problem

The solution to the drone problem was in an invention of 500 years

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Although for a while to this part The drones It seems that they are associated To the war machinery of the different Conflicts on the planetthe truth is that its utility has always been ambicious much further of the contests. These devices could be the solution to many of the problems of the big cities, but they have several “buts”, and one in particular. It turns out that the solution has been able to be in a notebook for centuries. Leonardo and a “modern” dilemma. The genius Leonardo da Vincialthough limited by the technology of his time, he seems to have once again found validity five centuries later. Their notebooks, full of visionary schemes, included the Famous “Air Screw”a helical design conceived as a flying machine that, although it was never built or viable with the media of the Renaissance, already represented an early idea of propeller generating support. Now, a study from Johns Hopkins University, Available in Arxiv And still pending pairs, it points to this mechanism could solve one of the most serious problems of current drones: excessive noise. A contemporary problem. The drones, no doubt, have become a omnipresent tool: They serve For bailouts in The Himalayasfor Environmental experiments in Pacific Islands, to Military Missionsartistic or even recreational. However, society is beginning to perceive them as a growing source of noise pollution. A 2021 report I already noticed that the noise of the drones not only equals, but it is More annoying than traffic or conventional aviation. The reason is not only the sound intensity, but the quality of the frequencies that generate: acute, sinusoidal and persistent tones, which bounce on the ground and amplify its irritating effect. Parallel investigations They have explored metamorphic materials capable of absorbing until 94% of the noisebut the great challenge is still to rethink the propeller itself. Renaissance inspiration. This is where the researchers led By Suryansh Prakhar They look at Leonardo. That Air screwpossibly inspired by the beginning of Archimedes’ screwwas three -dimensional modeling by CAD and subjected to numerical simulations to evaluate their performance against conventional two -blade rotors. Although in its Original Conception It had to be driven by men running around an axis (which made it unfeasible in its time), its helical geometry was surprisingly promising. The modernized model, based on the design ELICO from the University of Maryland in 2020, he showed that the air screw was not only able to generate support, but did With acoustic advantages and energy efficiency. Science verdict. The results They indicated that, for the same lifting load, the air screw requires Less mechanical power and produce Less noise than a conventional propeller. Its largest contact with air allows you to turn more slowly, thus reducing turbulence and emitting smaller, less irritating and rapid dissipation sounds. In practical terms, the Leonardo design It would not exceed modern propellers in absolute thrust capacity or performance optimization, but it does offer a concrete way to solve the problem of noise in densely populated urban environments, where the social acceptance of drones is still limited. LESSONS OF THE PAST. He study It does not propose to immediately replace current rotors, but to point out that unconventional geometries, inspired by ideas such as Da Vinci, can open roads to drones most silent and sustainable. The paradox is eloquent: centuries of aerospace research had not seriously considered this helical form, and now science recognizes that a fifteenth century sketch It contains useful clues for 21st century engineering. In Prakhar’s wordsthe objective is to continue exploring traditional, experimental and biomimetic configurations to perfect aerodynamics and aeracoustics of drones. Ultimately, rather than demonstrating that Leonardo “invented modern drone”, the investigation Validate your talent to think radically differently, remembering on the path that technological progress does not always advance in a straight line and that sometimes the future needs the past to find answers. Image | David Rodriguez, Luc Viatour In Xataka | A drawing by Leonardo da Vinci hid a hidden map. The work has revealed the secret tunnels of a castle of the 20th century In Xataka | Da Vinci’s last secret was not in his paintings or notes, but in his family: a direct link with Barcelona

The “Chinese Amazon” has just bought Mediamarkt for 2.5 billion. Amazon has a problem in Europe

