pressure

Alcohol has found an old ally among Generation Z, social pressure

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Do the young people of 2026 drink? Yes. But in a different way than those of two, three or four decades ago. falls usual consumption and the majority (57.9%) of people between 15 and 29 years old claim that they only try alcohol very sporadically or have directly banished it from their lives. However, that does not take away the other side of the coin: a considerable percentage of young people maintains the more or less frequent habit of raising a glass to their lips and, above all, remains social pressure that continues to associate partying and drunkenness. That’s at least what the latest studies reveal. Of young people and bottles. Generation Z is changing the way they relate to alcohol. The trend is not new (in Xataka we have talked other times of her), but that does not mean that it is easy to keep track of it: the change is so multifaceted, has so many chiaroscuros and above all has given rise to so many statistics, that it is difficult to summarize it with clear concepts. What is indisputable is that, beyond its socio-health dimension, the phenomenon is already influencing the way to relate of Generation Z and the alcohol industry, which faces what is likely to be your biggest challenge: how the hell to attract an audience that is increasingly less interested in the bottle. A percentage: 57.9%. The first touch that helps to understand the trend was provided a few days ago by FAD Juventud in a report about the matter. Among the many data in the document, there is one eloquent one: the majority of its interviewees were between 15 and 29 years old (57.9%) claim that they do not consume alcohol on a regular basis. In fact, the percentage is the sum of those who drink only a few times a year (22.7%), those who almost never do so (12.7%), those who have given up drinking (8.1%) and those who have never touched it (14.4%). When asking their respondents how often they try beer, wine, cocktails or any other alcoholic product, FAD researchers have also found that only 13.2% admit to doing so with a “high frequency”, which is equivalent to drinking every or almost every day. less and less present. It’s not just that most young people drink very occasionally, it’s that their relationship with the bottle is cooling. That’s what at least one other recent study on the subject suggests: the ‘Spanish Health Survey’released by Health and which, although it includes indicators for 2023, has just been published now. When analyzing the adolescent population cohort, its authors have had a surprise: a collapse in alcohol intake. If in 2006 the prevalence of habitual consumption among people aged 15 to 24 was 43.8%, in 2023 this figure had dropped to 17.9%. That is, the indicator decreased by 60% in less than 20 years. “It is the largest drop observed among all age groups,” confirm the Ministry of Health, which recalls that, in general, the prevalence during that period went from 48.8% to 31.1%. The other data: 35.6%. Fad provides a third interesting indicator. According to your latest surveyfocused on young people between 15 and 29 years old residing in Spain, 35.6% say they have reduced their alcohol consumption and 17.3% have directly decided to give up drinking permanently. It is not at all surprising if we take into account that 51.9% considers that alcohol is harmful to health and most adolescents know well what getting drunk entails. When Fad asked the young people what made them give up alcohol, 33.5% explained that “under its influence you do things that you shouldn’t” and 30.4% acknowledged that when drunk “you are more exposed to something happening to you.” Not only that. The majority of those interviewed (67.6%) boast a “fairly or very healthy” lifestyle, which among other things includes going to the gym (23.1%) or playing sports (21.6%). These are interesting percentages because, as Fad recalls, they exceed those associated with alcohol-based activities. Everything perfect, right? No. And here the nuances begin. Over the last few decades, Spain has been “significantly” changing its way of consuming alcohol. And that transformation is being especially clear among young people. That’s something that recognize even the Ministry of Health. However, it is one thing to drink less or differently and another to turn your back on drinks. In the same report in which he confirms the collapse in consumption, Fad issues a warning to sailors: “Despite this trend, alcohol is still very present in the lives of youth: six out of ten young people between 15 and 29 years old consume frequently or occasionally.” The agency has also detected another worrying trend: 20% of those who use alcohol and energy drinks acknowledge that they mix them frequently, and they know their effects on the body. Social pressure, untouchable. Curiously, despite all the changes registered in recent decades, there is something that persists: social pressure around alcohol. More than half of young people have internalized that drinking is harmful to their body, but that does not mean that the consumption of beer, wine and other spirits continues to be normalized at night. What’s more, Fad has detected “a general pressure to drink,” especially at parties. “It exists in leisure and party contexts and is related to the need to ‘be normal’, fit in, integrate into the peer group and belong to something, and has intensified at an early age,” warns the organization, which adds: “Those who do not drink say that they often have to explain themselves, justify their position. Furthermore, in some contexts it is assumed that those who do not drink ‘cut the bulls’.” “So that they leave you alone”. The Fad Juventud report is not based only on polls or statistics. Its authors have relied on discussion groups with 32 young people between 18 and 28 years old residing in Madrid. And their conclusion is clear: as paradoxical as it may sound, they drink less … Read more

