population

In the paradisiaca Tuvalu more than a third of the population has signed up for the same raffle. The prize: flee from the country

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In the world there are those who look at the future with pessimism, who does it with distrust and then is the island nation of Tuvalu, who looks at him underwater. Literally. If NASA’s projections give in the nail, in the middle of this same century Much of its territory it will be below the level of the pleamar, a scenario that will be Even worse In 2100. The panorama is so unhappy that the country has just lived an unusual situation: more than a third Of all its inhabitants have registered in a raffle to move thousands of kilometers from there. Its objective: start from scratch in Australia, free of the threat of the sea. Goodbye Tuvalu. Tuvalu is a small island nation of Polynesia, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, known for its long beaches and palm trees. For a few days, it is news for something that has little or nothing to do with its paradisiacal landscapes: a surprisingly high percentage of its population, just over a third, has registered in a raffle to get the “First Climate Visa” from the world and move 4,000 kilometers away, to Australia. A figure: 4.052. The data is eloquent. The deadline to opt for the new visa opened on June 16 and a few days 1,124 applications. If the direct relatives of the applicants are taken into account, including spouses and children, the total number of Tuvaluanos who aspire to make their bags and leave their homeland rises to more than 4,000, according to The data that handles the BBC chain. It is not bad if several factors are taken into account. First, that the registration period has not yet been closed (it ends in a few weeks) and the number of visas available is very small: only 280 are offered that will be distributed by a random raffle. Another fact that gives a way to the success of the raffle is that according to the official 2022 census in Tuvalu they live a little more than 10,600 peoplewith what they would choose to make the suitcase and move more than a third of its population. But what exactly do they choose? To climatic visas that allow the beneficiaries to move to Australia and, once there, enjoy a permanent residence permit with the right to work, health care, education, a system of subsidies for studies and care of children and student loans. All this also without renouncing Tuvaluana citizenship. In return those interested just have to register in the draw to opt for any of the visas, pay a small rate (16 dollars) and commit to paying the trip if they are chosen. “The first agreement of this type”. The visas are not distributed because yes. They are part of a much broader agreement signed by both nations last year, The false unionfor which Canberra promised to help Tuvalu before “Military aggressions”Pandemics or natural disasters. In addition (and this is one of the most interesting measures) Australia assumed the concession of 280 annual visas with the right to permanent residence that would be distributed by raffle. “This is the first agreement of this type in the world, it offers a way for mobility with dignity as the impacts of climate change worsen,” stands out The Australian Foreign Ministry. A paradise that makes waters. Tuvalu is a small paradise in the middle of the Pacific formed by reef and atolls, with very long beaches and a capricious geography. His future however is dark. The nation sinks. Literally. A while ago NASA published A report That demonstrates that the sea level has risen almost 15 centimeters throughout the last three decades and that, if nothing changes, the water will continue to rise several millimeters every year, gradually limiting the coast of the islands. In a few decades the process could even accelerate. Perhaps a few millimeters do not seem much, but Tuvalu has a peculiarity: in its territory there is no point that protrudes more than six meters On sea level, which leaves it in a delicate situation as climate change progresses. NASA Calculate That in 2050 “much of its earth’s surface” will be below the pleamar, including “critical facilities.” Other forecasts They go further and point out that in 2100 90% of the country will submerge regularly in the ocean, complicating life in the area. “It’s not an option”. The panorama is so complicated that Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo speaks without half inks of what future the island nation faces. “Internal relocation is not an option. We are totally stagnant. There is no option to move inside or higher areas because there are no higher areas,” I recognized Recently at the UN Conference of the UN of Nice. Australia appears as a possibility on the horizon, although with its pros and cons. “For many, especially for young families, it will represent an opportunity for education. For the government of Tuvalu, the new visa also seeks to boost the economy,” Reflect in The conversation Jane Mcadam, from the UNSW Sydney, after remembering that the money remittances that emigrants send to their countries of origin are already a key part of the GDP of nations such as Samoa or Tonga. The problem is that this exodus could also advise the complicated future of Tuvalu, subtracting labor from its economy. Images | 總統府 (Flickr) and Michael Coghlan (Flickr) In Xataka | Tuvalu runs the risk of disappearing due to climate change. Your solution: created a “digital twin”

The countries with the most immigrant population in the world, exposed on this map