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JD.com, the “Chinese Amazon”, has closed the acquisition of Ceconomyowner of the Mediamarkt and Saturn chains. This German giant, which is valued at 2.5 billion dollars, is now in his hands. Why is it important. The movement allows Alibaba’s direct rival to establish its first major presence in Europe. At the same time, Mediamarkt accesses the most advanced logistics technology in the world to compete with Amazon. JD.com acquires 57.1% of Ceconomy through an offer of 4.60 euros per share23% above the previous price. The Kellerhals family, the highest shareholder so far, maintains 25.35% and remains as a strategic partner. The context. Europe is becoming a preferential destination for Chinese investments. The operations to the continent doubled at 2024 to 8,450 million dollars, the highest figure from 2021, According to LSE data cited by Reuters. The Commercial tensions with the United States They are pushing China to look for alternative markets. Europe can offer regulatory stability and a mature market of 450 million consumers. In detail. Ceconomy opera … More than 1,000 stores. In 11 European countries. With 50,000 employees. He invoiced 22.4 billion euros in 2024 … … of which 5,100 million came from online sales. JD.com contributes your experience in omnicanal trade and a logistics network of more than 550 stores managed by AI. Your algorithms predict orders in advance and automatically reposition inventory. The threat. Amazon dominates European electronic commerce, but lacks remarkable physical presence. Mediamarkt, with its network of stores, can offer immediate collection and face -to -face technical service, services that the American giant does not have. JD.com promises to maintain jobs for three years, keep the headquarters in Düsseldorf and respect the current directive structure. The operation is subject to regulatory approval and will be completed in the first half of 2026. Between the lines. JD.com is buying something not entirely obvious: data. Purchase patterns, preferences and behaviors of millions of Europeans. The Chinese giant agrees to enormous market intelligence. The promise of maintaining jobs sounds generous, but in the medium and long term it does not have to be exactly so, and less at this time. Predictably, JD.com will gradually automate processes that now require human hands. If everything goes well, there will be no mass layoffs, but reconversion towards more technical and specialized roles. And now what. European consumers could benefit from more competitive prices and, above all, you deliver faster if JD.com applies Its Chinese standards: Delivery in 24 hours in cities. Delivery on the same day in large cities. The operation marks the moment when China ceases to be the factory in the world to become its distributor. Mediumkt becomes the perfect Trojan horse: a European trusted brand with Chinese technology inside. In Xataka | When the head of Mediamarkt saw the fury that caused this mobile, he had to remove the drums. The rest is history Outstanding image | James Jeremy Beckers

A car rental company has fined a customer with 100 euros for smoking behind the wheel. The only problem is that he never did

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Should you smoke inside the car? The debate is a pédiagudo and has gained strength in Spain in recent weeks after the balloon was dropped that smoking could be prohibited from the wheel in our country. The reasons wielded range from the health of the rest of the passengers (especially if the driver travels with children) to the possible distractions that a cigarette can cause. But where Smoking is prohibited It is in rental cars or in shared car services. That is what a driver has discovered to whom a company the carsharing platform Thousandsvery widespread in Berlin, has punished with 100 euros of sanction because it ensures that it briefly smoked up to four times. However, the driver alleges that this is not possible. He says not only that he has not smoked in the car, he emphasizes that he is not even a smoker. A black box for smokers The story is brought by our German companions of Gamestar Tech. They explain that, as in Spain, neither in their carsharing vehicles is allowed to smoke. To control it, cars have a small smoke detector that launches a sound warning when it records that someone inside the vehicle is smoking. According to the company, this notice rang up to four times on a three -kilometer journey that lasted 10 minutes. The driver does recognize that the detector rang but defends himself by ensuring that he is not a smoker and that, of course, he did not smoked inside the car. In your article, Gamestar Tech It shows the activity peaks registered by the smoke detector in which the four, supposed, smoke snacks that the driver expelled. The sanction on the part of the company is 100 euros but the driver says he has no intention of paying it. To try to get rid of the fine, the sanctioned contacted thousands, the carsharing company, but these were limited to showing the report with the four peaks of activity. As in the case of defective AI When reviewing the damage to a rental car, we are facing the evidence that the driver and the company are in unequal positions because one has alleged activity records and the driver has no way to prove that it is A “non -smoker”. Although the case of this driver is the last one, it is not much less unique. In social networks You can read similar complaints of other drivers who have had problems with the service of Miles, ensuring that the detector began to whistle without having reasons for it. In all testimonies a sanction is mentioned by the company of 100 euros. Some even point out that they have charged this amount up to three occasions. In the case of thousands, the detector is designed by Bosch and it is common to find them in rental vehicles. In the Consumer Information Association Austrian highlights the case of a driver who lived a similar situation. This time with a rental car and an economic punishment that reached 300 euros. The Bosch system boasts to be able to discern if a person has smoked or simply has a smell of tobacco impregnated in clothes. Therefore, I should be able to discriminate if really The driver has given or not a draft to cigarette. In addition, they claim to use artificial intelligence to send a signal to the center that manages fleets when the detector has been activated to give notice and, thus, to be able to manage the car cleaning more quickly. Photo | Thousands Mobility and Hans Isaacson In Xataka | Smoking ends on the terraces and beaches: socially makes sense, scientifically not so much

