plan

Spain turns in the opposite direction to the rest of Europe. It is part of a geological plan: close the Mediterranean

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Spain and Portugal are dancing to a different rhythm than the rest of Europe. They are moving clockwise and the consequence is clear: a long-term closure of the Mediterranean that connects the Iberian Peninsula directly to North Africa. The convergence between continents is slow, a few millimeters a year (so we will continue needing the tunnel between Spain and Morocco), but one thing is clear: another Pangea is on the way. And the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco will be a unit. In short. Continental plates move. Some separate, others collide, and that continental drift has caused the emergence the Pangea Ultima theory. In 250 million years, there will only be one continent. There is a long way to go for that, but now, researchers from the University of the Basque Country, in collaboration with the universities of Palermo and Granada, have analyzed geodetic data that allows them to affirm that the Iberian Peninsula is rotating clockwise. This east-west rotation is driven by the convergence between the Eurasian and African plates, and the conclusion is clear: both are moving between four and six millimeters closer each year. This information is not new, but the researchers’ discovery is to specify the processes that take place at the diffuse boundary of the two western Mediterranean plates. Thanks, Gibraltar. Although the boundaries of other plates are well defined, this does not occur in the Western Mediterranean. There, the processes are much grayer, and there is something called “Gibraltar Arch” which plays an interesting role in this tectonic dynamic. To the east of the strait, the crust absorbs the deformation caused by the collision between the Eurasian and African plates. This ‘Gibraltar Arc’ acts as a buffer, but it has a consequence: in the west of the strait there is a direct collision between the plates, while in the east it is absorbed by the Gibraltar Arc. This lack of buffering from the southwest is what causes the clockwise rotation. Rotational strain rate field. Positive values ​​correspond to clockwise rotation, while negative values ​​refer to counterclockwise rotation. Active and potentially active faults are marked with solid and dashed gray lines, respectively. Double analysis. The researchers combined two types of accuracy analyzes to obtain these results. On the one hand, those of satellite deformation through GNSS system (Global Navigation Satellite System). Analyzing the data, they measured surface displacements with millimeter precision, relying on both permanent and occasional GPS markers. On the other hand, they also analyzed information from recent earthquakes that allowed them to determine the tectonic “stresses” in the area. They are independent data sets, but by crossing them they were able to draw a series of ‘lines’ that have allowed them to better specify the boundary between the plates. So that? Well, to better understand which sectors are in direct collision between plates and which are still more protected by the Gibraltar Arc. And the neighbors? The problem is that, although they claim that it is a rapid tectonic movement, this is true in geological terms. For us it is invaluable, but it also comes into play that we only have satellite data since 1999 and detailed seismic data since the 1980s. Even so, if with such a short range of data we have reached that conclusion in the annual approach, it is because the phenomenon is not in a hurry, but it does not pause either. And the most interesting thing is that this only affects the Iberian Peninsula. It is not that we are going to separate from France, since we ‘drag’ the rest of the continent thanks to the effect of the Gibraltar Arc, but we are not turning in the same direction as other neighbors. Italy, for example, experiences a counterclockwise rotation that exerts pressure in the alpine zoneand in the anatolian plate (where most of Türkiye is), there is also this counterclockwise rotation. Hello, Morocco. While in Turkey the consequence may be more earthquakes or mountain formations, this current speed of between 4 and 6 millimeters will cause, at some point, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco to unite. This continental collision would close the Mediterraneanbut there is a lot left for it. How much? About 100 million years. They estimate that for 20 million years we will continue at the same speed, but within about 50 million years, things will gain momentum, accelerating the process and turning the region into one of the most active volcanic and seismic areas on the planet. It’s… foolish to worry. present utility. Now, beyond curiosity, the most immediate implication that the researchers point out is a better identification of active faults or areas in which previously unidentified tectonic structures could exist. Asier Madarieta-Txurruka, one of those responsible for the investigation, explains This information indicates where to look for these structures and boundaries to determine what type of folds and faults there may be. Thus, we can anticipate the type of earthquake that there will be and its magnitude in areas such as the Western Pyrenees or the region of Cádiz and Seville in which we know that there are numerous places with significant deformationbut we do not have well identified the active tectonic structures that cause them. And, although there is still a long way to go before the Alps and a new mountain range are founded across the peninsula and all of North Africa to Arabia, knowing better what we have right under our feet is much more useful. In Xataka | We knew that Africa was going to split in half. What we didn’t know was that it would happen so quickly.

