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China finally has a competitive desktop processor. Its problem is that it is six years behind Intel

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China has your own alternative to processors for PCs, servers and data centers made by Intel, AMD and other companies. Loongson is one of the few Chinese companies that can manufacture advanced microprocessors. We have been following it for several years because in the current climate of geopolitical tension it has acquired more relevance than ever, and there is no doubt that its cruising speed is high. At the end of December 2022 this company launched its CPU 3A5000 32 corea general-purpose processor with LoongArch microarchitecture implemented by this company on the MIPS architecture. And in February 2024 it presented its LS3C6000 server processor, a CPU with DragonChain technology that could be scaled up to 64 cores. Its latest milestone is not the presentation of a new chip. The reason why we have decided to talk to you again about this Chinese company is that just a week ago it confirmed that it has distributed more than one million units of its flagship desktop processor, which represents a milestone in China’s efforts to build a self-sufficient semiconductor industry. The 3A6000 CPU has been designed and manufactured entirely in China Loongson implements its processors on the MIPS architecture, but the microarchitecture of these chips has been expressly designed by engineers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. By not using x86-64 or ARM architectures, this company has been able to continue refining its designs without being conditioned by US sanctions. Be that as it may, Loongson is dedicated to the design of microprocessors, but does not have the capacity to manufacture them itself. China recently had no alternative to US-made CPUs SMIC takes care of this (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp), what is the largest semiconductor manufacturer from China, in the same way that TSMC produces the integrated circuits designed by AMD, Apple, NVIDIA or Qualcomm. According to the publication Fast Technology, the third generation of Loongson chipsto which the 3A6600, 3B6600 and 3C6600 CPUs belong, has a performance comparable to that of the 12th Intel Core and 13th generation. Curiously, according to Fast Technology, the 3B6600 model in particular is the one that rivals these Intel CPUs and comparable AMD proposals. In fact, according to SCMP Loongson herself has acknowledged that the performance of her desktop processors is comparable to that of Intel chips launched around 2020. Six years is a long time in this sector, but it is important that we do not overlook that China recently did not have any alternative to US-made CPUs. This achievement by Loongson is part of Beijing’s effort to channel resources to reduce China’s dependence on foreign semiconductor technology. However, this strategy has been accelerated in response to restrictive export controls Americans who limit China’s access to advanced chips, integrated circuit design software and next-generation semiconductor manufacturing services. It will be interesting to see if Loongson finally catches up with Intel and AMD. Image | TSMC More information | SCMP In Xataka | China takes off in quantum computers: it already has the first dual-core and 200 qubits on the planet ready

Lead has its days numbered in hunting. The problem is that no one really knows how to replace it.

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The practice of hunting is a ‘hobby’ that has been much discussed among different sectors of society in recent years, but beyond its ethical aspects, the European Agency for Chemical Substances and Mixtures has decided to intervene by pose the ban on lead in hunting ammunition. And this has raised a great debate between the hunting sector and environmentalists and researchers that require immediate measures, although at the moment it is in pause. The siege of Europe. This lead fence is not new, but since 2023 the European Union prohibits its use in wetlands for hunting waterfowl, a historic measure to prevent lead poisoning in ducks and other species that ate the pellets at the bottom of the lagoons. But now they want to go one step further, since ECHA has recommended to the European Commission a total veto by prohibiting the marketing and use of cartridges and fishing tackle that contain more than 1% lead. And to soften the blow, the European drafts have proposed transition periods that range between 18 months for large hunting and up to 5 years for small hunting. The role of science. For the Spanish scientific community, these grace periods are a luxury that ecosystems cannot afford. Specifically, 130 researchers from different institutions have signed a manifesto urging the Government to support the European restriction without any type of concession. That is, the ban applies immediately overnight. The arguments they offer focus mainly on the great toxicity that lead generates when it is left abandoned in the countryside, and above all they argue that there is no safe exposure threshold. That is, the only security we can have is when there is zero lead in the environment. Its impact. On the one hand, we have the environmental impact, since tons of lead end up scattered in the countryside every year due to hunting practices, poisoning fauna, especially scavenger birds that consume prey with pellets. On the other hand, we have a public health problem. In this case, there are several reports that exist warning about the nutritional risks of consuming game meat shot with this type of ammunition, recommending that children and pregnant women avoid its consumption due to the neurological data associated with lead. The hunters. Faced with the scientific urgency, they ask to hit the brakes on the application of these measures. Entities such as the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation (RFEC) and the Andalusian Hunting Federation (FAC) they argue that a sudden ban would be a death sentence for the sector and, by extension, for the economy of many rural areas. The problem that arises is that the alternatives to lead are not completely convincing, since, although there are options such as steel or bismuth, the hunting sector denounces that they are not validated at a toxicological level, they are much more expensive and, above all, that there is no large-scale production to cover the demand. Furthermore, the use of steel shot requires in many cases to adapt or change older shotguns, since they can damage the barrels due to the hardness of the material. This is why they ask for at least 10 years to adapt. A political battle. Right now the Government supports aligning itself with the hard line that comes from Europe, but the opposition parties, such as the Popular Party, ask for a fight in Brussels over get those decades of margin and funds for safe, alternative ballistics research. And right now the ball is literally in the court of Brussels and the REACH committee in charge of regulating chemical substances in the EU. Right now the only thing left is to open a space for debate that is not easy at all. Images | freepik In Xataka | Hunting has been printed on the Spanish national ID card for centuries. Now you have a problem: there is no relief