Airbnb has just eliminated 65,000 tourist floors. The problem is that consumption has found another 55,000

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Spain has been living for years in a free bar of tourist floors, so in May, the Ministry of Consumer He pressed a red button against Airbnband activated it in more than 65,000 floors that considered that they breached legislation. The reasons? Do not include license, include a erroneous, or lack all the necessary information. The government finally has achieved its goalalthough it has a new almost equally ambitious. Goodbye to 65,000 floors. The Ministry of Consumption led by Pablo Bustinduy has announced that Airbnb has retired the more than 65,000 illegal ads whose elimination had been demanding for months. Three resolutions had been sent from the Ministry, and They specified That “in all cases these are complete housing for tourist use, no individual room ads appear” Yes, but. After this first batch that has ended the publications outside the platform, the Consumer Analysis Unit has communicated the existence of another 54,728 illegal ads that do not have “rental registration number”, the tuition that since July 1 they need to announce and operate on platforms such as Booking or Airbnb. The government has been firm on its road map, and has announced That will not stop: “The Consumer Analysis Unit will continue working to identify and report potential illegal ads on different digital platforms specialized in the rental of tourist accommodations.” The problems for Airbnb are not over. In the absence of knowing if after the agreement with Housing Airbnb it will proceed with this new list of ads as with the more than 65,000 retired ads, the company is still immersed in problems with the Bustinduy Ministry. At the end of the year, consumption opened a sanctioning file to the company, for illicit advertising (ads without license number). It remains subject to a formal investigation that can end in an economic sanction if the infractions attributed to them are confirmed. In that case, it faces fines of up to 100,000 euros, although according to the file, it can become between 4 and 6 times higher than the money obtained with illegal practices. Justice supports government (for the moment). After requesting the elimination of the more than 65,000 ads, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid had backed twice that Airbnb withdraw with immediate effect 5,800 ads. Despite the requested precautionary measures, the company was forced to eliminate these ads, located in Andalusia, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencian Community and the Basque Country. The reason for not stopping the legal procedure was that the court did not consider that there were “irreparable damages” for Airbnb. A consequence of the war to Airbnb: more expensive hotels. Barcelona has been limiting tourist floors since 2014, looking for the rental market. However, the rental price has not stopped in the city: 72% shot from that date until 2023. But also The price of hotels has risen: 8% from 2023 to 2024 and 30% since 2019. From Xataka we have contacted Airbnb to know its position on the new government application. We will update if we receive more information. Image | Kaspars Upmanis in Unspash In Xataka | Neither air conditioning nor fan: the best thing to cool in summer is a pool. In these platforms they are rented for hours

The archbishop of Mérida and Badajoz is asking for money from their parishioners by phone. The only problem is not doing it