Next week the 2,400 W Parkside pressure washer arrives at Lidl that will leave your terrace like new

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With the arrival of good weather, fine-tune the exterior areas of the house It becomes one of the mandatory tasks almost every weekend. If you are tired of scrubbing the garden floor, the terrace walls with the brush, or spending money at the car wash to clean the car, in next week’s Lidl brochure we have found a device that will help you do this. It is about the Parkside 2,400 W pressure washerwhich will go on sale in physical stores next Friday, July 3 by 89.99 euros. Although if you don’t want to wait, you can now buy it on the Lidl website. Parkside pressure washer 2,400 W The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Competing at this price with Lidl is impossible for the vast majority of brands. But if this Parkside cleaning device runs out, on Amazon Prime Day you have this one available Bosch Home and Garden pressure washer with 120 bars and a power of 150 W reduced to 91.99 euros. Bosch Home and Garden High Pressure Washer, High Pressure Cleaner, 1500 W, 125 Bars The price could vary. We earn commission from these links An ideal cleaning tool for removing stubborn dirt. The true hallmark of this pressure washer is its motor with 2,400 W of power, which powers a aluminum high pressure pump Specially designed to offer great durability and resistance to corrosion. This technical combination allows reaching a maximum pressure of 170 bars (with a very solvent continuous working pressure of 115 bars). This means that it has enough strength to lift moss embedded in the stone, clean the joints of exterior tiles or remove grease from the car without straining. In addition, it offers a maximum flow rate of 500 liters per hour, an ideal water volume to speed up cleaning large surfaces without it becoming an eternal task. It can also be noted that this pressure washer comes with seven interchangeable bulbsdetergent tank and a 10-meter anti-twist high-pressure hose. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: offer for lidl’s parkside 2,400 W pressure washer today ✅ THE BEST High pressure aluminum pump: Unlike many cheap pressure washers that use plastic components, this model has an aluminum pump. It is a key technical detail because it resists heating, wear and corrosion much better. The “all-inclusive” accessory kit: It does not require spending extra money on accessories. It comes standard with a vario nozzle, rotating turbo nozzle, detergent bottle and a generous 10 meter anti-twist high pressure hose. ❌ THE WORST Exclusively domestic use… Although it has a lot of power on paper, its overall and internal components are designed for moderate-duration home cleaning sessions. It is not recommended for intensive professional or commercial use. Volume and storage… With a weight of around 11.5 kg (with accessories) and considerable vertical dimensions, it requires a fixed space in the garage or storage room to store it. Although it includes wheels and cable supports, it is a cumbersome machine. 💡 BUY IT IF… You want to clean tiles, remove moss from stone paths, wash fences or clean blinds quickly and comfortably. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You need a machine to work continuously for several hours a day on facades or industrial warehouses, you will have to make the leap to professional ranges with water-cooled induction motors. Other pressure washers that may interest you Bosch High Pressure Washer UniversalAquatak 135 (1900 W, pressure: 135 Bar, max. flow: 410 l/h, in Box) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Stanley SXPW24BX Pressure Washer The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Webedia and Parkside (Lidl) In Xataka | Safety, organization and entertainment gadgets and accessories for cars on long trips In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes

“They are an ecosystem of unprecedented aesthetic pressure”