Gemini Intelligence promises to be Google’s AI revolution. The problem is that almost no one will be able to use it.

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Updates have always been Android’s Achilles heel, but for several years we have seen how manufacturers are pushing to offer up to seven years of updates on your mobiles. It is good news for users and regulators. The problem is that AI threatens to introduce a new form of fragmentation: having an updated mobile phone no longer guarantees access to the most important functions, even if it is high-end. What has happened? A few days ago, during the Android Show, Google announced the new star feature coming to Android: Gemini Intelligence. We are no longer talking about specific functions, but rather about a layer of AI that covers everything, making the mobile phone act autonomously within the system and the apps. It sounds great, what doesn’t sound so good is the list of requirements. Hardware requirements. Google has detailed the minimum requirements for a mobile phone to run Gemini Intelligence and it is quite not encouraging. We are talking about devices with 12 GB of RAM and that mount recent “flagship” processors. These requirements directly leave out the majority of the current vehicle fleet, but also at the current time with the memory crisis raising pricesthe high-end is going to become even more unattainable. The real problem. If the RAM and the processor already leave out many mobile phones, the software requirements are even worse. This is where Google makes the real difference since, to run Gemini Intelligence, compatibility with Gemini Nano V3, the local language model for mobile phones, is necessary. If we look at the current compatibility list, it is no longer that it affects cheap phones, it is that it also leaves out phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 which was launched in the summer of 2025 and cost 2,109 euros, or the Xiaomi 17 Ultra which has just been launched for almost 1,500 euros. It is not clear that the list is definitive, since it is possible that there are changes because they allow it to be updated later, but for now the outlook is bleak: The list of devices compatible with Gemini Nano v2 and Gemini Nano v3. Image: Xatakamovil There is still more. The software requirements don’t end here. Google has also put several additional conditions for a device to have Gemini Intelligence. The device must receive at least five years of operating system updates and six years of security patches, in addition to meeting a series of quality requirements regarding stability, failure rate and multimedia, among others. The privilege of AI. “The best of Gemini in our most advanced devices” is the phrase we find in the Gemini Intelligence official websiteso Google already warns us from the beginning. That updates or more advanced functions reach the most expensive phones is something we are used to, but with AI we are seeing the bar rise even higher. Furthermore, it is not a specific function as it was ARCorewe are talking about the central axis of the proposal, a new way of interacting with the mobile that only a small percentage of users will be able to test, including those who have a Google Pixel. Cover image | Google In Xataka | Android 17 news: list with a summary of everything that will arrive in this version of the operating system

Chinese Big Tech can now buy Nvidia GPUs. The problem for Nvidia is that they don’t need it now

