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Navantia has just received a key piece to achieve it

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If one looks at the evolution of conventional submarines, there is one constant that repeats itself: the race to stay underwater as long as possible. It is not just about speed or weapons, but about autonomy in immersion, a factor that directly determines the discretion of the platform and its patrol capacity. When a submarine has to interrupt that cycle to ventilate, manage gases or refuel, its operating margin is reduced. For this reason, much of the engineering behind the new submarines focuses precisely on solving that problem. And that is where the technology that Spain is integrating comes into play. in the S-80 program. The jump of the S-80 submarine. Amper, through its engineering subsidiary Proes-OSL Iberia, delivered to Navantia the carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H₂) catalytic reactors for the submarines S-83 “Cosme García” and S-84 “Mateo García de los Reyes”. These devices are part of the atmosphere revitalization system, integrated into the AIP compartment. According to the company itself, the project started in 2022 and the equipment has already received official certification from Navantia after completing the corresponding technical verifications. A key piece. The delivery announced by Amper has to do with a very specific element of the submarine’s technical ecosystem, the system responsible for maintaining the interior atmosphere within safe parameters during operation. Revitalization of the atmosphere in the submarine. The reactors developed by the company allow the controlled elimination of carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the compartment where the AIP system is integrated. The technology uses a catalytic combustion process that purifies these gases and helps maintain breathable air on board. In detail. The S-80 incorporates an AIP system developed by Navantia called BEST (Bio-Ethanol Stealth Technology). This system produces hydrogen on board using a reformer that uses bioethanol stored on the submarine. This hydrogen is then combined with oxygen in a fuel cell that generates electricity to power the ship’s systems during the dive, an architecture designed to extend operational autonomy without depending exclusively on batteries. What it means to stay underwater for weeks. Navantia explains that the BEST AIP system is designed to allow conventional submarines to remain submerged for prolonged periods in different environmental conditions. In that scenario, the unit reduces the need to interrupt its immersion cycle to manage power or interior atmosphere. Navantia links this greater autonomy with an expanded patrol area and with a “zero Indiscretion Coefficient”, a term it uses to describe a decrease in the probability of being detected during the mission. modern submarine. The design of the S-80 responds to the idea of ​​a modern ocean submarine capable of operating on long missions. Navantia describes the platform as a highly automated system that can be operated by a crew of 32 sailors, with eight additional spaces for on-board personnel. The ship is approximately 80 meters long, about 7 meters in diameter and has a submerged displacement of close to 3,000 tons. In addition, it can exceed 19 knots underwater speed and reach depths greater than 300 meters during operation. Apparently it is just one more component in the long list of equipment that makes up a submarine. However, systems like these are part of a much broader logic within the S-80 design. Each of them contributes to sustaining the operation of the submarine for longer periods without the need to modify its diving profile. As subsequent units in the series integrate these developments from their initial configuration, the S-80 program will show the extent to which these technologies can translate into greater operational autonomy underwater. Images | NAVANTIA In Xataka | The war in Iran is about to begin a suicidal combat: there are missiles, drones and kamikaze ships in the most fearsome point on the planet

It had been listed as “scrap” in a museum for 100 years. Now we know that it is the piece that advanced Egyptian engineering by 2,000 years.