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Your phone rings, you pick up the call and turn out to be the archbishop of your community. He tells you as a voice that the Church needs donations for religious and social campaigns and you, confident Feligrés, with all the good intention of the world you make a donation because well, it is the archbishop who asks for it. The problem is that it is a lie. On the other side of the phone is not the archbishop, nor is the donation for social purposes. On the other side there is a scammer using a cloned voice through AI. And this, which could sound for science fiction, is not at all. It is just what happened in Mérida and Badajoz. Context. The Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz has issued a statement on its website to notify a scam carried out through telephone calls. As detailed by the entity, the scammers were supplanting the voice of the archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz, Mr. José Rodríguez Carballo, to “deceive people requesting donations for religious and social campaigns.” The Archdiocese has taken advantage of the statement to remember that “at no time the archbishop, or any member of the Diocesan curia, makes requests for economic aid by telephone, or through digital or telematic means.” He has also asked for the collaboration of parishioners to report and help stop the scam. How is this possible? Cloning a voice is, even if it seems, something quite simple and relatively cheap. Simply have audio files with good quality and use a platform like Eleven Labs. For the modest price of five euros, anyone can clone a voice and generate about 30 minutes of audio. It is not the only option Not much less or there is no evidence that this tool has been used, but it is one of the most popular. And yes, you can also generate a conversational agent so that you can respond to the victim in real time with the cloned voice. As for the audio files, a simple search on YouTube of the Name of the Archbishop returns us several clips of Mr. José Rodríguez Carballo speaking. There are long -lasting videos, some relatively recent, so it would be easy to obtain several audio hours with which to train AI. A simple youtube search returns dozens of videos of Monsignor D. José Rodríguez Carballo speaking | Image: Xataka The rest is public. Having this, the rest is to pull inventiveness. It would be enough to access the pastoral cards published by the archbishop to see how he writes and the news of the Archdiocese, to his biography on the Archbishopric website and some recent news, put everything in the cheatlele of Chatgpt, ask for a coherent speech, locute him with the voice stolen cloned and the rest is history. Fight against this? Complicated, at least. It is not the first time. Just a few weeks ago the archbishopric of Seville He had to give his brotherhood alarm. The reason: an attempt to scam at the Andalusian level that used voices of some bishops to ask for money for Bizum. Something similar happened in Jaén In 2024. It is the Evolution of the Timo del CEOscam of which we have spent at least four years. How to prevent? Distrustful. If an unknown telephone number calls us and a voice, however realistic, start asking us for money, personal data or anything that does not fit us or strange, it is best to hang and block the phone number. In the closest field, a good idea can be Implement a family password that we can use to demonstrate that we are, indeed, who claim to be. Cover image | Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz In Xataka | A church had been missing 600 years off the coast of Germany. Until some researchers decided to find it

When a laptop’s battery began to smoke, an plane had to be evacuated. The problem is that it is no longer an isolated case