Apple has a plan for its memory problem. The only problem is that it goes through a company on the US blacklist, according to FT

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The perfect storm hits the memory market and shakes consumer electronics like we have rarely seen. This stretch of the year has become a bad time to update your computerbuy a console or even expand the RAM of a gaming desktop with a new module. The effects They also reach storage units and other components that until not so long ago seemed more or less predictable. Looking back, that problem with graphics cards during the rise of cryptocurrency mining It begins to seem, for many users, almost small next to what we are seeing now. For months, some large manufacturers have tried to buy time with a tool that the user does not see: inventory. Lenovo is a good example. According to statements by its financial director, Winston Cheng, collected by Bloomberg TV and later cited by various mediathe company even had stocks of memory and other critical components around 50% higher than usual to cushion the blow of shortages and price increases. This type of mattress helps to resist better than others, but it also has a limit when the market continues to tighten. Memory has become a problem for Apple, prices and geopolitics And that’s where Apple comes in. We are not talking about a small company trapped by a specific increase in costsbut one of the companies with the most negotiating power in the entire technology industry. Its supply chain has been operating with extraordinary precision for years, supported by huge agreements, global suppliers and a purchasing power that few can match. Precisely for this reason it is so significant that, according to Financial TimesApple would also be looking new ways to relieve memory pressure. The path that has come to light is especially delicate. According to the British business newspaper, Apple is pressuring the Trump Administration to obtain authorization, or at least a favorable signal, that allows it to buy memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese manufacturer singled out by the Pentagon for his alleged links with the People’s Liberation Army. The media adds that the company approached the Department of Commerce more than a month ago and has also sought support in other parts of Washington. The goal would be to alleviate the financial pressure caused by the rising cost of memory. If you’ve been following Apple for a while, you probably already know: these types of moves are almost never made public. The company does not usually explain its internal purchasing operations, much less its conversations with suppliers or administrations. Financial Times attributes the information to six people familiar with the mattera relevant basis to take it seriously, but we are not facing official confirmation from Apple, the White House or the Department of Commerce. To understand the dimension of the movement, CXMT must be well located. We are not talking about a brand of consumer RAM that the user chooses in a store, but about ChangXin Memory Technologiesa Chinese DRAM manufacturer founded in 2016. The company presents itself as a supplier of chips for mobile phones, PCs, tablets, servers and other equipment, memory that can then end up integrated into finished products. In the case of Apple, therefore, the debate is not about a visible brand, but about who supplies a particularly sensitive internal part. The search for alternatives does not come out of nowhere. It’s no secret that the memory industry is highly concentrated on Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix, the DRAM suppliers that Apple relies on for its devices. When the market is balanced, that dependence can be managed with contracts, volume and planning. When prices rise sharply, however, each additional supplier counts. CXMT appears there as a possible way to add capacity. The memory industry is highly concentrated in Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix. As we have seen, what is behind it is not just an isolated increase in prices, but a change of priorities. The AI ​​craze has put advanced memory at the center of the data center business, especially HBM, needed to power high-performance servers and accelerators. That demand has contributed to a prolonged shortage of traditional memory for consumer electronics. That is why the problem is felt in very different products: not because they all use the same memory, but because they compete, directly or indirectly, for a limited industrial capacity. At Apple, that pressure has ended up reaching the showcase. The company raised the prices of MacBooks and iPads by around 20% and attributed the movement to some “unsustainable” memory prices. The same medium maintains that the decision had an immediate stock market impact: $263 billion less in capitalization, Apple’s second largest daily drop. It is advisable to read these figures together, because they tell something broader than a specific increase: when memory triggers, even a company used to protecting its margins begins to transfer tension to the final product. The expression “blacklist” helps to understand the seriousness of the matter, but it can lead to a conclusion that is too quick. CXMT is on the Pentagon’s 1260H list for its alleged links with the People’s Liberation Army, a very sensitive label in the midst of the technological rivalry between the US and China. However, according to the Financial Times, that designation does not automatically prevent Apple from purchasing chips from CXMT or YMTC. The issue is what would happen if the US hardens its position later. The British economic newspaper says that the Department of Commerce had already included CXMT in a package of Chinese companies candidates to enter the Entity List, a much more restrictive trade listbut that the White House asked to wait for negotiations with Beijing. That background explains why the company would want a political signal before moving. It is not enough for a door to be open today if tomorrow it can be closed with Apple inside. John Moolenaar, Republican chairman of the House China committee, told the same newspaper that partnering with a Chinese military company would be “a serious mistake.” He also argued that helping the “Chinese … Read more