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The number of migrants has not stopped growing in the last 50 years. Since many countries They opened their doors to immigrationinternational migratory flow has not stopped intensifying. In fact, some of those countries, such as the United States, They could not explain without immigrationbut in recent years, economic, labor, war and even climatic issues have caused the number of migrants to exploit. And it is something that is perfectly reflected in the following maps. Immigration map in 2025. On the upper map, prepared by Visual Capitalist With the last data United Nations Migration Reportwe can see the 20 countries with a greater proportion of international migrants until 2024. A migrant is defined as someone who lives in a country other than his birth for at least 12 months, regardless of reason. And what we can see is that Qatar, United Arab Emirates or Monaco are countries in which more than 70% of its population are international migrants. Around 50%, we have both European countries (Liechtenstein, Andorra or Luxembourg) and the Middle East (Kuwait, Baréin or Jordan) and Singapore. Trend. Beyond this map, there are other resources to understand the Magnitude of these migratory movements In recent years. One of them is provided by the United Nations report itself, a graph in which we can see the evolution of the number of migrants in the last 25 years. Of the 150 million of 1990, where there was already an upward trend, we went to 304 million in 2024. Distribution. The region that hosted the most migrants during the past year was Oceania, with 21.5%, followed by North America with 15.9%, Europe with 12.6%, North Africa and the Middle East with 9.3%, Latin America with 2.6%, sub -Saharan Africa with 2%, this of Asia with 1%and south of Asia with just 0.9%. It is very clear what are the regions that welcome those migrants. And another interesting resource to see those migratory movements in the last 25 years is this interactive map in which we can see the total number of immigrants from 1990 to 2024. International runners. Putting the cursor over Mexico, we observed 4.49 million people who migrated in 1990, less than half of the more than 11 million people who left the country last year looking for something better. And, of course, these people go somewhere, there are favorite destinations for cultural reasons, of language or, simply, close. These movements are summarized in the ‘runners’, and the Next graphic It allows us to take an eye on those favorite international corridors. An example, the clearest, is that of Mexico and its almost 11 million inhabitants going to the United States. Others are 3.5 million Indians going to the United Arab Emirates, another 2.8 million traveling to the United States and another 2.5 million moving to Saudi Arabia. Chance. Immigration is an opportunity for those people looking for something better, but also for the countries themselves. For example, thanks to this immigration there are countries that seek to improve their demographic situation. The case of Europe is clear, with countries that They do not approach the replacement rate and others that, thanks to immigrants, The pension system is strengthened. And then there is Japan. It is no longer that they look for that Demographic salvationbut They need labor. They do not find it in the country due, among other things, population agingand that’s why they trust and give You help whoever wants to start a new life In the country. And need. And, obviously, that immigration is the exit for situations that, unfortunately, are becoming more frequent worldwide. From the beginning of the Russian invasion, eight million Ukrainians moved internally due to the crisis, but others six million They became refugees. In Palestine, se esteem that almost six million people are refugees. In total, according to estimatesin 2024 there were more than 123 million people displaced by force around the world. Of these, 42 million were refugees and another 73 million moved internally. In Xataka | Thousands of Americans want to flee from the country because of the political climate. And they have a preferential destination: Spain

More and more countries see how the average age of its population approaches 50 years