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Airlines fear the flammable potential of devices Like Power Banks Or large laptops, and therefore establish capacity limits in batteries that can go on board in cab. A good example of the situations that seek to avoid we have had on an American Airlines flight, where a bag containing a laptop He started to smoke. What happened. While the shipment was carried out at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) of flight 2045 to Miami, there was a small stampery with shouts like “fire in the rear.” The deceased was the smoke that came out of the bag of a passenger. The crew acted quickly, starting the evacuation of the aircraft and taking out the bag. What was done. The airline workers instructed passengers to leave the plane in order. However, as can be seen in a Video recorded insidethe hall became a chaos where passengers ignored one of the requests: leave bags, suitcases and other belongings in the cabin and go out empty. Some passengers left the plane with bags along the ramps, without following the rules. The evacuation ended without damage to the plane, but with three minor injuries. According to firefighters From the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD), which confirmed that a laptop was the cause of smoke, the problem was born in its battery, without offering more details. Although before they arrived, smoke had already extinguished, firefighters introduced the equipment into a container with water to prevent future problems. What do protocols say. The European Air Security Agency (AESA) Establish clearly What to do as a passenger in an evacuation situation: Listen: Follow each and every one of the instructions on the cabin crew. Leaving luggage: “Trying to take your belongings will not only hinder you, but will also endanger other passengers. Luggage could hinder the exit and cause damage to the evacuation equipment” In the United States, process priorities They are exactly the same: follow the crew instruction and leave belongings behind. The objective is always that any aircraft is safely emptied in 90 seconds. A growing problem. Although since 2016 the lithium -ion batteries are prohibited in the wineries of the airplanes, the number of incidents related to them has shot themselves, either by smoke, fire or extreme warming. The Federal American Aviation Administration (FAA) carries A count And the figures are fully fired: between 2006 and 2016 there were 120 incidents. Between 2017 and May 2025, 377. More than triple cases, and in less years. The majority of incidents occur in commercial airplanes: 385 cases of 119 of transport aircraft. We have analyzed express mentions on fire in the descriptions provided by FAA, and there are 201 cases: 47 from 2006 to 2015, and 144 from 2016 to May 2025. And its solution during the flight. FAA incident records are also useful in another sense: they indicate how the crew mitigates the problems in full flight. The great key are “Thermal containment bags” as is from AvsaxThey are igniphed containers capable of sealing a device and preventing major disasters. In many cases, the crew chose to introduce the problematic device in water before moving to the protective bag. Airlines are taking measures, and for example Southwest Airlines already forces passengers who use Powerbanks to that they have them in sight while carrying. Why the batteries burn. If the question is why they explode, the answer is in a phenomenon, “Thermal leakage“: Overheating due to a heat production process that is self -demand, which ends up causing overpressure explosion. If the anode does not correct the cathode, there is heating, which leads to additional exothermic reactions, which overcome the chemical system and shape oxygen bubbles, CO2 and other gases. With luck, the reaction does not pass from smoke, but it is the precedent of something worse: fire. Why not everyone burn. Because of its characteristics, the batteries They occur following rigorous security plans. But nothing prevents batteries of worse quality or defective, such as Samsung confirmed for the Galaxy Note 7. There is also an additional factor that no longer depends on manufacturers: mechanical blows such as high -height falls, which can deform the battery and make different parts of it touch, which would cause a short circuit and contribute to heating. Images | Erik McLean and Phil Deforges In UNSPLASH, Antonio Sabán with Ia In Xataka | The GPS has become the Achilles heel of modern aviation. And engineering already has its substitute ready

Train liberalization in Spain has been a success for travelers. The problem is that companies are losing a money

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Railway liberalization has reached cruise speed with spectacular results for passengers … but demolving for operators accounts. Why is it important. The train price war is changing the transport map in Spain. Users earn with more low options and prices, but companies are bleeding money in a battle that has also begun to question the sustainability of the current model. In figures: Almost 40 million travelers They used high speed in 2024. That is 77% more than in 2019, before pandemic. Prices They have fallen up to 42% On some routes. Passenger income is 35% below the levels prior to liberalization. The context. Ouigo has become the undisputed EY of low prices. In the first quarter it was the Most economical operator in four of the five liberalized runners: Madrid-Barcelona (18.59 euros). Madrid-Sevilla (29.09 euros). Madrid-Málaga (26.89 euros). Madrid-Aliante (20.80 euros). Only in Madrid-Valencia surpassed him Avlo, and it was for just 25 cents. This aggressive strategy It is giving results. The French subsidiary has managed to capture 36% of the market in Madrid-Aliante, 25% in Madrid-Valencia and 15% in Madrid-Barcelona. Yes, but. Profitability is another issue. The sources do not indicate the concrete losses of each operator in 2024, but The data They indicate that the average income remains far from the levels that Renfe achieved alone. The operators have increased only 6% the average income in Madrid-Barcelona, to the 8 cents per traveler and kilometer, a figure that remains 35% lower than the era of the monopoly. Deepen. Beyond numbers, liberalization is changing mobility habits. The train has won the battle to the plane bluntly: In Madrid-Barcelona, the rail share went from 65%to 81.5%, while other routes exceed 80-90%. And now the financial sustainability of the sector is at stake. If current margins do not allow long -term profitability, something will have to give in: either prices, or some operators will end up withdrawing from the market. In Xataka | Renfe trusted the Avril trains to face the Low Cost of Ouigo and Iro. They do not stop giving problems Outstanding image | Dani guitar