The plan to find extraterrestrial life in 2040 involves a swarm of spaceships working as a team

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We want to find planets with life beyond the Earthbut let’s be honest: we don’t have the best instruments to achieve it. The space telescopes we have today are not sufficiently capable of taking precise photographs of exoplanets and, in the process, analyzing possible biosignatures in their atmosphere. The James Webb Space Telescope, possibly the most powerful today, has made some progressbut it still falls short. Therefore, a team of scientists from the WM Keck Institute for the Study of Space has proposed a curious solution: send a swarm of telescopes to study the cosmos with a magnifying glass that we have not been able to use until now. The requirements. There are two main problems why exoplanets are so difficult to analyze. The first is that they are very close to their star, which is usually millions to billions of times brighter than they are. The second is that they are very small, so telescopes large enough to take images with adequate resolution are needed. That is precisely the main handicap of James Webb. It lacks size. And the truth is that it would be difficult to make a telescope so large as to achieve the desired resolution. One cannot be, but several small ones can. The proposal of these astronomers It is to launch a swarm of many small ships that concentrate and send light to a kind of mother ship. This is what carries out the optical tricks necessary to block the light from the main star and, in the process, analyze the planet’s thermal signature with more precision. What is this thermal signature? To solve the starlight problem, coronagraphs can be used. These are instruments that block the star’s light, generating something similar to an eclipse. Thus, only the light reflected from the exoplanet can be measured. It will be the mission of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)a large telescope that NASA will launch in the 2040s as a successor to Hubble, since it works in ultraviolet and visible light. The point is that, rather than the reflected light, it would be ideal to measure the direct light that exoplanets thermally emit. This is done by measuring in the mid-infrared. The James Webb is capable of doing it; but, as we have already seen, it is too small. That’s where the swarm named Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) comes into play. Being a swarm of small ships, it acts like a very large ship. Biosignatures. Something good about measuring in the mid-infrared is that you can also detect emissions derived from substances associated with life, such as ozone, methane, water, carbon dioxide or phosphine. That means LIFE can not only take a more accurate photo of exoplanets. You can also check if they are alive. The name fits like a glove. Fallen soldiers and teamwork. NASA’s Terrestrial Planet Locator Interferometer and ESA’s Darwin mission followed a similar concept to LIFE. However, they have ended up being abandoned after encountering one technical obstacle after another. On the other hand, LIFE engineers hope to be able to advance as technology does, so as not to stop at any time. If all goes well, it is expected to be launched in the 2040s, just like the HWO. The objective is for both to work as a team, since one works in the mid-infrared and the other in the visible and ultraviolet. Even if they analyze the same thing, they do it using different methods, so one will be able to eliminate the other’s false positives. They are the team perfect. Images | Magnific/NASA In Xataka | TRAPPIST-1 was the most promising solar system to search for life. Now our joy is in a well