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Europe ages. That is not No novelty. Not an exclusive phenomenon of the old continent. In other regions of the planet, such as Japan, South Korea or even ChinaThey also suffer more or less clearly The effects of A demography marked by the collapse of birth rate and the increase in life expectancy. With everything and despite the fact that the trend is known, from time to time data arises that help us better understand the scope of change. Eurostat has shared one that shows to what extent the EU begins to become a territory of middle -aged people. The data also reveals another trend: aging is much clearer among the native population, those born within the EU itself, which among immigrants. A figure: 44.7. Recently Eurostat technicians made accounts and calculated that The middle ages From the EU population it is already at 44.7 years. The data is interesting for several reasons. The first, because confirms the gradual aging of Europe. Does A decade That same statistical indicator was 42.5 years ago, two ago it was 39.3 and if we looked back further back, 2001 (the first year documented by Eurostat), it did not reach 38.5. The second reason why the data is interesting is for What reveals us. The median is not the same as the average, but it shows us the value located just in the middle of the statistical series. In this case that means that 50% of the EU population is already above 44.7 years. They are probably even more because the median was calculated based on the statistics of January 2024 and the indicator has not stopped growing over the years. Differences in the EU. 44.7 is the data of the European Union as a whole, which means that there are countries in which the median age is even higher. The clearest cases are Monaco and Italy. In the first, the indicator is already 50.5 years and in the second brand 48.7. In Bulgaria, Portugal and Greece approaches or exceeds 47 and in another half a dozen countries the median overcomes the 45 years. Is The case of Spainwhich started 2024 with half its population above 45.6 years. In 2014, the median was 41.8, two decades ago it marked 38.3 and in 1994 it did not even reach 35 years, which gives an aging. Native Foreign Vs.. Eurostat tables show something else: how immigration is serving to cushion the aging of the EU, just as it has helped some countries (Spain included) To win population despite prick of indigenous birth. According to the data of the EU Statistical Office, on January 1, 2024, the average age of the population born outside the 27 countries of the community club was two years lower than that of the natives. Moreover, Eurostat acknowledges that “compared to the native population, those born abroad are overrepresented between 20 and 54 years” and “underrepresented” in the groups located at the extremes, those of younger and more advanced ages. “59.7% of the population born abroad was between 20 and 54, compared to 42.1% of the native,” They need. A percentage: 6.1%. Eurostat data also reveal that the EU demographic pyramid narrows every time by the base and grows on the cusp, among the older population group. And clearly, in addition. Between 2004 and 2024 the proportion of citizens over 80 years in the EU increased from 3.8 to 6.1%. The statistical office Precise In addition, growth was recorded in all EU countries, with increases especially pronounced in Greece, Latvia and Portugal. The same happened with the group of those over 65: to assume 16.4 went on to represent 21.6%. The other face of the currency. The trend is diametrically opposite among people under 15. At the statistical level, today children and adolescents “weigh” much more in the EU that just two decades ago. If in 2004 they represented 14.6%, now they suppose 16.2%, a setback that has been even more pronounced in countries such as Malta or Cyprus. “During the same period the proportion of young people (children under 19) decreased in all EU countries at the level of the Union, the Fall was 2.4 percentage points, from 22.4% to 20.0%,” Clarifies Eurostat. Why is it important? Because demography is much more than mathematics or simple statistics. The evolution of the middle ages helps to understand where the whole of European society walks and better understand the scope of its aging with All drifts that this implies at a social, economic, welfare or even in defense level. It is not something exclusive to the EU or the West. TO late 2024 South Korea officially became a “overwhelming” society, a label that reveals that about 20% of the population already exceeds the 65 -year barrier. Japan’s example. The clearest case is probably Japan. After decades seeing how its birth rate collapsed, in the country it begins to talk about “Problem 2025”marked by the gradual aging of the millions of citizens who were born during the Baby Boom in the middle of the last century. There the experts already warn of the challenge that this growing imbalance between the population of working age and the elderly will have at a social and economic level. Images | Bennett Tobias (UNSPLASH) and Eurostat In Xataka | Russia is desperate to increase its birth. So you will veto the series that promote a “culture without children”

In full blackout throughout Spain and confusion among the population, an alert system shone for its absence: Es-Alert