Europe has promised to spend 250,000 million dollars in US energy. The problem is that the USA surely does not have it

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On the facade of the Turnberry golf course, between the Scottish Greens and the handshakes of hand, Europe and the United States They avoided a commercial war with an agreement that has been received with relief, but with considerable skepticism. As a headline, diplomatic victory sounds, but energy reality hides much greater complexity. The tariff pact. Donald Trump described the agreement as “the greatest of all”, announcing it from his Scottish resort. For his part, Ursula von der Leyen stressed that they had avoided reaching 30 %tariffs, which Washington had threatened to impose if an agreement was not reached before August 1. The agreement establishes a 15% tariff On European exports to the United States, accompanied by investment and import commitments that seek to “rebalance” a historically asymmetric commercial relationship. However, among the headlines a figure stands out: 250,000 million dollars annually in European Liquefied Natural Gas Purchases (LNG), Petroleum, coal and even US nuclear fuel. And there begins the problem. Does the United States have the capacity? The answer, As the journalist Clyde Russell has analyzed in ReutersIt is a clear “no.” In 2024, the total value of the United States energy exports to the European Union – including raw, gas, coal and refined products – was approximately 65,000 million dollars. To reach 250,000 million promised, they should quadruple. Even if Europe bought 100 % of US exports of crude oil, gas and coal – and no other country received a single drop of American energy – it would continue to be well below the objective. Russell He has described it As “an illusion”, comparable to the failed “phase 1” agreement between Trump and China in 2019, when energy purchases of 200,000 million were promised that were never fulfilled. So what is motivation? The explanation is more in politics than in logistics. The EU has preferred to avoid an escalation that threatened to paralyze its industrial exports, especially in sensitive sectors such as motor, pharmaceutical or semiconductors. As Columnist Pierre Briançon has explained in Reutersit is a “chapter disguised as success.” The new 15 % tariff multiplies by ten the previous average (1.6 %) and is not accompanied by equivalent tariff concessions by the US, beyond some specific sectors such as aviation or certain chemicals. Meanwhile, the European bloc also promises an additional 600,000 million dollars in direct investment in the United States during Trump’s mandate, including armament purchases. All this in a context of increasing tension by war in Ukraine, the dependence of NATO and American pressure on European technological regulations. From Moscow to Texas. One of the key justifications presented by Von der Leyen is that this energy turn reinforces European independence with respect to Russia. As pointed out in The Telegraphimporting US gas and oil will allow the continent “to free itself from Russian energy blackmail.” However, As several diplomats cited by Financial Times have pointed outThis also means a deeper dependence on an unpredictable and volatile trade partner. “Trump knows exactly where our pain threshold is,” an ambassador confessed to the British newspaper. In fact, it is not the first time that Trump threat directly to the EU with punitive tariffs if there are no immediate concessions. In addition, the London medium has detailed That the EU had a retaliation package worth 93,000 million euros, but was never activated due to lack of internal consensus. Germany, Ireland and Italy pressed to soften measures and protect national interests. Brussels’s “commercial bazuca” never shot. A word flies over: renewable. This energy turn also puts the European ecological transition under pressure. The pact does not mention concrete commitments in renewables, and on the contrary, Trump took advantage of the summit to load against wind energy, describing it as “the most expensive energy form” and a “scam”, As the Telegraph has collected. This raises a contradiction: while Brussels promotes projects such as Invest ai To create chips gigafactories and boost green digitalization, at the same time compromises astronomical sums on fossil fuels. A dissonance that, As the expert Mujtaba Rahman recalled in statements to Nyt“It reflects European concern for other geopolitical scenarios rather than for energy coherence.” Are they winning time? To ask ourselves, this is the first thing that comes to mind: it seems that Europe has bought time. Time to avoid immediate reprisals, to keep Trump moderately satisfied, and for the next administration – be it or not – redesign the rules of the game. A strategy that reminds the “Run the Clock” with which China sailed the 2019 trade war. Meanwhile, neither 250,000 million exist, neither gas flows yet, nor are the details closed. As The journalist Tim Wallace has summarized: “What seems like a tactical victory today, tomorrow can reveal its strategic cost.” Image | Unspash Xataka | The US has come to threaten Apple to manufacture the iPhone in the country. Your answer: spend 500 million in magnets