Madrid’s plan to renew its roads this summer

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Madrid Calle 30 has launched its annual renewal campaign of the pavement on the roads under its management. This year, the operation has started on the A-6 highway and will also reach sections of the M-30 tunnel, as well as several critical points on the capital’s roads. The investment amounts to around 6.2 million euros and the work will continue throughout the summer. Asphalt renewal campaign. In order to adapt the pavement in its road network, Madrid City Council expanded last January the actions of Madrid Calle 30. And in addition to the M-30 roads itself, the municipal company now adds the management of all the access roads to the capital, that is, the A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6, A-42, M-11, M-23, M-500 and M-607. In total, Madrid Calle 30 is responsible for the maintenance of 2.7 million square meters of road. And this summer’s campaign will act on 9% of that surface. What exactly do the jobs consist of? The performances are divided into three phases. First, milling is carried out, which consists of removing the surface layer of the damaged or worn pavement. The new asphalt agglomerate is then applied. Finally, the road markings are repainted. For the entire campaign, the use of about 19,000 tons of asphalt mixtures is estimated. The works will be carried out at night to minimize the impact on traffic. Four fronts of action. The campaign is deployed in four different areas: A-6 and its Bus-HOV lane (160,000 m²): these are the largest works. They span from Calle de la Princesa, at the confluence with the Moncloa interchange, to the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela. Work on the Bus-HOV lane began on June 19 and will continue on June 26 and 27. The A-6 in the inbound direction will be paved from July 15 to 28, and in the outbound direction, from July 26 to August 17. M-30 tunnel (50,000 m²): the interior section between the south junction-legazpi plaza and the Marqués de Vadillo-Prámides roundabout, in both directions of circulation. Vallecas Bridge (12,500 m²): the action will be carried out once the waterproofing work is completed, works that are integrated as part of the rehabilitation of the bridge and are still in progress. O’Donnell board with the M-23 (20,000 m²): in the outward direction, completing the campaign for this summer. And all at night. As we have mentioned, the reason is simply to reduce traffic impacts to a minimum on a network that is already congested every day. Alternative routes will be enabled on each section, which can be consulted through the website. Signage will also be reinforced at the affected points. Extension. This Madrid Calle 30 campaign is part of Operation Asphalt 2026 that is being prepared by the Works and Equipment Area of ​​the Madrid City Council, and which in the coming weeks will extend similar actions to the 21 districts of the city. So the works that have started with the M-30 and its accesses are just the tip of the iceberg of the entire maintenance plan that is expected for this summer. In Xataka | In February, historic rains broke the roads. Málaga has just received the go-ahead to repair the A-7 and A-45

Spain had a master plan for the European fighter. The problem is that Germany just got a girlfriend with a lot of “money”

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In 1986, Spain, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom decided to join forces to build the Eurofighter Typhoon. It took almost two decades to turn it into realitybut that project left a key lesson: in Europe, fighters are not built with engineering alone, but with industrial and political balances that sometimes last longer than the technology itself. The collapse and plan B. It we count last week. He collapse of the Future Combat Air System has not only been the failure of a large European military program of 100,000 million euros, it has also been the moment in which Spain understood that he could not wait for France and Germany to resolve their industrial wars. For years, the FCAS It was sold as the large sixth-generation European fighter, but tensions between Airbus and Dassault Aviation they ended up blocking the distribution of work, leadership and technological architecture. When Berlin withdrew, Madrid lost more than just a partner: it lost the pillar that supported its own bet. FCAS concept The Spanish exit. Spain had been moving in silence for some time. With Indra gaining weight in defense and with growing conversations with Saab, the idea was clear: if FCAS sank, there was room to build an alternative axle with Germany and Sweden around satellite technologies such as sensors, combat cloud, accompanying drones and command systems. It was not yet a “new fighter” as such, but it was a survival platform industrial so as not to be tied to Paris. It was a lateral route to keep the Spanish option alive within the sixth European generation. Italy changes the board. And then Italy has appeared. Leonardo’s new management has made it clear that it would be delighted to open the door of the Global Combat Air Program to Germany. On paper, that is a logical invitation: Berlin brings money, industry and experience accumulated with the Eurofighter Typhoon. But strategically it is a bomb for Spain. Because the centerpiece of your plan B (Germany) could stop looking towards the Swedish axis and turn towards Rome, London and Tokyo. In a matter of weeks, the Spanish escape route could become a dead end. Germany is looking for a leading role. The German movement also has internal logic. Berlin does not want to be a secondary partner. He made it clear within the FCAS and he is repeating it now: if he enters another program, he wants a role proportional to your investment and its industrial weight. That sits poorly with France, where Dassault Aviation never wanted to let go control, but it fits much better with Italian flexibility. Furthermore, BAE Systems and the German branch of Airbus already they cooperated successfully on the Eurofighter. For Berlin, GCAP is starting to look less like an alternative and more like a logical continuation. The Spanish dilemma. And here is the big crack for Spain. If Germany joins GCAP, Madrid stays trapped between two worlds: a mortally wounded FCAS and an alternative plan that loses its most important partner before consolidating. Spain can try to continue punch to France, but that would mean accepting a (much) more subordinate role. You could also look for a direct approach to Italy or even Japan and the United Kingdom, but arriving late to an already structured program reduces a lot the negotiation margin. The risk is brutal: being left out of the table where the next great European air combat ecosystem is decided. Europe repeats its old problem. All this once again reveals the great industrial drama European: too many projects, too many egos and, above all, too much overlap. While the United States and China move forward with centralized programs, Europe continues to fragment its resources between rival blocs. In that sense, Spain believed it had found a safety net after the FCAS. The problem is that this network depended on Germany… and now Germany has a new dance couple. Image | Picryl In Xataka | Spain, France and Germany had joined together to illuminate the “European fighter” of the future: now that path is dead In Xataka | The European fighter has died, but Europe still has one last bullet to avoid the F-35: the alliance of Spain and Sweden