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The United States and China are immersed in a trade and technological war that has caught the line of fire to the AI ​​giant: Nvidia. The situation is that Nvidia must prioritize AI companies from the United States to guarantee the supremacy of this country, but as a company it would be interested in taking a bite out of the giant Chinese market. And the problem is twofold: it has not been able to do so for a long time due to trade vetoes, but now that it seems that it can sell its famous H200 to China, it turns out that China has turned the page. More or less. green light. Nvidia has gone from having a monopoly on AI GPUs in China to have a 0% quota. These are the words of the CEO, Jensen Huang, and the reason is the aforementioned trade restrictions between the powers that prevented Nvidia from selling its most powerful products to the Asian giant. Huang has spent months insisting on Donald Trump’s government to allow them to sell with a very clear logic: China is going to develop its alternatives and what better way to make a profit until then. The situation is gone relaxing at the end of last year and at the beginning of this to get to the point where we are now. According to Reutersthe US Department of Commerce already allows ten Chinese companies and distributors such as Foxconn and Lenovo acquire that long-awaited H200the company’s second most powerful AI chip. Good news for the company. Or they should be if it weren’t for the fact that the Chinese industry is going its own way looking home. Alibaba, ByteDance, JD.com and Tencent are the Chinese giants that can supposedly already buy H200. Up to 75,000 chips each, to be exact. However, it is noted that they have not yet made any shipments. Here there is a mix between very restrictive bureaucracy and, above all, that emphasis on national development. Tencent, for example, noted in September last year that they had no intention of producing AI chips, but that they were going to invest a lot of money in domestic partners. For example, they are in the process of adapting their infrastructure to be able to connect Huawei’s Ascend platform (particularly the Ascend 950 series) as the main training tool for large models. A few days ago, Tencent’s strategy director already pointed out that that strategy was still in place and that the company expects a significant increase in spending on AI GPUs designed in China. Manufacturing at home. Alibaba and Bytedance have a different approach. If Tencent is focusing on acquiring Huawei platforms, Alibaba and Bytedance are looking to create their own chips. Alibaba seeks to be the most powerful RISC-V chip created to date and it was reported that Bytedance wanted Samsung will manufacture its processor. In the end, whether buying from Huawei or developing the tool internally, the two approaches respond to the great national objective: that at least 50% of the data centers that belong to the State use at least 50% Chinese integrated circuits in their servers. That is one of the great Chinese technological impulses of recent years, one of the crucial points of the Five-Year Plan for the development of the country and, above all, the strategy that Nvidia had been warning the United States about for some time. The age of inference. Because this period of ostracism to which the US condemned China has served for the country to develop three very clear alternatives to Nvidia and encourage companies that are already working with models to develop their own hardware. This is important especially in the new AI framework we are entering, that of inference. Although the AI ​​will continue to train and GPUs will be needed for this, the next step is inference, the agentic era in which the processor or CPU is very important. AMD is moving there, same as Intel or ARMand precisely processors are something that Huawei is good at and in which the Chinese giants can shine as much as their American counterpart by developing chips tailored to their models and needs. Also, as pointed out in CNBChaving your own chips means you don’t have to fight with anyone else in a time when there is scarcity and, of course, if you don’t have to buy from an outsider, there is an improvement in the gross income margin. juicy cake. And this leaves Nvidia in that uncomfortable situation, one in which it wants to participate, but in which it seems that it is no longer needed as much as before. Because China is developing its chips for this new era of AI and Nvidia is running into a final boss called bureaucracy and the pressure groups of the ‘Make America Great Again‘. The first is due to the slowness of the export order processes, something that takes months when orders should be much more agile. The second are the aforementioned pressure groups that hold that any deals Nvidia makes with Chinese companies are less chips for American companies, something that should not be allowed. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are developing their alternatives and Huawei wants to flood the market with 750,000 chips this year, three times more than its shipments in 2025, and Nvidia is falling short of a $50 billion pie. In Xataka | The US has the best AI models. China has something else: AI too cheap to care about

Spain’s problem is not the lack of buildable land. It is a huge land jam that blocks three million apartments in cities