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Technology has shaped the way we interact with the world and, by extension, with ourselves. For decades, the debate about unrealistic beauty standards focused on traditional photographic retouching to remove the wrinkles of age or stylize the figure to fit into what is conceived as the ‘model’ body. However, the arrival of artificial intelligence has changed the rules of the game and we are no longer passive spectators of unattainable bodies, but now we have algorithms in our pockets that, in real time, return to us an artificially “optimized” version of our own face. They are studying it. Empirical research has begun to isolate the specific effect of AI-based filters versus mere social media exposure. A robust study published in it Journal of Consumer Behavior analyzed almost 800 users in two phases and identified the exact mechanism of the psychological damage generated by AI and the false reality into which it puts us. In this case, the use of beauty filters that have AI behind them generates a direct drop in our own self-esteem and increases rejection of our current body image. The reason for this stands out in the “discrepancy theory” as the AI ​​creates a hyper-realistic “ideal self”, and when the camera is turned off, there is an anxiety-inducing clash between the algorithmic version and the “real self”. New terms. This phenomenon has led the medical literature to coin a new clinical term: filter dysmorphia. Here is a review that synthesized 18 studies from the last two decadesconcluded that the amplification of unrealistic ideals by AI and filters in general is triggering not only body dissatisfaction, but also eating disorders and anxiety and depression. And, as expected, the most vulnerable groups are adolescents and young adults. A new evolution. Until now we could see how technology offered us filter tools to improve our beauty and look more beautiful in photographs or videos. But now AI has become a facial evaluation tool. That is to say, there are people who submit to the scrutiny of artificial intelligence to know if they are handsome or ugly, internalizing the machine’s gaze in case many ‘defects’ begin to appear. Internalizing this speech directly correlates with low self-esteem and an increase in compulsive behaviors to improve your appearance. There is no neutrality. Here, a study from 2025 shows us as important data that 82% of images generated by AI lack cultural inclusivity. This means that aesthetic evaluation models such as SCUT or MEBeauty They present significant disparities and ethical biases, causing AI to impose culturally restrictive ideas of beauty. It has impact. To measure it, Dove’s 2024 macroscopic report, carried out on 33,000 people in 20 countries, provides figures that contextualize the severity of this aesthetic pressure. For example, it is projected that 90% of online content will in the future be generated or altered by AI, but it is also suggested that 2 out of 5 women would be willing to give up a year of their life in exchange for achieving the “ideal body.” This exposure to “digitally curated beauty,” mediated by social media algorithms, has consequences in the physical world, as a 2024 systematic review established a clear causal line: body dissatisfaction derived from these digital ecosystems pushes 70% of young women and 60% of young men to seriously consider undergoing cosmetic surgery. The experts They agree on the great problem involved in the use of AI for these purposes of seeking rational beauty and making decisions based on what the machine says. This is something we find in statements by Nuria Oliver, doctor in artificial intelligence from MIT, for El Paíswhich points to the following: “Its impact on aesthetic violence operates on at least three interrelated levels: the active definition of canons of beauty, the modulation of the visibility of content and the incorporation of aesthetic bias in analysis and decision-making systems. All three are worrying; together, they constitute an ecosystem of unprecedented aesthetic pressure.” Images | Kevin Costello In Xataka | Cosmetics experts are clear about the future: “People are generally very receptive to products from China”