The European fighter may have died, but there is a plan B to avoid the F-35. One with Spain, Germany and an unexpected guest

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While Europe was still trying to convince itself that another great war was impossible, Germany blew up for the first time the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in 1935: the fighter that would become the backbone of the Luftwaffe. Ninety years later, the continent is once again debating the same underlying question: who will build its next air superiority. The death of the great European fighter. The great European dream of building a common sixth generation fighter has crashed. The manned core of the FCAS program, the so-called NGF, had been blocked for years by the industrial war between Airbus and Dassault Aviation, but now it’s official now: the Franco-German formula has collapsed. What was supposed to be the joint heir to the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Rafale has been broken by something very European: distribution of power, money and technological sovereignty. France wanted to lead it, and Germany did not agree to be a secondary partner. The danger of emptiness. When a program like this dies, the risk is not only industrial. It is also strategic. Europe need a substitute for its current fighters between 2040 and 2045, and the clock is ticking. The quickest way out would be to buy more Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs, something that is already on the table in Berlin. But that would mean assuming that European air sovereignty has failed and that dependence on Washington is irreversible. At a time when America looks increasingly towards Asia and less towards Europe, that has much deeper implications than simply buying airplanes. Plan B exists. Here comes the real twist, because the great European fighter has died, but not the idea of ​​building one. Germany and Spain they have made a move with the so-called “Team Gen 6”a new industrial alliance led by Airbus that tries to rescue what is useful from FCAS and turn it into something else: a more agile, less political and more realistic project. It is not a restart from scratch, since the engines, combat networks, guided weapons and accompanying drones are still alive, and what has died is the original political architecture. Spain is no longer secondary. On this new board, there is no doubt, Spain I would gain weight. Until now it was the junior partner in a project dominated by Paris and Berlin, but the collapse has changed circumstances. Companies such as Indra Sistemas, GMV, ITP Aero or Sener become part of the hard core of the new design. For Spain, this is not just a matter of defense, It is also industrytechnology and presence in the value chain of future European air combat. In other words, if the plan succeeds, the Spanish nation will cease to be a companion and become a central actor. Sweden as an unexpected piece. The big problem by Team Gen 6 is the size. Germany and Spain together hardly economically justify a program worth hundreds of billions. That’s why the name that begins to sound strongly It’s Saab AB. Sweden fits better than the United Kingdom or Japan because its needs they are more similar: a more contained, cheaper and less gigantic plane than the Anglo-Japanese GCAP. If Berlin, Madrid and Stockholm converge, there could be a third way European very different from the French and the British. One bullet remains before the F-35. If you want too, that’s what’s really important. He collapse of the NGF It does not mean that Europe has lost its last chance. It means that the old formula has died and another is trying to be born from the rubble. In that sense, Germany, Spain and Airbus know it. That is why the real plan B is not to buy the American F-35, that is el emergency plan. The real plan B is to try to save a European industrial autonomy with another coalition, another logic and another calendar. And although it may seem like a desperate maneuver, it is actually the last attempt to prevent the future of European air combat from being designed (again) in Washington. Image | Robert Sullivan In Xataka | Spain refuses to buy the F-35 from the US, so it has gotten something in exchange: Harrier pieces as LEGO In Xataka | The US opted for the quality of the F-35 rather than quantity. China opted for the opposite and it is already a problem

NASA has a plan to solve one of the biggest mysteries in the cosmos and only one thing is missing: money