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The brick crisis at the beginning of the century may be left far behind in time; But the truth is that, almost 20 years after the bubble burst, the sector has not yet recovered from its hangover. And that has dragged it into a paradox: although the country drags a serious deficit residential (some 700,000 homes) and prices they don’t stop going upin Spain there is a huge amount of immobilized buildable land, plots that after the crisis have ended up in the hands of municipalities incapable of promoting housing on them or of groups, funds and companies that have not been able to develop them or have not considered it viable. It might seem like a minor issue if it weren’t for the fact that there are calculations who estimate that that ‘big traffic jam’ of land is costing the cities of Spain 2.9 million potential apartments. That is, houses that could be built on developed lots, but for one reason or another they still do not go beyond paper. Just over half (1.5 million) are also concentrated in the 15 main metropolises. One figure: 1.5 million. The data comes from a study published in the last notebook of the Civic Circle of Opinion by Ignacio Ezquiagaeconomist and expert in the real estate sector. In it he basically dedicates himself to reviewing the “pending planned housing” in the main urban areas of the country. These are apartments and houses that should be built on plots of land in an “advanced state of urban development” or sectorialized (endorsed by a plan and the corresponding city council), but that still do not go from paper to work. Why is it important? Because as Ezquiaga’s study recalls, that bag of land could accommodate millions and millions of new homes. To be precise, it speaks of about seven million properties, although a good part is located in rural areas where the gap between supply and demand is not as serious as in the capitals. If we focus on the 86 urban areas of Spain, we find vacant land with the potential to host 2.93 million of housing. If we refine the shot even further and limit ourselves to the 15 main metropolitan areas of Spain, the figure remains at around 1.51 million homes. Of these, half a million would be located in areas with already urbanized land. Madrid, in the lead. In your studioEzquiaga includes a table prepared with data from the Ministry of Housing that shows that the largest housing stock planned and pending execution is located in the Madrid area, at least if we talk about raw figures. There the potential is 351,000 properties, almost 15% of the total existing housing stock in 2021. The potential is equally high in Murcia (226,600 units), Seville (142,900) and Barcelona (142,900), although in general terms it adds up to thousands of homes in all areas of the country. The smallest is Palma, with almost 12,000. In “dead hands”. To understand part of this large pool of stuck housing we have to go back almost two decades ago, to the bursting of the real estate bubble and its subsequent hangover. When brick ceased to be the business of the century and many developers were forced to close, the plots that had recently hosted residential projects began to become an asset with an uncertain future. A part ended up in private hands. Another, from the town councils. Their casuistries are different, but in the end the result is the same: what Ezquiaga calls properties in “dead hands”parked plots, stuck despite having the potential to inject millions of homes into a market that, 20 years later, is once again tense. “Judging by its urban status, blocked for more than two decades in which many have remained vacant, these are not temporary but structural situations; that is why they remind us, overcoming the distance, of those owners who went down in history as dead hands,” reflect. Who controls that land? As remember The Country There are two major fronts. 30% has remained in the hands of municipal administrations that once received them from the developers as part of the land that they had to give up to carry out their real estate projects. The problem is that not all town councils have the capacity, will or simply the resources to take advantage of that land and convert it into public housing (VPO). The result is that it ends up blocked, up for sale or redirected towards other uses, such as endowment services. The remaining 70% of the land depends on private entities, but that does not guarantee that it will be exploited and converted into housing. The key is whether or not its development is profitable. And if they can finance it. This also explains that when city councils opt for public-private collaborations to take advantage of the land they control, they do not always find partners willing to embark on the projects. One of the keys is provided by Ezquiaga in your studio: The 15 main metropolitan areas in Spain have land with potential for a million and a half homes, but only a third are located in environments with already developed land. “Vacant land”. Last year, in another study published by the think tank Funcas on the Sareb, Ezquiaga I already warned of the complexity of the scenario: “With a development industry with lower capacities compared to previous decades, the original projects were discontinued. Thus, many of the still viable lands would not adapt to the regulatory changes or the new territorial needs, paralyzing them and contributing to a surplus of vacant lands with negative consequences on the valuation of Sareb’s portfolio and, above all, for the long-term generation of new residential supply.” He is not the only one who has drawn attention to the land with still pending potential in the cities of Spain. The Ministry of Housing itself has analyzed the main pockets of land available in Spain for new apartments, focusing above … Read more

China has been using trams without rails or catenary for years. The problem is that they are not as revolutionary as they seem.