why high blood pressure is triggering before 30

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Irene is 32 years old and she repeats a phrase almost like a daily mantra: “It doesn’t give me life”. Between work demands, the bombardment of notifications and the constant feeling of being left behind when compared to other people’s achievements —the dreaded FOMO—, their routine is a race without a finish line. Lately he has been sleeping little, living with overwhelming stress and experiencing a persistent helmet-shaped headache, accompanied by fatigue and insomnia, symptoms that experts in Efe Health associate with a silent evil. What she justified as the typical exhaustion of our generation, in the medical consultation, translated into an unexpected diagnosis: high blood pressure. A disease, a priori almost invisible and associated with the elderly, which is gaining more ground every day in the lives of the youngest. We are witnessing the collapse of an entire generation trapped in an epidemic of chronic stress and burnout. From an evolutionary point of view, stress is a mechanism designed to save our lives. in the face of imminent dangers. The problem arises when the threat is not a predator, but precariousness and toxic perfectionism. This continuous “allostatic load” triggers cortisol, suppresses the immune system and silently damages the cardiovascular system. Faced with this emotional discomfort, the body demands a neurochemical rescue. Stress pushes us to the refrigerator looking for a binge on sugars and fats, foods that activate the brain’s reward system and temporarily act as a buffer from anguish. This sedentary lifestyle, added to poor emotional management and high consumption of ultra-processed foods and sodium, has created the perfect vicious circle in the last 20 years. Furthermore, recent research published in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine have identified using artificial intelligence that sleep disorders (such as waking up short of breath) and energy drink consumption emerge as key modifiable risk factors for early-onset hypertension. All this is critically reflected in the university stage: a cross-sectional investigation in students showed that 68% smoke, 54% sleep less than six hours, 42% are sedentary and 46% report high stress. An underdiagnosed epidemic At a global level, the World Health Organization (WHO) alert that 1.4 billion people suffer from high blood pressure, and only one in five has it under control. In Spain, the data published by the portal iHealth They place some 9.8 million adults affected (32% of the population between 30 and 79 years old), achieving control in only 37% of cases. However, the figures in the young and middle-aged population are alarming. According to the national study Di@bet.esthe global prevalence of hypertension in Spanish adults is 42.6%. However, the most worrying thing is the underdiagnosis of young people: more than 15% of men under 30 years of age, and 27.3% of those between 31 and 45 years of age, have high blood pressure. In fact, young men (18-30 years old) They are the demographic group with the highest percentage of undiagnosed hypertension. The basic problem is that almost no one suspects a blood pressure problem at age 30. As Dr. José Antonio García Donaire points outpresident of SEHLELHA, the body’s warnings are so diffuse—a headache in the back of the neck, fatigue or some isolated palpitation—that neither the patient nor his doctor thinks of hypertension as the first option. In fact, there is a huge disconnection with reality: the vast majority of university students have heard about the disease, but only 20% really understand the risk to which they are exposed. As if that were not enough, young people who already have a family history come up against an invisible wall: the anxiety and chronic stress they suffer daily dynamite any attempt to keep their heart rate at bay. The paradox of anxiety and false cures on TikTok Despite this gloomy outlook, science surprises us with the “paradox of anxiety.” From a biological and evolutionary prism, high levels of neuroticism in its “worried-vulnerable” facet can reduce mortality. These hypervigilant people become less seriously ill because they go to the doctor at the slightest symptom, achieving early diagnoses. Surprisingly, a longitudinal analysis of young and middle-aged adults found that a prior diagnosis of anxiety is significantly associated with a lower risk of developing incident hypertension, underscoring this potential protective effect derived from closer monitoring of one’s health. Precisely because of this anxiety and constant overstimulation, young people look for desperate remedies on the internet. Some are dangerous, like the radical “dopamine fast” which promotes extreme social isolation and can lead to anxiety and malnutrition. Other trends are purely commercial, like him cozymaxxing, that commodifies our need for mental peace by inciting us to buy very expensive blankets and lamps on TikTok so that our rest is aesthetic. Neuroscience clarifies that the real solution is “slow dopamine”: re-educating the brain with sustained pleasures over time, such as cooking or reading, and not through radical deprivation or impulsive purchases. To prevent in time, specialists warn of the critical importance that the young population adopts the habit of taking their blood pressure at home, especially if they have genetic factors. The protocol is clear: use a validated arm device, rest thirty minutes beforehand and take several shots on the dominant arm to deliver the stocking to the doctor. In short, the cardiovascular crisis of young people will not be cured with pills alone. Burnout is systemic. In the face of a paradigm that rewards toxic self-demand, rest, learn to disconnect and allow yourself to “do nothing” have become in the most radical and political preventive acts of our time. Image | Magnificent Xataka | When you are anxious or sad you turn to foods with a very specific flavor and texture. And science knows why

Microsoft 365 will have cheaper versions worldwide. It is the result of the antitrust pressure of the European Commission

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Soon, many Microsoft Office customers worldwide can access cheaper subscriptions. It is not a promotion or isolated commercial gesture, but the result of years of Brussels. Microsoft has accepted change your strategy to close an antitrust investigation I could cost him expensive. With this agreement, the company dodges a possible fine and the European Commission reinforces its image as guardian of the rules that govern the digital market. The European Commission confirmed that Microsoft must maintain versions of Office 365 and Microsoft 365 without Teamsyour communication tool, at a clearly lower price compared to the editions that include it. These conditions will be in force for at least seven years and will be complemented with interoperability and data portability commitments for a decade. The American company has indicated that it will implement changes globally. Microsoft undertakes to lower prices and open its ecosystem The origin of this pulse dates back to July 2020, When Slack denounced Microsoft to the European Commission For packaging Teams within Office, claiming that it made it difficult for users to choose alternatives. Three years later, Brussels opened a formal investigation To evaluate whether this practice was abuse of dominant position in the collaborative software market. The case focused on the impact of Teams integration on competitors such as Slack and other business communication platforms. To reduce the pressure, Microsoft began taking action before a resolution arrived. In October 2023 he disaggregated Teams of his suites for commercial clients in the European and Switzerland Economic Space, with lower prices for those who chose not to include the tool. In April 2024 he extended this policy to the rest of the world, withdrawing for new business clients the traditional editions with Teams and introducing “without teams” plans along with an independent license. These steps sought to show good regulatory will and simplify the catalog for multinational companies, but did not suffice to close the file. With the agreement announced this month, the measures become mandatory and more ambitious. Microsoft must guarantee a significant price difference and allow customers to migrate to versions without teams without penalties. It should be noted that to benefit from these sales, organizations must hire the new plans or make the change to renew subscriptions; There will be no automatic discounts for those who maintain current contracts. It also undertakes to facilitate that rival services integrate Office applications into their platforms and that users export Teams data to other tools, reducing change barriers. This valued the measure, Teresa Ribera, executive vice president of the European Commission for the clean, fair and competitive transition: “With today’s decision, we make binding for seven years or more Microsoft’s commitments to end their linking practices that could be preventing their competitors effectively competing with Teams. Therefore, today’s decision opens the competition in this crucial market and guarantees that companies can freely choose the communication and collaboration product that best suits their needs.” Microsoft published concrete examples of prices that will enter vigor in November this year: In Enterprise plans, the difference will be up to 8 euros per user per month; In the Business Standard and Premium plans, it will be around 3 euros. Of course, domestic users and students will not see changes: their subscriptions of Microsoft 365 Personal or family did not include payment teams and are not affected by the new framework. In any case, this episode arrives at a time where the commission has intensified its scrutiny about large technological in recent years, with multimillionaire sanctions to companies such as Google, which recently imposed a fine of 2,950 million euros. However, Brussels face a diplomatic challenge: the US president Donald Trump has criticized these measuresthreatening to activate section 301 of the Commerce Law as a response. Images | Ed Hardie | Microsoft In Xataka | The EU has put Apple against the strings: none of its options guarantees that its devices remain the same