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Since the first confirmed discovery of an exoplanet in 1992, there have already been discovered more than 6,000 planets beyond the Solar System. Although there are many of them, and they have very specific characteristics, there is something that unites them all. Which can have a radius smaller or larger than 1.8 times the radius of the Earth, but never that. It is like a border that can be crossed or not, but that is never stepped on. The exoplanets that are below that limit are the super earths and those who are above subneptunes. It is not known what causes this gap, but there are two hypotheses. To confirm which of them is the good one, NASA has designed a mission. The problem is that he still hasn’t gotten funding for it. In search of young planets. The two hypotheses that exist about the origin of this gap are related to the origin of exoplanets. Therefore, the best way to unravel the mystery is to analyze young planets. The problem is that this is not easy. Of the 6,000 exoplanets that have been discovered to date, only 20 were younger than 50 million years. The objective of the Early eVolution Explorer (EVE) mission is to launch a ship loaded with probes specialized in detecting exoplanets around young stars. If the star is young, the planets around it must be young too, since the planet always forms after its star. Very different exoplanets. Super-Earths are rocky planets, with a radius less than 1.8 times that of Earth. They are closer to their star than the sub-Neptunes, which are also larger, with dimensions above the prohibited radius. On the other hand, sub-Neptunes have a less rocky, more spongy appearance. The first hypothesis. As we have anticipated, there are two hypotheses about the forbidden radius of exoplanets. The first points to the same origin. Supposedly, all exoplanets were born with a rocky core that dragged clouds of hydrogen and helium around it for millions of years. The difference between them would be that the super-Earths, being closer to their star, would receive more radiation, so the gas layer would end up being destroyed. The sub-Neptunes could preserve it, hence that spongy appearance. The second. As for the second hypothesis, it points to the possibility of planets clinging to water during their formation or not. Super-Earths are located between their star and what is known as the snow line. This is a line above which water can freeze. In this case, not only does it not freeze, but the water receives so much heat from its star that it ends up evaporating. If water is in the form of vapor, it cannot join the “pieces of the nascent planet.” That leaves them only made of dry rock. On the other hand, the sub-Neptunes are further from the snow line. Water can freeze, so it becomes bricks that can be incorporated into the planet in formation. It is bigger, because it not only has rock, it also has water. Furthermore, that water condensed around it gives it the cottony appearance that makes it different from a rocky planet. Artist’s concept of an aquatic world The handicap of young stars. We have already seen that to unravel the mystery of the forbidden radium we must study young planets. We have also understood that the best way to do this is to look around at young stars. The problem is that these have such intense activity that fluctuations in their brightness can occur. associated with flaresnot an exoplanet orbiting it. In short, many false positives can occur. Three sensors. To solve this problem, EVE would be equipped with three sensors. The first analyzes light in the near ultraviolet, the second in the visible light range and the third in the near infrared. The first is used to detect bursts from the star itself, since these emit great radiation at that frequency of the spectrum. Regarding the second, it is the type of light that is normally used to detect transiting planets, the most used tool for the detection of exoplanets. Finally, young stars emit a lot of light in the near infrared. For all this, if a peak is detected in the near ultraviolet we will know that it is due to the activity of the star itself. If we see fluctuations in visible light we will understand that there may be a planet orbiting the star; But, to be sure, we must compare the data with the light emitted at all times by the star itself. That’s what near infrared is for. The forbidden radio. By studying young exoplanets, we can know how their formation was and understand which of the two hypotheses is the good one. With this, in passing, we will understand why the radius of 1.8 radii of the Earth is prohibited. 30 star cluster fields, 30 days. The EVE project has been planned to analyze 30 fields of young star clusters for 30 days each. Thus, more than 20,000 young stars could be analyzed and, with them, possible exoplanets of recent formation could be found. At the moment, it cannot be done, because the project does not have financing, much less a launch date. But NASA has everything tied up. You just need that little push to unravel the mystery. Image| Superearth on the cover and aquatic world in the text. Credit: NASA In Xataka | Hubble made us believe that this exoplanet was impossible. James Webb just explained why we were wrong

The Free Plan for 4.99 euros looks better and better (and can be shared)

