which the passion for reading is losing ground, the logical thing would be for libraries to close. In Japan the first and the second happen (fewer people, fewer readers), but not the third. The curious thing is that he is not only avoiding the closures of reading positions. It is increasing them. Anyone who wants to find a place to read books at no cost has it much easier today than it was 25 years ago. Reviewing the data. To understand the paradox, it is necessary to first review three pieces of information. The first is the evolution of the Japanese population. According to World Bank Group, in 2024 they will reside in the country 123.9 million peopleconsiderably less than the 128 million it reached in 2010. And the medium and long-term outlook is not much better. The latest statistics Officials reveal that, far from slowing down, the decline in the birth rate is reaching historic figures and is advancing faster than the authorities anticipated. If nothing changes, in 2050 the population will fall to about 100 million. Less people, fewer readers. That is the second key. If we talk about reading, the problem is not so much that there are fewer Japanese as that those who exist seem less and less interested in literature. In 2018 the Agency for Cultural Affairs launched a survey to find out how often their fellow citizens read. He discovered that among those over 16 years of age the percentage of those who read less than one book a month was around 40-49%. In 2023, this indicator had already risen to 62.6%. Another 27.6% said they read between one and two books a month. As if that clue wasn’t clear enough, the number of bookstores open in Japan fell about 30% in just a decade. And the surprise came. With these figures on the table, the fact that just disclosed Nikkei and with which we started this article: today in Japan there are 30% more libraries than in 2000. Of the 2,600 public centers (in the hands of municipalities and districts) in operation at the beginning of the century, there were 3,400 in 2024. In 1996 they did not even reach 2,500. Although Japan is not far from it the country with higher ratio of reading seats per inhabitant, the increase is considerable and some libraries can even boast of moving hundreds of thousands of users a year. The Tenmonkan one, inaugurated in 2022, is around 700,000 people annually, many of them young people under 30 years of age. How is it possible? The big question. And the answer is simple: in Japan the libraries are not only more numerous, they are also they are changing. They are still reading spaces where one goes in search of books or a quiet room in which to devour a novel or study, but they are also places of socialization. Something similar to community centers, only with shelves full of books. “Residents use libraries very often. Together with auditoriums and museums, they attract people and create a lively atmosphere,” points out Katsuyoshi Kinoshita, head of the Foundation for the Advancement of Libraries. The “third place”. “They are spaces where people not only read books, but can also enjoy story-telling and other events or relax in a cafe,” confirm to Nikkei Fumihiko Suzuki of the Daiwa Research Institute. This openness has turned libraries into a kind of “third place” for many Japanese, a reference space beyond their homes, jobs or schools. Access is free, you can stay there as long as you want, there are always people and they often offer alternative activities to reading: events in auditoriums or for children, historical materials, museums… They are, in short, “meeting places.” Is it something spontaneous? Not quite. As explains Sadao Uematsu, of the Japanese Library Association, the phenomenon is partly explained by the “mergers” promoted at the beginning of the century, when “many reading rooms in community centers were converted into municipal libraries.” The success achieved last decade by some projects focused precisely on reading spaces encouraged other municipalities to get on the bandwagon. In recent years the pace of library opening has slowed down, but even so the phenomenon has aroused the interest of international institutions such as the World Economic Forum, which in February dedicated it an extensive analysis that connects the ‘boom’ of libraries with another of the phenomena that mark Japanese society: aging. In a country in which those over 65 years of age represent more than 29% of the population, spaces with community activities have become a key element for the well-being of the elderly. Against this backdrop, libraries have become valuable allies. Images | Olegs Jonins (Unsplash) and Yanhao Fang (Unsplash) In Xataka | While Japan’s population is sinking irremediably, Tokyo is growing. There is an explanation: ikkyoku shūchū

We have hundreds of abandoned silos in Spain. Extremadura has found the perfect technology to convert them into batteries