China needs its own TSMC to withstand the US pressure. His best candidate already grows at a rhythm of vertigo

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The US wants to avoid at any price that China has avant -garde photolithography equipment. These complex machines are necessary to manufacture very high integration semiconductorssuch as those used by the data centers specialized in artificial intelligence (AI). And without them the technological development of the country led by Xi Jinping has slowed down. It is fair What the US government wants. China is dedicating a huge amount of resources to the development of its own avant -garde lithography teams. Two of its largest investments They arrived in 2014 and 2019before the technological war of which we are witnessing was unleashed. In 2014, the Chinese government injected about 19,000 million dollars into its chip industry, and in 2019 this figure increased to touching 27.5 billion dollars. However, these investments pale in front of China at the end of 2023. And it is that just two years ago the government approved An investment of 41,000 million dollars expressly dedicated to manufacturers of lithography equipment. In any case, these machines are only one of the ingredients of a recipe in which the leading role is interpreted by chips manufacturers. And the best option that China has is SMIC (Semiconductor manufacturing international corp). This company has cost more than two years to refine its most advanced integration technology as necessary to produce integrated 5 nm circuitsbut your effort is already paying fruit. And is that, According to SCMPtheir income during the first semester of 2025 has increased by 22% if we compare them with the same period last year. And its benefits have grown by 35.6%. This is SMIC’s great challenge: go beyond 7 nm Dr. Kim, an expert in chips manufacturing who has worked in Samsung and currently investigating TSMC in the US, He maintains that SMIC It is about to start the production of 5 Nm chips. It is perfectly credible because, as we have just seen, we know with certainty that this company has been Working in this technology. And, in addition, Dr. Kim is a reliable source. However, this expert has pointed out something crucial that we should not overlook: the performance per wafer that SMIC has currently achieved in its 5 Nm nodes is less than 30%. When semiconductor manufacturers produce a chip wafer, some of those nuclei do not work properly. It is normal. And when they launch a new lithographic node their performance per wafer usually has a wide margin, but little by little, as engineers refine their integration processes, This parameter improves. A mature lithography can deliver to integrated circuit manufacturers a very high performance, but an incipient technology usually moves in the orbit of 50% performance, so only half of the chips produced work correctly. The 5 Nm chips that SMIC will manufacture for Huawei are possible thanks to a technology known as SAQP The problem is that for an integration technology to be profitable from an economic point of view, its performance by wafer has to be At least 70%. And, as we have just seen, Dr. Kim argues that the SMIC 5 NM node is below 30%. It is objectively a very poor performance, but we know what this low figure explains: the technique used by this manufacturer to produce these semiconductors. It is known as Multiple patterningand SMIC has used it for more than a year and a half to make 7 NM chips for Huawei and other customers. This strategy consists in transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process. It works, but is responsible for wafer performance is clearly improvable. However, all probability Integrated 5 nm circuits that presumably SMIC will manufacture soon for Huawei are possible thanks to a technology known as SAQP (Self-alledhed Quadruple Patterning), which is nothing more than a Multiple patterning more aggressive and sophisticated than the one used to manufacture the soc Kirin 9000s of 7 nm and other chips. A report published by the Taiwanese media Economic Daily News ensures that SMIC will start the manufacture of 3 Nm semiconductors equipped with GAA transistors (Gate-alall-around) For Huawei in 2026. However, this is not all. This article also maintains that this last company has already completed laboratory tests that pursue the manufacture of integrated circuits using carbon nanotubes. Huawei’s plan presumably is to give this innovation to SMIC to adapt it to large -scale production. Image | SMIC More information | SCMP In Xataka | The US has declared the total war on Huawei: he does not want him to sell his chips for the most advanced outside of China