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If we think about the ancient egyptian technologythe images that come to mind are the monumental ones pyramids of giza or the great obelisks of the New Kingdom. However, the foundations of this technological feat were forged long before, as pointed out by a new archaeological study that has identified the oldest rotating metal drill in Egypt, a discovery that advances the mastery of this tool by more than two millennia and that rewrites the history of the technology in the Nile Valley. Where was it found? The story of this discovery, the truth is, could fit into a series called “Archaeological CSI”, since it all started with an identified object like a tiny piece of metal that measures just 63 millimeters and weighs 1.5 grams. This was excavated a century ago in tomb 3932 of the Badari cemetery in Upper Egypt, and had lain forgotten ever since. Literally ignored in a drawer at the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, was this object that caught the attention of a research team that decided to follow his trail using the most modern technology. A drill. What was initially classified as a simple and insignificant punch was actually a bow drill. This is the conclusion of this new exhaustive analysis of the piece, where they have been able to see unmistakable marks of its mechanical use such as rotational grooves, a specific curvature for tension and microscopic remains of leather rope. How it worked. What today is a drill that works connected to electricity, in ancient times, the bow drill worked by winding the string of a bow around an axle that held the drill bit. In this way, by moving the bow back and forth, the drill bit rotated at high speed. Its importance. As the researcher points out, the Egyptians had the ability to master this rotation technology more than two millennia before the first sets of drills that humanity knew today. This once again shows us how advanced it could be in its context in the art of construction. Unusual alloy. The big question here is how such an ancient tool could drill hard materials without deforming. And the answer is in chemistry. In this case, the researchers they used portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and saw that the drill was not made of just copper, but was an alloy of arsenic, nickel, lead and silver. A combination that is not coincidental, since the presence of arsenic gave the copper a much higher hardness, transforming the metal into a high-performance tool capable of resisting continuous friction. The trade. Beyond the mechanical value, for historians this mixture of metals is also really important because it points to strong commercial connections with the eastern Mediterranean, revealing that predynastic Egypt was not only innovating technologically, but was connected to a global network of exchange of exotic materials long before the unification of the pharaohs. The technological history. Until now, the official narrative placed the perfection of these rotating metal tools much later in the Egyptian timeline. But now, this tiny forgotten object forces us to recalibrate our understanding of human ingenuity. Images | Martin Odler Osama Elsayed In Xataka | To transport us to Ancient Egypt, researchers have been doing one thing for months: smelling mummies from 5,000 years ago

In South America there is a bird that camouflages itself as a piece of wood. And a young Uruguayan has insisted on finding him

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In the depths of the South American forests lives a bird that has inspired legends, myths and night terrors and is called the ‘ghost bird’, although his real name is urutaú. At first glance it is just a piece of wood that acts as an extension of the tree on which it perches like a chameleonbut behind this mimicry lies a biology that makes many scientists very curious to see it live even if it is really complicated. An ornithologist. The urutaú is not a bird that one finds by chance, but one must know how to look. Mauricio Silvera, a young Uruguayan amateur ornithologist who has been observing birds since he was five years old, knows this premise well, and according to a recent report from the BBCMauricio has turned observing this elusive species into a true passion. In popular culture, the melancholic song of the urutaú has fueled all kinds of folklore and rural legends in South America. However, for observers like Silvera, the true “magical power” of this species is not in the myths, but in its plumage and its peculiar way of ‘hiding’. A chameleon. It is no wonder, since we are not talking about it going slightly unnoticed, but rather its ability to imitate the bark of trees It is so perfect that sighting records on scientific platforms often require exhaustive photographic confirmation. And it is no wonder, because without this evidence it is difficult to convince the experts that they are not looking at a simple branch and a small irregularity that corresponds to this bird. How he does it. Disappearing in broad daylight is not something easy to achieve, but here science has different answers that go far beyond the simple color of their feathers. The key is in visual crypsis, where research shows that these birds not only have a plumage pattern that blends with the environment, but also make active decisions about where to perch in trees. And it is that a 2017 study on the choice of backgrounds showed that these birds carefully select the place where they rest to maximize the coincidence of patterns with their environment, which increases the survival rate against predators. And if they don’t see it, they can go completely missing. Modify your smell. Beyond the visual, researchers were able to see in a fascinating 2022 study that these birds have the ability to change your scent profiles in different seasons to prevent predators from being able to smell them. Echolocation. Unlike most birds, owls have developed this system, emitting acoustic signals to navigate in the darkness of Venezuelan and South American caves, similar to bats. Furthermore, their role in the ecosystem is vital, since research into the “secret life” of these birds reveals that they are formidable seed dispersers. They spend entire days in the trees regurgitating the seeds of the fruits they consume, acting as true foresters who maintain the ecological connectivity of Neotropical forests. A story of the search. As we see, it is not easy to find this bird and that is why Mauricio Silvera relates that finding it is “an adrenaline rush like in the chest of not knowing what to do: whether to scream, take the photo and tell someone.” Even this biology student makes a very comical simile when he sees that it is “almost like looking for Pokémon and seeing how many little birds you find and if you find the rarest one.” Your adventure always begins with a location or a photo that indicates that the bird may be present in a specific place. But due to its great ability to hide, it means that your trips do not always end with a photograph of this bird, much to your misfortune. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | “Emergency room mentality”: the Dutch philosopher convinced that saving snails is saving ourselves