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Yesterday we attend an unprecedented event in our country. From one moment to another and in a matter of five seconds, 60% of all energy vanisheddisappeared. The entire peninsula ran out of light. The reasons are unknown how it was unknown in certain points of Spain that the blackout had been general. The light fell, ergo the wifi. Telecommunications, mobile networks fell, and networks were saturated. Contact family and friends to know if they were fine was an odyssey, as was accessing to the media and social networks to inform themselves of the last hour. No one knew what was happening, its reach, the reasons or the state of the situation. In such a context, it is worth asking what happened to Es-alertthe emergency alert system. Who is-alert depends on. The Civil Protection alerts system was launched on February 22, 2023 and serves to send notices to all mobile phones within an affected area. It is integrated into the national alert network and, therefore, is managed by the Ministry of Interior through the National Center for Emergency Monitoring and Coordination (CENEM) of the General Directorate of Civil Protection. Notice example received through the ES-Alert system | Image: mobile xataka This system is known as “112 inverse” and is available in “any part of the Spanish territory with mobile telephony coverage, either 2G (GSM), 3G (UMTS), 4G (LTE) or 5G”, as They explained from Moncloa The day of its launch. Civil protection, meanwhile, exposes that “the ES-ALErt system is available to the Emergency Coordination Centers of the Autonomous Communities in the framework of the National Civil Protection System” and that these centers, together with the aforementioned CENEM, are the “responsible, within their area of ​​competence, to define and issue the alerts when the situation requires it.” In a nutshell, that competition falls to the Autonomous Communities. What situations is used? According to Moncloa, Es-Alert is designed for phenomena such as “floods, fires, adverse meteorological phenomena, volcanic or chemical accidents, among other emergencies.” The question is what happens to this system when there is no electricity, when telecommunications are falling and a very high percentage of the population has no coverage. A mobile will not receive the notice if it has no coverage or is in plane mode, although it will do so when you recover the signal The networks worked (a time). The mobile network remained active for a while thanks, in part, emergency generators. VodafoneMasorange and Telefónica They have confirmed that although the blackout had affected telecommunications services and the mobile network, part of the system had supply thanks to electric generators and batteries. Es -Elert depends on that infrastructure to work, the question is whether it would have been effective. Lights and shadows. While it is true that Es-Alert is practically agnostic to the device and the version of the operating system, its effectiveness depends on the fact that there is electricity and that the receiving phones have coverage. Assuming that the ES-Alert system was available (because as we already know, there was no electricity supply), the reality is that an important thickness of the population would not have received the warning at the time because it did not have coverage. They would have received it when recovering the signal in the event that the emergency remained active in the area, but there is no guarantees that, by then, the notice would have been useful. Image | Fré Sonneveld Social networks. Public entities and organizations, which They urged the user to save battery and limit the use of mobilethey made their official communications through social networks such as X. Access not only to this social network, but to the media that echoed this information, it was not always possible due to the lack of coverage and mobile data network. The always eternal radio. The best informed citizen yesterday was the one who had a ancient operational radio thanks to two AA batteries. The radio works independently that there is coverage, mobile network or wifi. Emergency equipment They do not communicate by Walkie-Talkies By custom, but because in a fire in which everything has fallen, the radio will continue to function. If the broadcaster and the receiving device work, there is communication, and that is what happened precisely yesterday. The radios continued to function and counting the last hour of the blackout, which shows that an invention of the late nineteenth century is still important in the middle of 2025. Cover image | Pere Jury In Xataka | Cercanías, Media and Long Distance, High Speed ​​and Metro: This is the situation of trains in Spain after the blackout

We have just discovered that 20% of our DNA comes from an unknown hominid population: population B

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Perhaps at this point on remembering that human evolution is more like the branched structure of trees than to the linear image that we often use to illustrate it, that image in which our ancestors are irrigating and pertrechating tools. However, the bifurcations of these tree branches fail to illustrate some evolutionary changes. Because sometimes species not only diverge, they also converge. A recent genetic study has detected The trail in the human DNA of an old population that separated from our main lineage approximately 1.5 million years ago to converge some time later. The study has estimated that the genetic legacy of this second population (or population b) represents approximately 20% of our DNA today. The study responsible for the study also raises the possibility that this legacy has been positive for our species. According to the hypothesis raised, these genes would have been contributed to improve our cognitive capacity. “The question about where we come is one of those that has fascinated humans for centuries,” explained in a press release Trevor Cousins, co -author of the study. “For a long time, it had been assumed that we evolved from An ancestral continuous lineagebut the exact details of our origins are uncertain. “ The separation of these two evolutionary branches would have given rise to an evolution in parallel of the Populations A and B. The evolution of the population to correspond approximately what we already know, although the new work allows us to know in more detail its evolutionary history. As explained by the team responsible for the study, after the separation of the two populations, the population A would have suffered a “Bottleneck”: While the population B prospered, the A had to cross a period in which its numbers were very scarce, a situation that also implied a drastic reduction in genetic diversity. From the population A would have emerged the main human species of the past, including not only our species but also the “bifurcation” that would give rise to the arrival of Neanderthals and Denisovanosanother human species (or subspecies) that would have inhabited Central Asia hundreds of thousands of years ago. Reunion between species The history of population B is still enigmatic. The study has not recorded events such as population bottlenecks. We know that the core of this population disappeared but that at some point their roads crossed with the population A, giving rise to genetic exchange. He “Reunion” between populations It would have given more than one million years after separation, about 300,000 years ago, according to the estimates of the study responsible for the study. After this reunion, population B would fade without leaving another trace. The genetic inheritance that each population would have left in modern humans would be unequal. While we should about 80% From our genetic material, to population B we could owe the remaining 20%. The study detected that these genes of population B would concentrate sections of the population’s own genes A. Scheme that represents the evolution of the two populations and their relationship with Neanderthals, Denisovanos and ‘Homo Sapiens’ contemporaries. Cousins, Aylwyn Scally & Richard Durbin (2025). This suggests, explains the team, that both populations would have been little compatible. The uncompatibilities would have been purified over the years through the process known as purification selection, a process in which natural selection is eliminating harmful mutations. On this legacy, the team also indicates that these are genes closely linked to the functioning of the brain and the Information processing. This could imply that this small genetic inheritance could have had a great impact on the evolution of human intelligence and in the Evolution of our species. The analysis focused on the study of contemporary humans and not on the bone remains of prehistoric populations. The team resorted to the 1000 Genomes Project initiative, thanks to which it had a large genetic database with information about inhabitants of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Nature Genetics. The history of evolutionary convergence is long. Perhaps the best known case is that of the Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis). This already extinct species occupied Europe and Asia tens of thousands of years before our species left Africa but, once they found themselves They coexisted in various areas of Eurasia. Thanks to its genetic legacy (which varies according to populations but usually around 1% or 2% among non -Afro -descendant), we know that the coexistence of sapiens and Neanderthals gave a lot of: The union of these species engendered hybrids whose lineages ended up merging with those who gave rise to contemporary humanity. In Xataka | North Africa was outside the bronze age map. A metallic waste has been put in the center of history Image | Pixabay / Pxhere