The Mediterranean is a pressure pot

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Water temperature is not just a bathing thing. The Mediterranean Sea is again much hotter than would correspond, even at this point of the year; And that is a problem. The ecological balance of the species that inhabit it depends on the waters of this sea: its waters also perform Again, red live. After some weeks of thermal reliefMediterranean surface waters reach thermal anomalies similar to those we saw in the middle of June. As on that occasion, our coasts are in the eye of the hurricane: two Spanish buoys measured these days temperatures Above 30º CESLIUS. The extreme measurements of these buoys seem not to be something punctual. According to the data based on satellite observations Published by the coastal observation and prediction system of the Balearic Islands (Socib), the average temperature is this surface sea is 27.05º. This implies that the sea is 1.36º above what would correspond on these dates. As happened in June, the Western Mediterranean is the “engine” of this change. In this region of the sea, the average temperature is 26.66º, which represents a thermal anomaly of 1.76º. The anomaly is again so high that we find ourselves, as also happened in July, above the 90th percentile in the historical measurement. Hot points. In our environment, there are two “hot points”, areas where thermal anomaly is even greater. The northwestern Mediterranean is one of these points: With an average temperature of 26.77º, this environment is located 2.79º above average and also above the 90th of observations. The second hot point is the sea of Alborán. The temperature in this basin is 25.67º. This temperature is 2.17 above the average and, again, also above the 90th percentile of the historical observations. On land and sea.The evolution of the surface temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea corresponds, to a certain degree, to what we are seeing in the atmosphere: an extremely warm June fired the temperatures also in the water, before the thermal relief of Julio relax the situation without reversing it. Now, a new heat wave is weating more than the air, and maritime temperature seems to be responding in chord. A risk to all. But the relationship between atmospheric conditions and maritime temperature is more complex. And it occurs in both directions, that is, the sea temperature also affects what happens in the clouds. In this sense, a warm Mediterranean implies a severe risk. This heat implies the concentration of thermal energy in the sea, a thermal energy capable of generating convective currents in certain circumstances. These waters also transfer moisture to the atmosphere, a humidity that, with the arrival of storms can be downloaded in the form of intense rainfall as has happened in recent months. Ecological balance Of course, change in temperatures can also affect maritime life. The seas of our environment “tropically”, which means that they are not only warmer, but also more welcoming with respect to the fauna and flora that traditionally inhabits the tropics. And less cozy for local fauna and flora, which must deal with not only with excessive heat, but also with the arrival of new predators to the waters that inhabit. In Xataka | The maps that explain why Castilla y León have become the “zero zone” of forest fires Image | Henning Schröder / ECMWF