Shahed drones were a piece of cake for Ukraine’s helicopters. Russia has just transformed them into its biggest nightmare

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In it huge catalog of innovations improvised measures brought by the war in ukrainefew are as revealing as the decision that Russia has taken to address one of the main vulnerabilities of its drones. In essence, they have turned the Shahed-136 (symbol of its saturation strategy through cheap and disposable platforms) in a rudimentary anti-aircraft fighter. The mutation. What was born as a suicide drone with autonomy to travel hundreds of kilometers following pre-programmed routes has been transformed, in some variants, into a system piloted in real timeequipped with cameras, modems and now with the R-60 missilea veteran infrared-guided missile from the 1970s that, despite its compact size, retains the lethality of a weapon capable of cutting a helicopter in two with its load of continuous rods. The broadcast images by Ukrainian organizations and electronic warfare experts confirm the presence of the R-60 mounted on the Shahed’s noseand the interception of one of them by a Ukrainian Sting drone illustrates that Russia is experimenting with the idea of ​​​​transforming a disposable projectile in a reactive vectorcapable of confronting the devices that, until now, acted as unpunished hunters of these platforms. The new tactical ecosystem. The success of the Ukrainian helicopters in intercepting Shaheds (with devices sporting dozens of shoot-down marks and crews accredited with hundreds of downed drones) had turned these aircraft in key pieces of low-level air defense. The combination of moderate speed, predictable trajectory and total lack of situational awareness made the drone a almost static whitevulnerable to cannon blasts or volleys used at close range. But the introduction of the R-60 upsets that balance: although the platform remains clumsy, slow and limited in maneuver, the simple fact that some drones can carry missiles will force Ukrainian pilots to rethink their proximity to the target. Each interception stops being a procedure and becomes in an unknown about what version of the enemy they will encounter. Extra ball. Even if the actual kill capability of the armed Shahed is small (and the operational window for targeting with a short-range missile is narrow) the statistical nature of swarm warfare change the calculation: In thousands of launches, just getting into a good position will be enough to cause the loss of a valuable helicopter. Technical limitations. The R-60, known by NATO as Aphidwas designed for supersonic fighters, not slow drones intended as loitering munitions. Its integration into the Shahed poses obvious challenges: the operator must manually retarget the drone until it is pointed at the target, achieving an adequate angle to allow the infrared seeker to acquire the thermal signature and maintain alignment long enough to authorize the shot. He narrow field of vision of the missile, the Shahed’s low maneuverability and the possibility of helicopters using infrared flares reduce the chances of success. However, historical experience shows that even imperfect weaponry can achieve victories if the tactical environment favors it. Remains of an intercepted Shahed with the R-60 attached The precedent. If we go back we have the Predator armed american with Stingers in 2002 (failed but deterrent), which reveals that these configurations do not seek air superiority, but rather force the enemy to act with caution. Just as Ukrainian unmanned ships were armed with missiles To scare away the Russian helicopters that were harassing them, Russia adopts the same defensive-offensive logic: a single one of these armed drones, hidden among a swarm of externally identical devices, forces the adversary to increase distance, use more expensive means or modify its interception doctrine. Drones against drones. The Shahed armed with an R-60 is not, by itself, a transformative weapon. It is, however, as symptom of evolution continued unmanned combat. Russia has expanded the Shahed family into versions with real time controljet variants already produced in its own factories and possible improvements based on artificial intelligence for dynamic target identification. Ukraine, for its part, develops interceptors low-cost that allow us to shoot down Russian drones without risking manned aircraft or spending expensive missiles. Every innovation generates a countermeasure: if Ukraine popularizes cheap hunting drones, Russia studies equipping the Shaheds of tiny turrets or new sensors, and if these become reactive, Ukraine adapts its doctrines and strengthens its electronic warfare. The conflict has entered a phase where the value is not in the perfection of each platform, but in the ability to produceadapt and deploy thousands of them in an environment where the line between offensive and defensive becomes blurred. The most dangerous sky. It is the result of these advances. The introduction of Shahed-R-60 marks a turning point because it erodes one of the few stable advantages that Ukraine had maintained: the capacity of its helicopters to hunt drones with relative safety. Now each aircraft must consider the possibility, however remote, of facing a missile that was not foreseen in the original mission design. This not only complicates interceptions, but forces disperse risks and rethink routes, altitudes and speeds. The Ukrainian sky, already saturated with suicide drones, cruise missiles, loitering munitions and manned aircraft operating in densely contested airspace, add another variable to an operational equation in constant mutation. And it is likely that this is just the beginning: the integration of missiles is a first step towards drones that, in addition to attacking by saturation, can defend themselves or even escort other devices in combined waves. Image | Telegram, X In Xataka | There is tourism that flies en masse where tragedies have occurred. So the Low Costs are preparing to travel to Ukraine In Xataka | Ukraine’s problem with peace negotiations is simple: if it rejects them, Russia will get tougher in the next ones.