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Imagine a tram that runs on the asphalt like a bus, without needing rails, without overhead cables to feed on and without a driver. That is exactly ARTor Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit, a technology that China has been developing for more than a decade and that already operates in several cities in the country. An idea that comes from afar, although it may not seem like it. Chinese manufacturer CRRC, the world’s largest producer of railway equipment, presented the first prototype in Zhuzhou, China, in June 2017. The first commercial line It started in that same city in May 2018, with a route of just 3.2 kilometers. Since then, the system has nine operating lines in five Chinese cities. Yibin (Sichuan) was the second to joinin 2019, with a 17.7 kilometer line. Later came Xi’an, Yancheng and Yongxiu, where ART circulates both on a demonstration and commercial basis. Click on the image to play the video How it works. The ART It is, in essence, an articulated bus large that imitates the shape and capacity of a tram, but without requiring the infrastructure that makes trams expensive. The vehicle does not follow physical rails, but rather what CRRC calls a “virtual rail”: a set of marks painted on the asphalt (white dashed lines) that the guidance system reads in real time using optical cameras and LIDAR sensors. A GPS system complements the navigation. With three carriages, it measures about 30 meters and can transport up to 300 passengers; With five cars, it reaches 500. Its maximum speed is 70 km/h. The propulsion is 100% electric. Initial versions used supercapacitors (which charge very quickly at stops, but store little energy) and batteries. At InnoTrans 2024, one of the largest public transport fairs in Berlin, CRRC presented an evolved version that incorporates hydrogen propulsiondesigned especially for markets like Malaysia. The “autonomous” thing is nuanced. Here in this case marketing can be misleading. Although the acronym ART includes the word autonomous, all ART vehicles in operation still operate with a driver, using optical guidance for assistance. They are not autonomous driving vehicles in the strict sense of the word. The driver supervises the journey and takes control in the event of any incident. Why is it cheaper? The great promise of ART is the cost. According to CRRC data shared According to The Conversation, deploying a kilometer of this technology costs between 7 and 15 million dollars, compared to 20-30 million per kilometer for a conventional tram or 70-150 million for the subway. There is no digging, no catenary to lay, no rails to install. In principle, it is enough to paint markings on the asphalt and segregate a lane. However, according to they count researchers from the University of Sydney in the middle, that advantage has fine print. As the vehicle travels exactly the same route over and over again, with the wheels always stepping on the same points of the asphalt, the surface ends up deteriorating more quickly than on a conventional road. A study published in 2021 by transportation researchers James Raynolds, David Pham and Graham Currie found evidence of significant pavement wear, which may require structural reinforcement of the roadway. A process that, in some estimates, ends up being as expensive as installing rails directly. Where can you see it today? ARTs continue to be vehicles with the greatest presence in China. Outside this country, progress is modest, and its record is not devoid of failures. Indonesia, for example, purchased a vehicle which was returned to China after tests in Nusantara (the new capital under construction) when it was found that the autonomous control system was not working optimally and required constant manual intervention. In Abu Dhabi two units were tested under the TXAI brand, with a view to connecting the main tourist attractions of Yas Island. In Malaysia, Putrajaya launched a pilot project in February 2024. In Auckland, New Zealand, negotiations with CRRC broke down after the manufacturer demanded that the city purchase the vehicle at the end of the demonstration, something that Auckland Transport did not end up liking. Japan, for its part, study a similar concept (with hydrogen propulsion) to connect the Mount Fuji area with the tourist centers of Yamanashi. Although the regional governor preferred that the project be entrusted to Japanese companies, and not to CRRC. Cover image | Wikipedia In Xataka | China created the C919 to stand up to Airbus and Boeing. And we already have data to know if it is being successful

The problem of depopulation and the incredible demographic polarization of Europe, on a bleak map