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Throughout the year, we have talked to you about Movistar Plus when, for example, it has broadcast an important football match live, like the last Classic. It is true that LaLiga and the Champions League have already ended, but new releases continue to arrive on this platform that are worth it. In fact, between today and tomorrow they arrive two films that were nominated for the last Oscars. The best thing is that you can see them (and many other things) in the Free Plan that costs only 4.99 euros per month. Monthly subscription to Movistar Plus The price could vary. We earn commission from these links You can download whatever you want and watch it offline This Free Plan is identical to the one that Movistar Plus was offering and, beyond the price, there is only one difference between the two: the one that costs 4.99 euros per month does not include sports. This means that we have access to a huge catalog of movies, series and documentaries for very little, all taking into account that we can subscribe, whatever operator we are and without permanence. And being able to share the account with a friend or family member. Now, let’s talk about these new releases. The first movie to reach this platform is ‘F1: The Movie‘, starring Brad Pitt and winner of an Oscar award. This one will land today, June 12, and for the other we won’t have to wait too long: it’s about ‘The Secret Agent‘, which will arrive just tomorrow, Saturday. These two movies join a catalog where there are already several Oscar winnersas ‘The Sinners‘ either ‘Weapons‘. In addition, we also have the presence of films that triumphed at the Goya awards, such as ‘Sirat’ or ‘Los Domingos’. All rounded off by many original series such as the new ‘Many people have to die’ or documentaries with the presence of many true crime by Carles Porta. Finally, a couple of things to keep in mind. The first is that this Movistar Plus Free Plan also allows download what we want and watch it offline on a tablet or mobile phone, for example. This is great if you plan to travel this summer by plane or train, since it will make your trip more enjoyable. The other is that new releases will continue to arrive this June, such as ‘One battle after another‘ 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 | Espinof, Movistar Plus In Xataka | Movistar Plus activates its Free Plan with complete programs and a lot of content, regardless of which operator you are In Xataka | Less than five euros per month and without permanence: this is the new Movistar Plus plan that you can even share with a friend

BYD’s plan so that charging your electric car takes the same time as stopping for gas

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In recent years we have seen how Chinese brands have begun to conquer Europe with the accelerator pressed, with BYD as the main protagonist. However, let us remember that BYD is not only a manufacturer of cars: it is also a manufacturer of batteries and charging technology. That is why he is going to bring out all the heavy artillery in Europe as well, with a plan of 2,000 million euros to plague the region of ultra fast chargersthose that charge their cars in five minutes and that the brand itself showed us during the presentation of the Denza Z9GT. Breaking down obstacles. Charging has historically been the Achilles heel of the electric car. Not so much because of the capacity of the batteries, but because of how long it takes to charge the batteries compared to a brief refueling in a combustion car. BYD aims directly at this psychological brake with its own infrastructure that equates recharging an electric car to filling the tank of a combustion car. If it manages to impose its infrastructure, it would eliminate one of the great barriers of those who are skeptical about the electric car. Technology. The system Flash Charging It uses chargers with up to 1,500 kW of power, three times more than the most modern Tesla Superchargers, which are around 500 kW. To make the most of it, the car must equip the second generation of the BYD Blade Batteryspecifically designed to withstand these extreme loads. With that combination, going from 10% to 70% battery takes five minutes. The first European model with this capacity is the Denza Z9GT, which we were already able to try first-hand last April and which has a starting price of 115,000 euros in its electric version, acting as a technological showcase for the brand. Already in the presentation we were also able to see how the car, in fact, only took about five minutes to reach 70% of its charge, although the infrastructure that the brand must put in place to reach those figures is no small feat. Numbers. The plan involves adding about 3,000 stations in Europe before the end of 2027, of which 600 correspond to the United Kingdom, where BYD has already inaugurated its first ultra-fast charging point. On the other hand, the manufacturer told us at the time that the idea in Spain is to start with about 200 or 300 chargers. “It’s a lot of money, with each charging point costing almost half a million pounds,” counted Stella Li, the group’s top international executive, told the Financial Times. How they avoid saturating the electrical grid. One of the technical challenges of very high-power chargers is the impact on the electrical infrastructure. BYD solves this with a system of stationary batteries installed at each charging point, which are recharged during hours of lower demand (normally early morning) and act as an energy reserve when a user connects their vehicle. Thus, the peak demand on the network is much lower. The real bottleneck. Curiously, the main obstacle is neither technical nor economic. Bono Ge, head of BYD in the United Kingdom, counted to the FT that “the challenge does not lie in the infrastructure, but in the speed with which the town councils can give their authorization. We can implement it very quickly.” Technological showcase. The move is very reminiscent of Tesla’s Supercharger network, which was key in its commercial expansion by minimizing that recurring thought of having to recharge the car on long trips. Europe already has extensive networks, in fact Tesla has about 20,000 points on the continent, but BYD is betting on fewer and much more powerful stations. The idea is to continue expanding its technology, and make it so that other vehicles can also use their chargers, regardless of the manufacturer. BYD’s market share in the EU has already risen from 0.8% to 1.9% in the first four months of 2026, according to data from the European automobile association ACEA, and in the United Kingdom it reaches 3.4%, above Renault and Volvo. In Xataka | The best electric car chargers 2026: Which one to buy and six recommended models