In Mexico, Generation Z has taken to the streets to demand changes. And he did it with ‘One Piece’

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Mexico has joined the wave of protests youth events that over the last few months have shaken Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Peru, Morocco either Philippinesto cite a handful of examples. Marches that share two great hallmarks. The first, who promotes them: young people from Generation Z (born between the late 90s and the first decade of the 2000s) raised in the heat of the networks and now crying out for change. The second, its symbol. It does not matter whether the protests are organized in Lima, Kathmandu or Mexico City. Beyond using networks as catalysts, the mobilizations of Generation Z usually resort to the same emblem: the pirate flag from ‘One Piece’, the manga of Eiichiro Oda that the protesters have turned into their most identifiable banner. And not just because of the flag. In the marches it is also common to see other clear nods to the comic, such as the use of straw hats. How did you get to Mexico? After weeks of brewing online, the most visible mobilization in Mexico took place this weekend, when thousands of people gathered in the capital to make clear their “political fatigue”. The authorities speak of around 17,000 attendeesa human tide that left the monument The Angel of Independence and concluded in the Zócalo. The call was for the most part peaceful and passed without major incidents, beyond the insults to the president (Claudia Sheinbaum); but it was marred by the final altercations, which left more than a hundred of injured (mostly police officers) and several dozen arrested. In fact, the Ministry of the Interior assures that during the “violent acts” homemade explosive devices were used and objects were thrown at the agents. Who took to the streets? Some media they assure that among the protesters there were mainly young people, others qualify that during most of the Mexico City march, Generation Z was a minority and the most common thing was to meet people who were over 30 years old. Sheinbaum herself influenced that message later, commenting on what happened on Saturday in Mexico City: “They say that young people marched, but in reality there were very few, and they violently removed fences and broke windows. No to violence.” The truth is that, beyond Mexico City, there were mobilizations in other points of the country, such as Yucatán, Puebla, Monterrey or Guanajuato, and among the protesters they waved the banners of ‘One Piece’. Also posters demanding improvements in the country and Mexican flags with the face of Carlos Manzothe local leader of Uruapan shot to death just a few weeks ago. His death (a new example of the violence in the country) was in fact one of the levers of the protests. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And why did they go out into the streets? The other key. The TendenciaMax account (656,600 followers) echoed a few weeks ago a manifesto headed by “Generation Z Mexico” and the ‘One Piece’ flag (modified to add a mustache and Mexican hat), on which keys to the call were slipped. To begin with, it was insisted that the movement does not endorse any ideology or party and lacks “disguised agendas.” “We are young people who love our country and we are tired of the same history, the same abuse and corruption.” During the march people could be heard expressing their exhaustion with the violence, insecurity, Sheinbaum’s management or even denouncing that Manzo “the State killed him”. The word “narco-state” was also drawn on the wall built by the authorities to protect the Presidential Palace from protests. Excelsior slips that another point that has caused tension to grow is the decision to apply a 8% tax to video games with violent content. In the opinion of the Executive, the protest is orchestrated actually by the opposition and reply to an “articulated digital strategy” in networks by dint of bots. Why ‘One Piece’? If spontaneous mobilizations have something, it is that it is not easy to define them. Gen Z marches are no exception. Although in recent months they seem to have gained strengthspreading through Asia, Africa and Latin America, the truth is that they can go back even further in time, to student uprising of Bangladesh that led the prime minister to flee to India, or the 2022 revolt in Sri Lanka that forced the president to resign. What they have in common is the mobilization of Generation Z and the fortune that ‘One Piece’ seems to have made in their imagination, something that it doesn’t seem casual. The comic began to be published in the late 90s and continues to be updated, so its popularity has coincided with the Gen Z boom, and much of its plot fits in with the demands of the protests. After all, its main character, the young and charismatic pirate Monkey D. Luffyis presented as a figure of liberation. Images | David Cabrera (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | Young people have become more spiritual than the average in Spain. The problem for the Church is that no more Catholics