Mexico’s plan to disarm its population

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The scene is the least shocking. Throughout the last weeks, in Mexico City or more recently in locations in the states of Gentleman and Chiapasrows of armed people with revolvers, shotguns, rifles, cartridges and bullets have been organized. They are not military. No traffickers. No police. In the tails you can see citizens of all kinds, from men with their children to the elderly, ladies or young people. Everyone does the same: They wait for their turn patiently before a tent occupied by military With their weapons or ammunition under your arm. They are there to make a peculiar barter: change their weapons for money or appliances. And incidentally contribute to Claudia Sheinbaum’s last attempt by fight violence In Mexico, the program “Yes to disarmament, yes to peace”. Gun by toasters? It is a peculiar barter, but that is what has been done This Monday in Tapachulaa town of Chiapas, on the southern border of Mexico. There, in the Municipal Palace, a collection point was set up with Army personnel for citizens who wanted to deliver their weapons in exchange for a reward. Which? In this case, appliances, such as Inform The EFE agency. The first to participate was a young man who got rid of a revolver of the 38 caliber. It is not known what he received in return, but in The photos The ceremony shows that in the position mounted by the Government there are several boxes with whippers or coffee makers. Tapachula’s act marks the beginning of A campaign of collection of weapons, ammunition and explosives that will run until Saturday by other locations in the state of Chiapas, such as Metapa or Mazatán. And why do we collect weapons? For destroy them. Or at least remove them from the streets. In the post of Tapachula could be seen in fact how, after receiving the 38 caliber revolver, the army staff I was useless live. Although The goal Last is more ambitious: what Sheinbaum is looking is fight crimesviolence and insecurity, in addition to accidents. “Weapons are a symbol of violence and death. We do not want any family to have a weapon at home,” He claimed The Mexican president in January, when she presented the campaign, baptized ‘Yes to disarmament, yes to peace’. The Secretary of the Government Rosa Icela went further when talking about the campaign and made her claim clear: “Each weapon received is a crime or injury less.” Rewards … and anonymity. To encourage people to take out the guns, rifles and cartridges that may have been stored, sometimes for years and inheritances, the Mexican government has played two large buzas. A, Anonymity. Another, the reward, either in pesos or with appliances, as seen This same week In the state of Chiapas. One of the key messages From the campaign ‘yes to disarmament, yes to peace’ is that citizens can get rid of their guns, bullets and explosives Without having to give explanations nor fear that the exchange activates an investigation into its origin. “The collection of weapons will depend on the population attending the exchange module voluntarily and anonymously, without legal consequences for the fact of possessing armament,” they collect The bases published by the Mexican Executive. Click on the image to go to Tweet. A good gesture … with a reward included. Although the government insists In the advantages of the program for the population, who participate directly has offered another more palpable reward: money. As collect The countrythe General Secretariat of the Interior has set certain amounts that apply depending on the characteristics of the weapon, its model, caliber or useful life. The exchanges can in fact at 26,450 pesos, just over 1,200 euros. In the case of a grenade, the planned payments move between 12 and 70 dollars. On other occasions what is offered in exchange for guns and rifles are appliances. It could be seen a few days ago In Tapachulabut also in the municipality of Progreso de Obregón, in the Hildago state. The National Defense Secretariat itself I recently uploaded photos To his X profile in which he saw how a military distributed boxes with toasters or plates, among other devices. The initiative also has a pedagogical dimension and aspires to transfer a message to the new generations of Mexicans. During the presentation of the CDMX campaign there were children who exchanged “war” toys, such as plastic guns, for others without that connotation. “The objective (is) that no boy or girl has a toy that has to do with violence. We replace a war for another educational,” advocated At the beginning of the Sheinbaum year. Is it a new idea? Not quite. Is The first time that the strategy to withdraw weapons from households and the streets is launched nationwide, but before it had already been launched in the capital, where Sheinbaum exercised for years as Head of Government of CDMX. In fact in The official website From the capital administration there is a section dedicated to the program ‘Yes to disarmament, yes to La Paz’ in which it stands out that since its inception, in 2019, 6,546 weapons were recorded. “It seeks to withdraw the weapons of the civilian population, whether they have acquired it legally or illegally, to reduce high -impact crimes associated with firearms,” argues The CDMX government. For now and expect the campaign Keep advancingthis new effort seems to be also paying off. In February Icela stressed that in just one month he had served to collect 540 weapons and on March 21 that figure had fired until The thousand. That without counting 84 large, thousands of bullets and several dynamite cartridges. Images | Government Secretariat of Mexico City (X) and National Defense Secretariat (X) In Xataka | Mexico has forbidden to kill or hurt bulls in runs. Spain already tried in the Balearic Islands and did not go well