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Europe is experiencing a silent paradox: its total population is growing in recent decades and yet, half of its towns and cities today have fewer inhabitants than in the 1960s. Special mention deserves cities like Madrid, Athens or Lisbon, truly out of control in front of the wastelands that are right next door. It is the consequence of decades of rural exodus, falling birth rates and migratory flows. Beyond colors and figures, this has a direct consequence in those municipalities that are dying: schools that close, doctors without substitutes and trains that no longer stop at stations. The map shows the population change municipality to municipality in Europe between 1961 and 2024. Green indicates growth and red indicates loss of inhabitants. Be careful because there are places where the growth is 500% and others where the drop reaches 80%. It covers around 100,000 municipalities in 32 countries: all EU states plus the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. This magnificent map is the work of Correctiv with data from the Eurostat Joint Research Center (JRC) based on a 63-year municipal historical series with homogeneous borders. How has he achieved it? The JRC has used satellite images of residential building volume as an indicator of where people lived in each era, and cross-referenced that information with harmonized Eurostat censuses. We recommend visiting the website of Correctiv for an in-depth view of its infographic with animations, where it also allows you to filter by two periods: from 61 to 91 and from 91 to 2024 and more or less around that time there is a historical milestone that marks the future of the East: the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the 32 countries analyzed, one in five rural municipalities has lost more than half of its population in these 60 years. Is the consequence of the urbanization of the 20th century: industry concentrated employment in the cities and the service economies that came later gave the finishing touch. Rural areas, on the other hand, live in a vicious circle: the more services are closed, the more depopulation, and so on. We are talking about bank branches, bakeries, consultations… The demographer Claudia Neu warns that the aging of European societies is the greatest challenge and that health and care costs will fall on this young generation, let us remember is increasingly scarce. The Europe of Schrödinger: grows and empties at the same time Population change in Europe: 1961 – 2024. Correctiv Europe is the oldest continent on the planet: has a birth rate average below 1.5 children per woman, looking from afar at that 2.1 that stipulates the replacement level. In Italy and Spain it is 1.3. The budding demographic pyramid in a system designed to function under constant growth, that is, the pressure of health, care and pensions falls on a base that narrows each year. In fact, the Center for European Reform He already says it loud and clear: only immigration can save us. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of European borders triggered a large migratory flow from the former Soviet bloc to the west. 88% of municipalities in eastern Germany have lost population since 1991, compared to only 26% in the west. Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia lead a unique decline in European history without wars involved. In fact, Bulgaria takes the cake: the Vidin region has lost 61% of its population. In Lithuania there is a contradiction: while 73% of its municipalities have shrunk, the capital has tripled. But what am I going to tell you if you live in Spain. Spain is the maximum expression of this trend. Correctiv Because Spain embodies the paradox of the map like no one else: Eight of the ten fastest growing municipalities in all of Europe are municipalities on the outskirts of Madrid. Meanwhile, Villarroya in Rioja has lost 98% of its inhabitants since 1961. Spain emptied. Be careful, Spain is not emptied as a whole, but it is polarized: it grows on the coasts and the big cities and bleeds into the interior. The immediate future does not invite optimism: the INE projects that the Spanish state will always have more deaths than births during the next fifteen years and that the percentage of people over 65 years of age, which today is 20.4%, will exceed 30% by 2055. The only safety valve to sustain the numbers is immigration: net inflows are projected to be around 375,000 people per year until mid-century, that is, by 2050 4 out of every 10 residents of the Spanish state will be born outside In Xataka | There is a very simple reason why it has taken Spain so long to have fiber optics in rural areas: this map In Xataka | Empty Europe: this is how the population has moved from the countryside to the city in just ten years Cover | Correctiv

The biggest problem with living on the Moon is its nights. NASA believes it has found the solution to avoid running out of electricity