Now you have to deal with the US pressure and China’s distrust

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Nvidia is dealing with one of the biggest challenges in its recent history. How do we tell you yesterdaythe administration of the cyberspace of China, usually known as CAC for its English denomination (Cyberspace Administration of China), he has decided Thoroughly investigate the H20 GPU. This institution is the main Internet regulatory body in China and is responsible for the censorship and control of the contents published in the Network, the supervision of technology companies and compliance with the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law. Currently the chip for artificial intelligence (AI) H20 It is the best option that NVIDIA has to maintain its leadership in the Chinese market. The reception that Chinese companies initially gave to this GPU was very good despite the fact that the capacities of this chip are clearly lower than those of the other proposals for this company. In fact, the US Department of Commerce allowed its sale in China because this integrated circuit fulfilled the restrictions that had imposed. The problem that Nvidia faces now is that The CAC has decided to investigate it Because he suspects that the H20 chip could incorporate a rear door of difficult location by Chinese experts. If so, the possibility of China to use this GPU could be possible. At the moment the CAC has limited himself to questioning those responsible for NVIDIA in China and ask them to demonstrate that the H20 Chip does not represent a threat to the interests and security of the country led by Xi Jinping. Nvidia has already responded to the Chinese government As expected, Nvidia has immediately responded to the Chinese authorities and is collaborating to dissipate as soon as possible the doubts that loom about the H20 chip. According to SCMPthose responsible for the company in China have assured CAC researchers that the GPUs for Ia that they develop do not incorporate any “rear door” implemented to facilitate espionage by the US government. “Cybersecurity is of vital importance for us”, has declared A NVIDIA executive. “We have no rear doors in our chips that can give someone remote access or the ability to control them.” During the last Chinese fiscal year it represented approximately 13% of the total income of Nvidia For Nvidia this conflict is very important. His presence in the Chinese market is at stake. During the last fiscal year, which expired on January 26, 2025, China represented approximately 13% of total income of the company led by Jensen Huang with a figure of some 17,000 million dollars. Losing this source of income would lead to a serious problem for this company, hence the distrust of the Chinese government cannot be allowed to extend. However, this is not the only challenge that Nvidia faces. During the last two years the commercial war between China and the US has intensified, which has forced Nvidia to deal with the changing regulation of the US Department of Commerce. This organism establishes what conditions the chips must meet for the produced by US companies so that they can be sold in China. These requirements are increasingly restrictive, so Nvidia has been forced to redesign its GPU for the purpose of expressly adapting them to the Chinese market. Their engineers have been working on 2024 A new GPU with Blackwell microarchitecture The latest generation that is destined to occupy in China the place of the H20 chip, but right now its future is uncertain. Image | Nvidia More information | SCMP In Xataka | The US gives Huawei a great opportunity: to get its new chip for AI with the Nvidia market in China

The US pressure forces China to independent its chip industry. These two projects are their best cards

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China has no choice. Or develops its own manufacturing technology of avant -garde semiconductors or will lose its struggle for world supremacy With the US. No 100% Chinese advanced chips their military capacity, the development of their models of artificial intelligence (AI) and the competitiveness of their technology companies will resent in the medium term. Huawei and SMIC are manufacturing advanced integrated circuits, but use machines from the Dutch company ASML and a technology known as Multiple patterning that compromises its competitiveness. This scenario has caused the Chinese government support with very juicy subsidies to companies that have the ability to develop avant -garde photolithography equipment, such as SicarrierShanghai YuliangSheng, Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (Smee), Huawei or SMIC. Time plays against this Asian country. How much later in having their own machines of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE), which are those used to make very high integration chips, more delayed will be in front of the US and its allies. 2026 will be a crucial year for China in the field of chips The Chinese Academy of Sciences is finishing what is undoubtedly The most ambitious project How many are developing the Chinese semiconductor industry. Thanks to this plan the nation led by Xi Jinping is about to reach a “Deepseek” in the field of integrated circuit industry. This simply means that it is preparing to reach a disruption that has the potential to place this Asian country at the same height as the US, Taiwan or South Korea. However, China’s strategy to produce avant -garde chips is very different from what their rivals have used until now. Each of ASML UVE machines incorporates its own ultraviolet light source, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences seeks to generate this important radiation to produce advanced chips using a syncrotronwhich is nothing other than a circular particle accelerator that is used to analyze atomic level the properties of matter, such as various types of materials, or even proteins. It’s called heps (High Energy Photon Source or high -energy photons source), it is in Beijing and we can see it in the cover photography of this article. Heps syncrotron has the ability to produce high power UVE light An important note before moving forward: the ultraviolet light (UV) is responsible for transferring the geometric pattern that contains the design of the chips to the Silicon wafer. This means, in broad strokes, that the UVE light has the ability to make possible the manufacture of integrated circuits with a greater resolution than the deep ultraviolet light (UVP) that use the previous generation lithography machines that China has in their hands. And a greater resolution in practice implies that it is possible to produce semiconductors with more transistors, and, therefore, more sophisticated and powerful. A priori we can think that a particle accelerator has nothing to do with the manufacture of integrated circuits, but we would be overlooking something very important: the Heps syncrotron has the ability to produce high power UVE light. In fact, it is a source designed to generate a large amount of radiation. China’s plan is to place around the particle accelerator Several semiconductor manufacturing plants to which the syncotron will deliver the UVE light in the same way that a power plant delivers electricity to its customers. That simple. The date on which China plans to start this megaphabrum of avant -garde semiconductors has not yet leaked, but it is already very advanced. However, China’s plans do not end here. In the middle of last March several Asian media collected a photograph taken at the Huawei Research Center in Dongguan, in the province of Canton, in which it appeared The prototype of a UVE lithography team Designed and manufactured entirely in China. Presumably this machine is similar to those produced by ASML, which invites us to anticipate that for 2026 the country led by Xi Jinping will have the ability to produce advanced chips on a large scale. This Chinese lithography equipment uses an LDP type ultraviolet source and not LPP class The leaks They assure That unlike the UVE machines produced by the Dutch company ASML, this Chinese lithography equipment uses an LDP ultraviolet light source (laser induced discharge), and not LPP class (plasma generated by laser). Presumably The development of this ultraviolet radiation emission source It is the milestone that has allowed Chinese engineers to develop a machine that Many experts did not see possible before five years in the best case. At the moment the most prudent is that we take this information with caution, but it seems solid enough to echo it. An interesting note is that on paper the LDP source is able to generate UVE light with a wavelength of 13.5 nm, so this Chinese prototype should be able to compete from you to you with ASML UVE photolithography machines. In addition, the leaks argue that China will begin the production of more test machines during the third quarter of this year with the purpose of launching the large -scale manufacture of these equipment during 2026. Image | Dr. Kim More information | Dr. Kim In Xataka | TSMC acknowledges that it has been considered taking its factories out of Taiwan. It is impossible for a good reason