CATL wants a battery as powerful as gasoline. And he will trust his plan: lithium-air

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CATL has prepared a very interesting roadmap for us over the next few years. With an energy transition increasingly accentuated in the automotive industry, there are several battery technologies that will fight for permanence in the next decade. Wu Kai, chief scientist of CATL and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, advertisement At the Equipment and Energy Forum 2026, the company has identified lithium-air technology as the strategic front where the next great global battery battle will be fought. It is the first time that CATL makes this bet officially public. Why this ad matters. CATL controls 47% of the global electric vehicle battery market, according to April 2026 datawhich means we are talking about the world’s largest battery manufacturer by market share. The company has also accumulated five consecutive years as a leader in global energy storage, with a share of 30.4% in 2025. So, when its chief scientist points out a technology as the battlefield of the future, the industry listens. What exactly is a lithium-air battery. Unlike conventional lithium ion batteries, which use heavy metal compounds (nickel, cobalt, manganese) to house lithium ions, lithium-air batteries dispense with that solid cathode and replace these materials with oxygen taken directly from ambient air. The anode is pure metallic lithium. The result is a lighter system with an open architecture, which has led researchers to call them “breathable batteries”. Without so much dead weight inside the cell, the potential energy density skyrockets. The numbers. The theoretical energy density of this technology reaches 12,000 Wh/kg, a figure comparable to that of gasoline, which is around 13,000 Wh/kg. The lithium ion batteries that equip electric cars today offer between 250 and 270 Wh/kg. Solid-state batteries, considered the next big leap, aim for about 500 Wh/kg. The lithium-air prototypes already developed in the laboratory have exceeded 1,200 Wh/kg, more than four times the capacity of current batteries. If this technology were commercialized, we would be talking about electric cars with ranges of more than 1,600 kilometers on a single charge. A problem that comes from the 70s. The lithium-air battery concept is not new. And just as share CarNewsChina, its theoretical foundations were laid out in the 1970s. The problem is that taking it from theory to practice has proven extraordinarily difficult. The cells are very sensitive to humidity and carbon dioxide present in the air, which causes rapid degradation. Added to this are problems with catalyst stability and a very short useful life. But there is real progress. In 2024, a joint team from the University of Illinois Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and California State University Northridge managed to demonstrate a lithium-air battery capable of exceeding 700 charge cycles in an environment similar to real air. A year later, in 2025, Argonne National Laboratory and the Illinois Institute of Technology developed a prototype that reached 1,200 Wh/kg with a life of 1,000 cycles at room temperature. According to collect CarNewsChina, this design is not expected to be ready for use in vehicles before 2030. The key to the breakthrough was, among other things, replacing liquid electrolytes (which are flammable) with a solid matrix composed of a ceramic polymer with lithium-rich nanoparticles, which stabilizes the cell during high-energy cycles. How does this fit into CATL’s strategy. The company already has experience in converting alternative technologies into market products. An example is sodium-ion batteries, which were proposed by the company in 2020 and This same year they are already being mass producedinstalled in models such as the GAC Aion UT, the Changan Oshan 520 and vehicles from Geely, Chery and FAW. According to explained Kai in the forum, the company’s strategy is planned in the short term to offer mature technologies to meet current demand; in the medium term, solid state batteries to improve the experience in premium vehicles; and in the long term, lithium-air with the intention of exploring the physical limits of energy storage. Between the lines. Betting on lithium-air now is not waiting for a product for next year. Just like points out Gasgoo, for large companies, investing in these frontier technologies serves above all to accumulate patents, secure strategic positions and build technical reserves, not to generate short-term income. It is something like a move to avoid surprises in case another company decides to announce a disruptive technology. Cover image | CATL In Xataka | Peugeot, on PureTech engines: “We recognize that we have done things wrong”

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