The enormous Mayrit tunnel boring machine on Metro L11 is already in Madrid. Now comes the real challenge: putting it together piece by piece

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In Madrid there are already the pieces of one of the largest machines that will work in the city’s underground in the coming years. It is about Mayritthe EPB tunnel boring machine 98 meters long and 1,500 tons in weight whose transport started in Germany, continued along the Rhine to Rotterdam and continued by boat to the port of Santander. After that journey, a special convoy has completed more than 450 kilometers by road to take its modules to the future Comillas station, where it will prepare to excavate the new section of Line 11 between Plaza Elíptica and Conde de Casal. The work on which Mayrit will work is part of a broader intervention that the Community of Madrid describes in 2025 as the largest expansion of the Metro network in the last decade. Official data published in November put progress at 34% and maintain a budget of 518 million euros to complete the new section and the planned stations. The regional government maintains the year 2027 as a reference to close this phase of the project. Mayrit is already in Madrid: one hour left to convert its parts into a single operational machine When dealing with a machine of this size and complexity, each phase of the process requires precision that goes far beyond conventional engineering. Mayrit’s journey towards Spain began long before it appeared on the road: it started in Schwanau, the German town where Herrenknecht completed its manufacturing after about 20 months of work. There, more than a thousand kilometers from Madrid, the tunnel boring machine It was assembled for the first time in June 2025 to carry out initial verifications. This assembly showed the magnitude of the next step: converting the machine into a set of parts capable of traveling around Europe without risks. Disassembling it was not a quick procedure. For the next two months, Herrenknecht teams dedicated themselves to separating each module following a sequence calculated to the millimeter. The result was a set of sections ready to begin an international tour. The disembarkation in the port of Santander marked the beginning of the last stage of Mayrit’s journey, a phase that requires coordination very different from that of river and maritime transport. The pieces arrived distributed in separate shipments and were transferred to prepared platforms, a process that is carried out with specialized equipment to avoid any unexpected displacement. The organization of the road transfer incorporated common protocols in special transport, with large-tonnage vehicles escorted by technical teams in charge of checking clearances, turning radii and urban accesses. The authorities confirmed that the advance was carried out mainly at night to reduce interruptions and facilitate maneuvers in the most delicate sections of the route. The arrival in the Comillas area required a final deployment of personnel and machinery to accommodate each piece in the work area, where the assembly phase that will transform this set of modules into a single operational tunnel boring machine is already awaiting. The arrival of the pieces also marks the beginning of a phase that, according to forecasts distributed between June and November 2025, can extend until March 2026. Assembling a TBM requires joining modules in a strict order, connecting hydraulic and electrical systems, and performing tests that are concentrated between late January and February. It is a sequential process that is not resolved in a few days and that determines the date on which the machine will be able to start digging at the beginning of March. The official documentation describes Mayrit as an EPB machine adapted to the geotechnical characteristics of the layout. Its operation is based on maintaining a balance of pressures that prevents unwanted movements on the surface, especially relevant in urban environments. To sustain this process, shifts of specialists are involved who manage the control and evacuation systems of the excavated material. The expected performanceclose to 15 meters per day, will be decisive in setting the pace of mechanized advance. Comillas will be the point from which Mayrit will begin the mechanized sectionaccording to the forecasts that the Community of Madrid has been detailing since June 2025. From there it will advance to Conde de Casalwhile in parallel the manual excavation of about 700 meters towards Plaza Elíptica progresses, started in September with a performance of close to 50 meters per month. The beginning of the excavation will mark the jump between the preparatory work and the actual progress of the tunnel that will transform this section of Line 11. With each meter excavated, the planned layout will get closer to its final shape and will allow the progress of the project to be measured more clearly. It is a significant element within regional planning to reinforce mobility in one of the areas with the most demand on the network. Images | Community of Madrid In Xataka | Malaga has become a magnet for the most luxurious yachts in the world: the latest, that of the co-founder of Google