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If we want to build bases on the Moon or on Mars, we must work on the development of technologies that make the lives of lunar colonists easier. For example, it is important to think about ways to obtain energy. In the case of Mars, there are already scientists working on methods to obtain electricity using carbon dioxide from your atmosphere. But the ideal would be to be able to use batteries. They would have to be rechargeable batteries, since there are no containers for batteries on the Moon (on Earth there are, throw them away where they belong). The problem is that lunar nights are very long, so solar energy cannot be used to obtain electricity to recharge them. Therefore, NASA scientists they are already working in rechargeable batteries that generate and store energy in a very original way. Only two ingredients. The battery in question, called a regenerative fuel cell, contains hydrogen and oxygen gases, which combine to give rise to water. In this reaction, heat and electricity are generated, which can be used to supply the devices necessary for astronauts’ daily lives. Once no more energy is needed, the water molecules break down, giving rise to hydrogen and oxygen, which are saved for when it is necessary to start again. Thus, the fuel is not wasted. It regenerates. Big as a human being. Let’s not think about small batteries like the ones we use at home. Not even in batteries like those in a car. This regenerative fuel cell is much larger. It is practically the height of a human being and the length of a sedan car. First tests. In 2025, the basic components were tested to verify that the previous design technology was viable. Right now NASA scientists are doing more advanced tests, with the aim of analyzing whether the fuel regenerates properly. In a test cell, the system can be operated remotely. Furthermore, once the test has started, it can continue autonomously, without intervention from the researchers. Learnings. Everything is expected to go well in the tests. But, in any case, there will be learnings that serve to perfect the device. After five years of development, the prototype has advanced a lot, but these types of experiments are what really help to perfect a technology of this caliber. Heading to the Moon. Once the tests are completed, the goal is to repeat them in an environment that simulates lunar conditions. Theoretically, the battery is designed to withstand the extreme temperatures of the Moon, even on its cold two-week Earth nights. If all goes well, the technology would be ready to be used. in the Artemis program. This is the objective with which this battery of 270 sensors and 1,000 components was designed. There will be time to think about Mars. At the moment, the closest target on the horizon is our satellite. We need energy to stay on its surface. Image | NASA/Magnific In Xataka | We have not yet colonized the Moon and we have already filled it with garbage: there are even abandoned golf balls

Emirates and Oman are building a $3 billion megatrain. The problem is that it crosses a drone battlefield

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In the midst of a geopolitical climate where tension cut with a knifean infrastructure megaproject emerges in the Middle East that challenges the context of conflict. It is about the construction of the first cross-border rail network of the region. Promoted by Etihad Rail, Oman Rail and Mubadala, this plan proposes a corridor that will integrate the national network of the United Arab Emirates with the strategic port of Sohar, in the Sultanate of Oman. However, the immense work advances under a dense shadow. While the pillars of this train are being raised, the region is going through what in practice It’s the Third Gulf War. The impact of a commercial revolution. To understand the magnitude of “Hafeet Rail”, just look at their economic projections. This mixed corridor—designed for both passengers and cargo—promises to radically transform the flow of trade in the Gulf and lower logistics costs. The network has a monumental investment which is around 3,000 million dollars, equivalent to about 2,500 million euros. Additionally, the infrastructure will link five major ports and more than fifteen integrated cargo facilities directly. The benefits, however, will not be exclusive to maritime trade. For the average citizen, this line will mean an unprecedented change: the trip between Abu Dhabi and Sohar, which currently takes more than three hours on winding roads, will be reduced to just 100 minutes. In addition, it will offer a reliable alternative that will eliminate the usual and costly delays at border crossings. The challenge of operating in a disputed region. The main route of the project will cover a length of 238 kilometers. On these new generation tracks, passenger trains will be able to reach speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour, while heavy cargo convoys will circulate at a maximum of 120 km/h to optimize international shipping times. Far from being a mirage in the desert, construction is now a tangible and has reached 40% overall progress. On the rugged terrain, backhoes have completed more than 27 million cubic meters of earthworks, and there are currently 80 key structures in different stages of construction. The big question: can it work? Military analysts warn that the recent proliferation of cheap drone attacks has shown that facilities previously considered untouchable are today extremely vulnerable. The fact that the United Arab Emirates host allied infrastructure and bases It makes them latent targets within this tense regional board, adding enormous operational risk to any large connectivity project. Technological avant-garde. On a technical level, the project does not skimp on innovation. According to the technical documentationthe railway fleet will be equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS Level 2), considered the most advanced and safest in the world in its category. This system, which will be implemented by a joint venture between Siemens and HAC, will allow absolute digital tracking and control of trains using GPS technology. Regarding the execution of the challenging civil works, these were awarded to an Omani-Emirati consortium led by Trojan Construction Group (NPC) and Galfar Engineering and Contracting. A milestone that the consortia particularly celebrate is the extreme workplace safety achieved: to date, 10 million hours of work have been recorded in the field without reporting serious accidents. Closing a historical gap. Beyond the colossal engineering figures, the project carries a deep cultural weight. The unified network has recently adopted the identity of “Hafeet Rail”, a direct tribute to the Jebel Hafeet, the imposing mountain and limestone formation that extends between the borders of both countries and that has historically served as a geographical bridge. Despite business optimism, the success of the operation will not depend solely on laying tracks. Monumental bureaucratic challenges await ahead, such as regulatory coordination between the two sovereign nations and the fluid articulation of port and customs services. In the end, time will tell if the shared vision of progress prevails. For now, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are committed to full economic integration and the creation of a new artery for global trade; All of this, paradoxically, at a time when its immediate environment is navigating a hybrid war defined by uncertainty, intermittent blockades and air threats. It is, in short, a bullet train making its way through a minefield; the maximum expression of risk and ambition in the heart of the Middle East. Image | Photo by Grant Durr on Unsplash Xataka | The US believes that the war in the Persian Gulf is over. Iran believes that it will decide that when it considers