More than half of the population in Spain has vitamin D. A study now question the benefits of supplementation

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Vitamin D, in reality, is not strictly a vitamin. It is a prohormone. Even so, in this article we will continue to identify it as a vitamin by familiarity. Anyway has a fundamental role in the proper functioning of our body. Our body is able to produce it When we expose ourselves to sunlightalthough we can also get it from some foods or Taking supplements. Its importance lies in its ability to favor the absorption of calcium and phosphorus inside our intestine, so without it our bones would become fragile. However, this is not all. It also has the ability to improve muscle function, to activate some defensive cells of our immune system, to regulate blood pressure, and even reduce the level of inflammation of our body. In many regions of Spain, the Sun abounds for a good part of the year, and, even so, more than half of the Spanish population, between 50 and 60%, has an insufficient level of vitamin D (less than 30 ng/ml). This is the percentage defended by a good part of the most recent studies, such as, for example, the one prepared by the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition In 2023, although this figure varies depending on the age and sex of the people collected in the report. Unfortunately many of these studies are not available publicly, but most of them argue that up to 60% of the general population has an insufficient level From this prohormone, as we have just seen. And if we stick to people 65 years of age or older, this figure is triggered until 80%. Vitamin D supplements are in question It is not easy to explain why in a country as sunny as Spain so many people of all ages have an insufficient level of vitamin D, but the most reasonable thing is to assume that it is due to a combination of several factors. On the one hand, many people avoid exposing themselves to sunlight during those hours in which this radiation source is more intense to prevent the appearance of skin cancer. And when they do they protect with solar creams that are capable of blocking up to 95% of the synthesis. In addition, a part of the population has acquired habits that invite you to spend more time at home and less outdoors. The intake of calcifediol supplements is the solution that doctors usually opt for to remedy the vitamin D deficit The diet can help us fight this lack, but the figures given by scientific studies show that in Spain we do not consume with the necessary abundance foods rich in vitamin Dsuch as wild salmon, sardines, cod liver oil or mushrooms. In these circumstances, the intake of calcifediol supplements, which is one of the types of vitamin D that circulate in our blood system, is the solution by which doctors usually opt to remedy this deficit. However, during the last decades Several scientific studies They have questioned the efficacy and benefits of the intake of vitamin D through supplementation. One of the most recent It has been led by Dr. Cynthia Thompson, of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman Public Health College of the University of Arizona (USA), and is very interesting because it tries to statistically evaluate two consequences of taking vitamin D supplements that other studies had only insinuated: the possibility that they reduce the risk of having cancer, but, at the same time, they increase that of suffering a heart disease. This random essay has lasted seven years and involves 36,282 women. Those who were randomly assigned the vitamin D supplementation and calcium supplementation experienced a 7% reduction in the cancer mortality rate. However, those same people also experienced a 6% increase in mortality from cardiovascular diseases. These figures are significant From a statistical point of view, but they do not allow us to reach a definitive conclusion in regard to general mortality. According to Dr. F. Perry Wilsonfrom Yale University (USA), vitamin D supplementation probably does not affect mortality, although it could slightly reduce the risk of some forms of cancer. However, it could also increase the risk of heart disease presumably due to the calcification of arteries. Whatever it is important that we keep in mind that the results of this study, and of those who have preceded it, are not conclusive, although, yes, they give us valuable clues that are worth taking into account. Image | Darina Bellonogova More information | Medium In Xataka | We have found some supplements capable of improving memory in the elderly: prebiot promising