The big problem of green hydrogen is the dependence of fresh water. We have found the solution in the sewers

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In the great darking puzzle, Green hydrogen points ways to become one of the most important pieces. Has become one of the Great bets of the European Union For the Energy transitionbut although renewable energies such as solar or wind are used to produce it, it has a big problem: Consume a huge amount of fresh water. Some researchers want to stop this problem using something we produce in industrial quantities. Sewage. The water problem. Talking about clean energy implies looking at some initial point of the process to realize that there is still an ecological footprint. Electric cars do not emit, but make their batteries yesFor example. Something similar happens with green hydrogen. Solar or wind energy is which is used to perform the electrolysis process With which hydrogen is generated to use as a source of energy, but as we said, a lot of water is consumed, a resource that is increasingly scarce For millions of people. That is why we are investigating alternative ways to generate green hydrogen without those huge amounts of fresh water. For example, using seawaterbut there is a type of fresh water that had not been considered for the process and that has now entered the equation. Trash Treasury in wastewater. These waters contain a series of pollutants that, according to logic, would make it difficult to Electrolysis process. They have nickel, platinum, chromium and other metals that, until now, had to be extracted from water in an expensive purification process before using that water in electrolysis. However, a team from the School of Sciences of the Australian Rmit has found a way to take advantage of these metals to accelerate the production of green hydrogen. In electrolysis, electrodes are a key component because it is the one that facilitates the reaction that separates water in its base components: hydrogen and oxygen. To do this, an anode is used (where water breaks down releasing oxygen and electrons) and a cathode (protons earn electrons and form hydrogen molecules). In the anode and cathode metals such as nickel, platinum or iride are used as those found in wastewater, and what they have done from the RMIT is … take advantage of them. The invention. To do this, the electrode is manufactured with an absorbent carbon surface that attracts those metals present in wastewater, as if it were a magnet. When they “catch them”, form catalysts that conduct electricity and start that task of dividing water into its components. Nasir Mahmood is one of the researchers and, as we read in Miragenewsexplains the reaction as follows: “The catalyst accelerates a chemical reaction without consumed in the process, allowing metals to interact with other elements present in wastewater and enhancing the necessary electrochemical reactions to divide water into oxygen and hydrogen. And, beyond the theory, the team devised a device that managed They expose in ACSa stability of 95%. This pilot device, connected to a small solar plate, is the one you can see in the image that opens this article. And the waters look at everything … except purified water. Potential. Now, it is not as easy as taking the wastewater and using it directly. The team Confirm which used wastewater that had been subjected to some treatment to eliminate solid waste, organic matter and other nutrients. Not metals, yes. The water used for the experiment comes from agricultural waste, which opens another door to the circular economy of the materials. HE esteem that more than 80% of wastewater return to the planet without any treatment (although other sources They point at 50%), but if we started using a part to produce green hydrogen, we would be reducing that percentage, giving a breath to areas with drought problems and allowing to inject energy into those areas without affecting their Drinking water deposits. In developing countries it would have great potential. An upcoming step is to try more types of wastewater, since not all have the same amount of metals in their composition, and as professor Nicky Eshtiaghi, another of the authors of the study, comments, the plan now is to look for partners to climb technology and find commercial applications. Images | Rmit, Hightail Xataka | In Peru, a company has had an idea to take wind energy directly to your home: turbines as a lay way