This is how the creator of the most complex machine on the planet supports the US pressure

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In 2022 sales of ASML In China they amounted to 2.9 billion euros, which represented 13.8% of its annual sales. At that time Taiwan was a more important market for this company than China. In fact, in 2023 the clients of the island bought this manufacturer lithography equipment For a total value of 8,100 million euros, while its Chinese clients disbursed 7.3 billion euros. And, curiously, in 2024 China consolidated as the largest market for ASML with total sales of 10.2 billion euros. This company of the Netherlands cannot sell its most advanced equipment to its Chinese clients, such as the machines of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE) or deep ultraviolet (UVP), but at the moment you can give them the solutions that allow producing chips with mature integration technologies. These are the semiconductors that are mostly used in cars, appliances or electronic devices, among other products, and usually occur in nodes of 28 nm or less advanced. ASML needs China. And China still needs Asml Christophe Fouquet, the general director of ASML, has a huge challenge ahead. Like his predecessor at the head of this Dutch company, Peter Wennink, he has the obligation to defend the interests of his company. And currently the tension held by the US and China does not make it easy. The sanctions that They have deployed US and the Netherlands They prevent Asml selling Your most advanced lithography teams To its Chinese clients. And neither can some maintenance and after -sales services services provide. In the Netherlands 2024 will be remembered as the year in which the strap between ASML and the Dutch government reached its maximum expression. Christophe Fouquet He is convinced about what US will continue to put pressure on its partners to even more harden the sanctions that seek to stop the development of the Chinese industry of the integrated circuits. In fact, according to the British weekly The Economistthis executive argues that European politicians and regulators should do more to help their company. In 2024 China was consolidated as the largest Asml market with total sales of 10.2 billion euros Anyway, one of the figures in which we have repaired a few lines above gives us a very accurate clue about how ASML is dealing with prohibitions from the US and endorsed by the Netherlands government that could greatly degrade their business. As we have seen, in 2024 China was consolidated as its largest market with total sales of 10,200 million euros. This success is because Chinese manufacturers of integrated circuits have bought A ASML many suitable photolithography equipment to produce mature semiconductors. This Dutch company has much more advanced chips manufacturing machines, such as the UVE and UVP lithography equipment that I have mentioned a few lines above. And also The very complex High Opening Machine which has been designed to optimize the production of integrated circuits Below the 2 nm. As we have seen, ASML cannot deliver these teams to its Chinese clients, but, and this is a very important fact, has the effective monopoly of Uve and Uve Machines of Haute Opening. No other company has the necessary resources to produce such complex equipment. Currently TSMC, Intel, Samsung, Globalfoundries, Micron Technology and Sk Hynix are well building new chips manufacturing plants, they are well expanding some of those they have in operation. In any case, they all have something in common: they are buying the UVE and UVP equipment of ASML. And, in addition, TSMC, Intel and Samsung presumably will acquire for the next three years a large number of UVE Machines of Haute Opening. It is evident that even in the complicated current situation it is difficult to lie to ASML. For now Your business in China enduresand will continue to do it at least until the moment when Chinese lithography manufacturers have their own UVE machines. And outside China Asml has no competition if we stick to its Porpholio of UVE machines. This is your true strength. Image | ASML More information | The New York Times In Xataka | Japan wants to recover leadership as a manufacturer of lithography equipment. And he has a plan to end the Asml monopoly

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