While the population of Japan sinks irremediably, Tokyo grows. There is an explanation: Ikkyoku Shūchū

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Much of the world has a short and medium term problem, a problem called demography. The fertility rate from various countries It is poor and birth has plummeted in many of them. Asian countries as South Korea, China either Taiwan They suffer this problem, but we cannot talk about demographic winter without mentioning Japan. While the country struggles to achieve the rate that guarantees the generational relief, they are being seen and wishing so that companies have labor. Giants like McDonald’s have changed its contracting policiesthey are putting to work To robots And, due to the lack of childreneven diaper companies have started Look at the adult diapers sector. And, while dealing with that problem, another has been hitting the door for years: the Excessive centralization of the archipelago in a city: Tokyo. And this excessive centralization has a name: Ikkyoku Shūchū. Japan disassembles Ikkyoku Shūchū It is a Japanese term that refers to centralization of the country. This implies that there is an excessive concentration at a very specific point that is not only given because they are born more babies at that point or receive more immigration, but because other areas of the country are emptied because they move to the city that brings together … everything. In the Japanese case, that city is Tokyo, the great city that, for decades, has accumulated industry, administrative functions, political, tourism and, obviously, population. As they point in The Japan Timeswhile the rest of the country waning, Tokyo grew. This has caused a huge demographic imbalance because, obviously, the area around it lost population, but also other locations throughout the country. And the implications of this are huge. To begin with, an economic disparity is created because Everything is concentrated in the big cityso the gap in economic activities is increasing between the capital and the rest of the country. For the citizen, this translates into money and time, since everything is more expensive, transport services and public services are more saturated and teleworking is not always possible. Ichinono, a town with more dolls than neighbors It is also a problem for the rest of the region, since those municipalities that are running out of population cannot maintain essential services and either attract young people who want to work. In fact, what we have seen is that the way to attract couples to that “emptied Japan” is through incentives for you to form a family And have children. There are others cases successful, but also related to the entire world of promoting family creation. Plans against him Ikkyoku Shūchū This phenomenon is sad, since it ends with the smallest peoples and, precisely, in Japan we saw an example of a town in which there are More dolls than people. Due to the lack of services, there are locations that have gone to work. An example is Ina, what implement A telemedicine service that uses drones to facilitate medicines to the elderly. Another is Kamiyama, a town that lost 70% of its population and is achieving Attract companies thanks to the development of high -speed Internet. From the government they have also put themselves to Identify the needs to mitigate the phenomenon of the Ikkyoku Shūchū and promote Decentralization. In January of this year, El País presented a plan of action which will seek to promote economic and social growth through the redistribution of government functions throughout the country. In addition, there is the call ‘Regional Reform 2.0’ that seeks to promote a stronger economy of the different regions and reduce the excessive population concentration of the capital. The end is, according to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, help all people reach happiness. And it is a continuation of the 2016 Regional Revitalization Act that seeks to encourage the implementation of industry and services away from Tokyo to attract population to those other nuclei. It is a beautiful objective for a future that does not look too well if things continue as until now. The estimate is that, of the 124 million Japanese of 2023, in 2100 There will be 63 million and, in addition, very aging, making the entire social security system impracticable. Image | Timo Volz In Xataka | Demographers have been wondering for centuries when the human population will stop growing. It already has an answer: 2080

Tokyo has four times more population than Madrid and traffic jams are non -existent. The secret is called Shako Shomeishho