Researchers find a piece of ice from six million years ago. What is really valuable is the air trapped inside

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A team of scientists has achieved something extraordinary in the frozen Allan Hills, east of Antarctica: extracting 6-million-year-old ice samples, the oldest ever directly dated. Trapped inside are air bubbles that date back to Earth’s Miocene atmosphere, when our planet was much warmer and sea level considerably higher than today. A time capsule in the form of ice. The discovery, published in the journal PNAS on October 28 and led by Sarah Shackleton of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and John Higgins of Princeton University, more than doubles the age of the oldest known ice so far, which dated to about 2.7 million years ago. “Ice cores are like time machines that allow scientists to take a look at what our planet was like in the past,” explains Shackleton. “The Allan Hills cores help us travel much further back than we thought possible.” How they found it. Between 2019 and 2023, the Center for the Exploration of Older Ice (COLDEX) team drilled between 100 and 200 meters deep into the ice sheet in the Allan Hills region, located about 2,000 meters above sea level. Just like they count From the Middle Space, this area is especially valuable because the topography of the terrain and ice flow patterns allow extremely old ice to be preserved closer to the surface, unlike the Antarctic interior where it would be necessary to drill more than 2,000 meters to reach similar ages. Dating. The researchers They determined the age of the ice measuring the radioactive decay of argon isotopes present in trapped air bubbles. This method allows ice to be dated directly, without the need to examine the rocks or soil around it. The result: 6 million years, a time when the Earth was home to now extinct creatures such as saber-toothed tigers, arctic rhinos and the first mammoths. Cooling. Analysis of oxygen isotopes in the cores revealed that the Allan Hills region has cooled approximately 12 ºC during the last 6 million years. It is the first direct evidence that quantifies how much the Antarctic climate has cooled since that ancient warm period. Ed Brook, director of COLDEX and paleoclimatologist at Oregon State University, stands out that “the team has built a library of what we call ‘climate snapshots’ about six times older than any previously reported ice core data.” Why does it matter? While Antarctica and the Earth as a whole have progressively cooled for millennia, humans are now rapidly increasing global temperatures by release large amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Studying these bubbles of ancient air will allow scientists to reconstruct past greenhouse gas concentrations and ocean heat levels, which could give us clues to what natural factors have contributed to the climate. climate change throughout the entire history of our planet. Surviving extreme conditions. “We are still discovering the exact conditions that allow such ancient ice to survive so close to the surface,” points out Shackleton. “Along with the topography, it’s likely a mix of strong winds and intense cold. The wind blows fresh snow and the cold slows the ice almost to a stop. That makes Allan Hills one of the best places in the world to find shallow old ice, and one of the toughest to spend a season in the field,” he continued. Next steps. The COLDEX team plans to return to Allan Hills in the coming months to carry out more drilling. They hope to recover even older samples and produce a more detailed record of Earth’s ancient atmosphere. “Given the spectacularly old ice we have discovered in Allan Hills, we have also designed a new comprehensive long-term study of this region to try to extend the records even further in time, which we hope to carry out between 2026 and 2031,” concludes Brook. Images | COLDEX In Xataka | What are sixth generation fires: the megafires that create their own weather