The problem with eating chocolate at 11 at night is not the calories, it is what it does to your sleep

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There are people who follow authentic rituals before going to sleep, such as a good shower to release all the tension of the day, but also take a little black chocolate so you can sweeten your mouth before going to sleep. A practice that for many is something that is an aberration, but to know if it is really a bad idea to do it, we have to turn to science and the studies that exist about chocolate. A principle against. For the detractors of nighttime chocolate, the enemy is not sugar as such, but the chocolate itself and how rich it is in the methylxanthineswhich are alkaloids that stimulate the central nervous system. And here are two that stand out above others, such as the caffeinewhich is quite well known, and theobromine, which is the main stimulant in dark chocolate. Here the scientific reviews they point that these substances act by blocking the receptors where adenosine binds to act. And it is no wonder, because adenosine is the molecule that it accumulates in our brain throughout the day to generate “sleep pressure.” But if methylxanthines block the point where they have to bind to act, the brain does not receive the signal that it is tired. Your problem. Although it is true that theobromine is “milder” than caffeine, its half-life in the body is long. This means that that 11pm chocolate could still be blocking your desire to sleep at 2am, increasing sleep latency and causing more nighttime awakenings. The importance of time. Science has now stopped looking only at calories to focus on chrononutrition, since it is suggested that chocolate influences circadian rhythms depending on the time at which it is taken. Here the studies they point Because chocolate can be a great ally to resynchronize the biological clock if it is consumed during the active phase in the morning, but taking it outside of this phase, when the body is preparing for rest, makes it difficult to synchronize our peripheral clocks. In short, we are sending contradictory signals to the body. Not everything is negative. In science there are not only extremes, but we can find a great spectrum of grays in the middle. This is because there is also evidence that qualifies the message that chocolate causes insomnia, because in animal models cocoa can improve certain sleep disorders induced by chronic stress. This suggests that, in high-stress contexts, the antioxidant and neuroprotective components of cocoa could help adjust the sleep-wake rhythm. However, researchers warn that this benefit is observed when cocoa is part of the general diet, not necessarily when it is consumed as a “bomb” of sugar and stimulants just before turning off the light. It is not universal. The effect of chocolate does not occur in everyone in the same way, meaning that each person can experience it differently, depending on the amount of chocolate consumed and also on sensitization. We must keep in mind that each person metabolizes at a different rate, so there will be people who can eat a lot of chocolate and these molecules will not affect them at all. Images | freepik In Xataka | Something strange is happening with the chocolate crisis in Spain: households consume less, but business improves

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