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Spain has an extension of 506,030 square kilometers And they live 48.35 million people. Japan has an area of 377,974 square kilometers where 124.5 million people live. In the city of Madrid it is calculated that they live 3.23 million peoplewhile in Tokyo a total of 14.22 million people. The difference is even more striking if we take into account population density. In Madrid they live 5,265.91 hab./km², while Tokyo rises to 6. 501.58 hab./km². Which of the two cities is hell to drive? If you throw one eye to photographs of Japanese citiesyou will have realized that there are a lot, many people walking and in public transport. But how many cars do you see on the street? The answer is simple: very few. If we attend to the 2020 dataSpain had in use 29,875,896 million cars, while in Japan 76,702,773 cars were counted. How can it be that a country with a much lower surface and that walks to triple our population Don’t be a car hell If you have a car density per person very similar to ours (629 cars/1,000 inhabitants for Spain for the 609 cars/1000 inhabitants for Japan)? They have achieved, of course, limiting to the force the number of cars that can be possessed in the big cities where, by logic, a greater number of cars should accumulate. As? The secret is Shako Shomeishho Although the density of car per inhabitant is very similar to the Spanish, the truth is that it collapses if we focus on large cities. In Japan it is estimated that each home has 1.06 cars of the total. That figure collapses to the 0.32 vehicles per household In Tokyo. The great Japanese city is, in fact, the rich city where the car is used. According to Deloitteonly 12% of the daily journeys in Tokyo are carried out by car, while 17% are bicycle. Figures that are not understood without two express prohibitions: that of parking on the street and buying a car … without space to park it. And a little luck. Andre Sorensen, professor of urban planning at the University of Toronto, says that part of Tokyo’s success to get this low vehicle density begins by a chance. At the beginning of the 20th centuryjust 15% of the Japanese lived in cities. That figure is now 91%. Tokyo (above) and Rotterdam (below) two examples of cities rebuilt after World War II. Source: Google Maps The explosion came with the end of World War II. The cities were razed and the growth in Tokyo was so chaotic that the buildings began to grow without control, some glued to others. You can compare with Google Maps photographs how Tokyo grew, completely uncontrolled with countless tiny plots, and how Rotterdam grew, with a planning studied to combine green areas in residential areas. Sorensen explains that this population explosion caused the flowering of narrow streets that hindered the passage and storage of the vehicles themselves. The wave of workers to the cities forced the institutions They will turn off with public transport And in 1957 the first measure was taken to regulate the use of the car in cities. And, with rebound, a good reason to discourage its use. Since then a law is applied that prevents the car on the street. What is usual in any European city, in Japan it is strictly prohibited. The fine is also no nonsense. They apply sanctions of up to 200,000 yen for leaving the car irregularly parked what is a fine of more than 1,200 euros. Just a few years later, in 1962 the Shako Shomeishho. This name refers to the certificate that the buyer of a car has to present when acquiring the vehicle. With him it is guaranteed that this person has a place to park the car. That is, it has a parking space to park the car every night. If you don’t have a garage, you will be forbidden to buy a car. The Kei Cars, like this Daihatsu Copen, do not need to have a parking certificate except in Tokyo and Osaka This Shako Shomeisho does not apply to Kei Carsthe small Japanese cars that measure less than 3.4 meters in length, 1.48 meters wide and 2.0 meters high and with motors of less than 660 cc that cannot exceed the 64 hp of power. Of course, in the larger cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, the obligation to have the garage certificate to get a vehicle is also applied. The Shako Shomeishho has triggered the price of the land of parking lots. In fact, the expensive thing is not to buy a car, the expensive thing is to get the possibility of buying a car. Is Something similar to what happens in Singapore With a subtle difference: there are spaces available to park cars in Tokyo that are sold for more than one million euros and in the ads themselves the yield that can be taken out allowing the rental of vehicles per hour is reflected. And you have to keep in mind that Not all parking lots are valid. The garage to save the car must be less than two kilometers from the usual residence and to get the certificate, it must be able to corroborate this with plans or even require the entry and exit measures of the garage. If the car is too large, the buyer can have problems for the authorities to approve the certificate and have nowhere to park … or rent it. The solution can go through rent the garages But there are neighborhoods where monthly rentals can easily go above 500 euros (about 77,000 yen). In some very specific places in the most expensive neighborhoods, the spaces They are quoted with rents above 700 euros (110,000 yen). How could it be otherwise, the houses for sale are offered with triggered prices when the “central” combiance and “parking space” shake hands. With offers that exceed 3.5 million euros (550 million yen) … Read more

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