The United States is offering millions of dollars to quantum companies. In exchange, he wants to keep a piece of each

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The United States has opened a new stage in its industrial policy. This time it is not about aid without return or simple soft loans: Washington is offering millions of dollars to quantum companies in exchange for a share in its capital. The information comes from the Wall Street Journalwhich points out that the agreements seek more than just supporting promising companies. The message is clear: the Government wants to ensure a seat at the table for a technology that can reconfigure the economy and global power for decades to come. The initiative fits into a chain of recent decisions in which Washington has been deepening its presence in sectors considered strategic. The Government transformed almost 9,000 million dollars in previous aid to Intel in a participation close to 9.9% and obtained special rights in US Steel to oversee sensitive corporate decisions. He also supported MP Materials in the critical mineral chain. The signal is clear: when the sector is considered vital, Donald Trump’s White House seeks to stay on board. When public money also buys influence Conversations affect some of the most visible names of the American quantum ecosystem. According to the newspaper, companies such as IonQ, Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum They are negotiating with the Department of Commerce the entry of the State into their capital. Other firms, including Quantum Computing Inc. and Atom Computing, are studying similar deals. Operations would start from a minimum of 10 million dollars per company in this initial phase, with the possibility of more applicants joining as the program progresses. The conditions are not limited to a mere public investment. The Commerce Department is studying formulas ranging from equity stakes to intellectual property licenses, royalties or revenue sharing schemes. The conversations are led by Paul Dabbarformer executive of the quantum sector and current number two in the department, according to published information. At this stage there are no closed agreements, but the approach indicates that the State seeks a tangible return and supervision tools. Washington’s interest is not explained only by financial reasons. Quantum computing is emerging as one of the technologies with the greatest capacity for industrial transformation. These machines promise to solve calculations that would take eons to current systemswith potential applications in fields such as drug design, advanced materials or highly complex chemistry. Adding to this momentum is international competition, with companies like IBM, Microsoft and Google involved and China advancing its own quantum race. The security dimension adds another layer of urgency. Quantum algorithms are projected to They may violate traditional encryption systemsincluding RSA and ECC, exposing both sensitive communications and critical infrastructure. The risk is not limited to the future: the strategy known as harvest now, decrypt later suggests that malicious actors are already collecting encrypted data for decryption when this capability becomes available. Given this scenario, Fortinet highlights the need to move towards post-quantum cryptography and strengthen networks and systems. The practical potential of this technology is well illustrated by the pharmaceutical sector. McKinsey highlights that quantum can transform drug development by enabling precise molecular simulations, something that classical calculus and pure AI fail to always capture. Large companies are already testing these systems to study proteins, evaluate chemical reactions or reduce experimental steps. This ability to model complex structures from scratch promises to accelerate research, improve the success rate in trials and shorten times to market for new therapies. The implementation of this approach is not limited to companies. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Commerce Department reorganized the office responsible for the scientific side of the CHIPS program and recovered several billion dollars that had been allocated to previous technology initiatives. The political message is transparent: the Executive wants public investments to be measurable and for the State to have mechanisms to benefit when the funded projects mature, especially in sectors with high strategic involvement. The shift raises dilemmas typical of a more interventionist model. Public participation can facilitate stability in strategic sectors, but it also opens the door to conflicts between technological, industrial or political priorities. The central doubt is to what extent the presence of the State will affect the pace of decision and the flexibility that the most competitive sectors demand. There are still relevant unknowns. The final percentages that the State could reach or the exact conditions that would accompany the participations are not known. According to the information available, the agreements are still in the negotiation phase and could be modified before being closed. It also remains to be seen what commitments will be required of companies and whether there will be associated performance or governance criteria. At this point, the process is moving forward, but a definitive schedule for awards or formalization of agreements has not yet been announced. Images | Dynamic Wang | D-Wave Quantum | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 In Xataka | The United States and China have finally met to resolve the trade war: one will give in on tariffs, the other on rare earths