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There are industrial infrastructures that, when they stop being useful, end up blending into the landscape without making much noise, turned into concrete ghosts. The old grain silos, which for decades were the vibrant heart of the agricultural economy of many towns, are today the best example of this reality in rural Spain. However, the energy transition has brought them a destiny that is as unexpected as it is promising. The region of Extremadura has decided to give a second life to these abandoned giants next to roads and plains, transforming them into enormous facilities to store renewable energy. Silos in batteries. All of this materializes under the THESILO projecta cross-border initiative that has just been officially presented in the small town of Torremocha in Cáceres. There, the City Council has donated a disused silo to house the first experimental pilot that will test this technology in real conditions. The urgency of this essay is better understood when looking at the sector’s figures: over the last year, according to data from Red Eléctrica de España (REE)nearly 10,000 MW of new renewable power were installed in the country. The conflict arises when this enormous production is concentrated at specific times of the day, especially with photovoltaic technology. In very sunny regions like Extremadura, the electrical grid collapses as it cannot absorb all the available energy, causing the dreaded “dumps”: plants that must stop their production because there is nowhere to store the electricity and the energy is wasted. So the solution proposed by THESILO is brilliant in its simplicity: take advantage of these enormous concrete structures to store electrical surpluses in the form of heat. Nordic inspiration. Although visually it may seem like science fiction, this concept already has a solid precedent in northern Europe. In Finland already operates successfully the system Power to Heat (energy to heat) through gigantic “sand batteries”. In the town of Pornainen, a silo filled with 2,000 tonnes of crushed soapstone is capable of storing heat at temperatures of up to 500°C for months, achieving an efficiency of between 85% and 90%. The Extremaduran project It is based on the same principle: When renewable production skyrockets and electricity loses value in the market, that excess energy will be used to power high-efficiency resistors that will generate heat. This heat will be trapped inside the silo using very low-cost granular materials as a storage medium. There is no need to use construction sand; The use of recycled waste from quarries, industrial by-products and demolition materials that resist high temperatures in a stable and economical manner will be investigated. Once stored, the objective is that this heat can be distributed through thermal exchange systems to supply the local agri-food industry, public buildings or homes in the surrounding municipalities. The project, whose execution It is scheduled between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2028, and is structured around four main axes, ranging from the adaptation of the silos to the analysis of their legal and environmental viability. X-ray of the project. To understand the magnitude of THESILO you have to look at its figures: framed in the European Interreg POCTEP programthe project manages a budget of more than 1.5 million euros, largely supported by FEDER funds. The cross-border consortium is led by the Iberian Center for Research in Energy Storage (CIIAE), which has built a strategic network with Spanish and Portuguese allies such as AGENEX, INTROMAC, ADAI, AreanaTejo, the Polytechnic of Portalegre and ITECONS. An essential union of forces to cover the EUROACE euroregion (Extremadura, Alentejo and Central Portugal), an extensive territory where today 1,050 disused silos await with the potential of becoming the thermal battery network of the future. An impact that crosses borders. Beyond the technological component, the socioeconomic impact is the true driving force of the initiative. The Secretary General of Science, Technology and Innovation, Javier de Francisco Morcillo, stressed during the presentation that the ultimate objective is the “boost of business growth and the revitalization of rural communities.” According to the secretary, Europe demands that the knowledge generated “leads to a transfer of results that results in immediate socioeconomic improvement.” Furthermore, he highlighted the capacity of Extremadura to lead these cross-border funds, recalling that the region has captured between 2021 and 2025 more than double the funds from the Horizon Europe program compared to the 2014-2020 period, according to data from the CDTI. The future involves recycling the past. There are still unknowns to clear up and regulatory procedures to overcome to demonstrate that this model works on a large scale. The Torremocha pilot will be the true test of fire to evaluate how the original structure of the silo responds to high temperatures and certify whether the investment makes sense compared to other solutions that are gaining ground, such as hydraulic pumping or chemical batteries. However, THESILO perfectly summarizes where the energy transition in Europe is headed. Decarbonization cannot depend solely on newly built pharaonic infrastructures; It also requires projects that embrace the circular economy. Reusing already built infrastructure not only reduces costs and avoids new construction, but also brings forgotten giants back to life, attracting investment and employment to areas that have been losing population for years. A demonstration that the solution to tomorrow’s energy challenges may be hidden in plain sight in the towns of rural Spain. Image | Xataka Xataka | Finland has found a cheap way to store energy all winter: a tower of 2,000 tons of sand

Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up or wait a couple of hours? This is what science says about perfect timing

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For decades we have heard the incomprehensible mantra that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, however, nutrition has been advancing to put the focus now when we eat and not what it is eaten. But here chrononutrition studies how the timing of our food affects our metabolism; has a lot to say about it. A schedule. If you are one of those who jump out of bed straight to the toaster or, on the contrary, one of those who need a couple of hours to pass for their stomach to “open”, you have probably asked yourself: what is the ideal time to have breakfast? And to answer this question, we have to turn to science. The biological clock. Something very important here is that our body does not process food the same at eight in the morning than at eight in the afternoon, all because our circadian clock and insulin sensitivity fluctuate throughout the day. According to classic reviews in this field, aligning the onset of feeding with the active phase of our circadian rhythm improves glucose homeostasis, lipid control, and thermogenesis. The bottom line here is that our body is better prepared to manage energy in the morning. The studies. Here, a large review published in 2023 followed more than 100,000 people and its results were conclusive in pointing out that eating breakfast after 9:00 in the morning increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 59% compared to doing it before 8:00. But constantly delaying the first meal of the day and shifting caloric intake towards the evening is associated with a higher cardiovascular risk and worse metabolic markers at the population level. Therefore, the premise we have on the table right now is that eating breakfast early offers a great advantage. But with nuances. Having breakfast early is good, but… Does it have to be as soon as you open your eyes? There is no clinical trial here that dictates that you should eat food at minute zero after waking up, and in fact, waiting a little can bring benefits metabolic under certain situations. One of them, which came from a trial published in 2025compared people who ate breakfast early, at 8:30, with another group of people who ate breakfast mid-morning, at 10:30. Here, surprisingly, mid-morning breakfast reduced the glycemic response of the following meal to make it more efficient. This indicates that the time interval between breakfast and lunch influences how our body processes sugar hours later. More cases. In the case of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a trial observed that delaying breakfast until mid-morning or even at noon managed to reduce the blood glucose that occurred after eating. What needs to be done. For most adults, science suggests that it is best to eat breakfast within the first hour or two of waking up, so there is no need to get out of bed and start eating because it seems to be the most efficient. But if we want to be precise, the limit may be nine in the morning, since delaying the first time we drink something too much in the day until noon and having dinner late is the perfect recipe for metabolic imbalance. In short, there is no need to force yourself to swallow toast with your eyes still glued to sleep. Letting your body wake up, doing your morning routines, and eating breakfast an hour after waking up not only respects your natural rhythms if you’re not immediately hungry, but it has solid clinical support. Images | freepik In Xataka | We’ve been telling ourselves for 100 years that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day.” The problem is that it is not true

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