Openai has invested billions in chips. His only problem is that he has forgotten something important: cables

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While Openai designs increasingly complex models and promises cities size data centers, a much more terrestrial reality threatens to stop the advance: the electrical infrastructure is not ready for what is coming. At the beginning of the year. Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO) promised, together with Oracle and SoftBank, an investment of 500,000 million dollars in AI infrastructure Under the name Stargate. The announcement, Made at the White House with President Trumphe talked about building 10 gigawatts of data centers on American soil by 2029. However, the start has been slower than expected. According to The Wall Street Journalnot a single formal contract with SoftBank has not been signed, and the first center, in Ohio, is still in the evaluation phase. Meanwhile, Openai has advanced on his own, expanding his alliance with Oracle to develop 4.5 more gigawatts, adding more than 5 GW under construction, As the company itself has reported. A big problem behind. This does not only affect Openai, rather the entire AI sector since no investment or quantity of GPUS can solve the true bottleneck of the sector alone: the electricity grid. As Le Monde explainedtraining models such as GPT-4 consumes dozens of gigawatts -hora, but the real challenge is in the “inference”, that is, in daily use. Each consultation to a model like Chatgpt implies complex calculations that consume energy every second. From the International Energy Agency (IEA), It was warned That the global electricity consumption of data centers could double before 2030, exceeding 945 TWH, more than all Japan today. And there the paradox appears: we can generate more energy, but we have no how to move it. In other words, high voltage lines, transformers, substations, adequate land, permits, technicians are missing. It’s like wanting to fill a city with bottled water, but without having pipes. The project continues. In a last statementOpenai has affirmed that its expansion with Oracle is already creating tens of thousands of jobs in Texas and that the objective of the 10 gigawatts is on its way to being surpassed thanks to new alliances. The Stargate I site, in Abilene, has already begun to operate with NVIDIA GB200 chips. However, As the Wall Street Journal has detailed, Disagreements with SoftBank persist on where to build, how to finance and how to connect data centers to electrical networks that are already saturated. Sam Altman recognized the challenge in an internal memorandum cited by axios: “The thirst for computer science is beginning to tension the supply chain and demands some real creativity.” Other paths: atomic energy. Faced with these limitations, technological giants are looking for solutions outside the traditional electrical system. The answer, for many, is in a surprising return: nuclear energy. Goal has signed a 20 -year contract with Constellation Energy to supply part of its data centers from a nuclear plant in Illinois. Google and Amazon They have also opted for small modular reactors (SMR). Microsoft, meanwhile, will reopen a closed nuclear power plant since 2019exclusively to support your AI infrastructure. Nvidia has not been left behind. In 2024, it invested 650 million dollars in Terrapower, the company founded by Bill Gates that is building the first Natriat reactor, a fourth generation machine that, According to their developersIt will generate electricity by half of the cost of a conventional reactor. The project, which takes place in Wyoming, has a Spanish participation: the public company sees the reactor cover. Without cables, there is no ia. Meanwhile, the number of users continues to grow. Chatgpt reached 800 million active users in April, According to Altman cited in axios. Each of them generates requests, questions, images, instructions, and all that consumes energy. According to Le Mondetasks as simple as writing an email can be more than 7% of a complete mobile phone charge. And generating an image consumes even more. Elon Musk says his company XAI already operates with 230,000 GPUS, and expects 550,000 more. The AI does not rest, but the cables that feed do not supply. Artificial intelligence promises to change the world, but before it will have to face something more basic than any algorithm: the physical laws of electrical systems. There is no needless. There are no servers without energy. And there is no energy without cables. Image | Pexels Xataka | The AI is opening the doors of a radical revolution on the Internet: that we can all create apps without knowing

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