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

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

The border between Morocco and Algeria was closed in 1994. 30 years later, the fight threatens to claim its most unexpected piece: the date

by

A strong, dry, accurate blow is enough. Only one, in the center of the chest. When this happens, the diaphragm contracts violently and the body exhales all the air it has inside: the person is temporarily unable to inhale. That is exactly what happened to the international date market on October 10, 2025: it was left breathless. And the reason was a misunderstanding. That and a very long diplomatic conflict that always ends up affecting Spain. What has happened? October 10. The advice of GIDattes (the Tunisian interprofessional date group) published a statement in which the start of exports was announced of dates. Business as usual, really. But they added a clarification that set off all the alarms: “to all markets except the Moroccan one.” In a matter of hours, everyone interpreted that Tunisia was vetoing the export of these fruits to the west. October 13 and 14. Given the widespread noise and uncertainty in the sector, the GIDattes He clarified that there was no type of exclusion. Simply put, as it is the main export market, These required a special calendar that would be approved on October 20. October 19, 20 and 21. But it was too late, the Moroccan employers’ associations and producer groups had smelled blood. For the first time in years, there was a 20% chance (19.7% in 2024) of the dates consumed by the country would disappear from the equation: the profits for local producers would be enormous. October 21. After the meeting on the 20th, the Tunisian press reported that there would indeed be exports to Morocco at the end of October: “like every year“. What does Algeria have to do with all this? Moroccan farmers have gone directly to where it hurts most: they have accused Tunisian dates of be Algerian. It is, moreover, a classic accusation of the Moroccan countryside. Something that no one can completely rule out (due to the traditional traceability deficits of the Maghreb), but that no one really takes seriously. Although it is not going through its best moment, Tunisia is a giant in the world of dates. He doesn’t need Algeria at all. But Algeria is a sensitive issue in the western end of North Africa. A little context. The historical enmity between Morocco and Algeria can be traced back to the very independence of these territories: border disputes ended up leading to the War of the Sands of 1963 and, above all, in the Algerian support for the Polisario Front in Western Sahara. In 94, an attack in Marrakech (in which two Spaniards died) caused a diplomatic conflict that closed the enormous land border between both countries. They have not been reopened and, in fact, in 2021, diplomatic and commercial relations they are broken. Suffice it to say that, if the accusations of the Moroccan producers are confirmed, the Tunisian date would disappear from the markets of the Alawite state. Why is all this so important? This has had an impact on the international date market because, although Tunisia is in the doldrums (and Saudi Arabia has overtaken it in recent years) it is still the second country in date exports. A decision such as that of vetoing the largest importer of dates in the world, Morocco, would have caused a violent restructuring of commercial networks around the globe. To all this we must add a key fact: the third country in date exports, Israel. Today (with or without a peace agreement) no one knows exactly what will happen to the tens of thousands of tons that the Hebrew country puts on the market each year. And that, logically, generates even more uncertainty. The important thing is in the details. In dates, for example. In recent days Steve Witkof and Jared Kushner (Trump’s special envoys) revealed that they were working to reach an agreement between Morocco and Algeria that would solve the Sahara issue. It is quite possible: the US president’s obsession with ‘ending all the world’s wars’ may have put a conflict like this in the spotlight. One, furthermore, that involves a traditional ally of Washington. However, dates show us that everything is more complicated than it seems. Is the delicate balance of the Mediterranean about to be blown up? We will see it in the coming months. Image | In Xataka | Morocco holds a new record: being the African country with the highest growth of millionaires in the last decade

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