problem

I have tried Grok 3 and it is really intelligent and fast. The problem is that this is no longer enough

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I’ve spent a few hours trying Grok 3the new version of Xai AI. I wanted to see their real abilities and especially how it behaves, what kind of results, in front of Chatgpt, Claude, Le chat, Deepseek… Reasoning and problem solving It stands out in mathematical problems. I made him complete the challenge Aime’24of which he was 6 of the 15 problems, for the 9 hits of OPENAI O3-mini-high. In addition, Grok 3 took a little less than five minutes, but O3-mini-High took almost six. Very striking to see their self -assessments until you find the correct answer (although sometimes it was not). A fragment of the steps that Grok 3 took to evaluate their own conclusions before presenting them as a final result. Image: Xataka with Grok 3. In basic reasoning tests, such as determining the number of repeated letters in somewhat complex words (the classic “lollapalooza”) or comparing decimals (9.11 vs 9.9), Grok 3 responds correctly after a few seconds of visible “thought”. O3-mini-High Be right after 6 seconds. Image: Xataka with chatgpt. Grok 3 also succeeded, but after more than four times longer. Image: Xataka with Grok 3. In a Greek mythology question about Jason’s maternal great-grandfather, Grok 3 found the correct answer in 18 seconds … while O3-mini-High needed 22 seconds to fail. Well played, Grok. O3-mini-High missed. Image: Xataka with chatgpt. Grok 3 instead gave a better built response, in addition to correct. And it takes less. Image: Xataka with Grok 3. Search and synthesis Its function Deepsearch is fast but sometimes it is not entirely precise and does not mention any important detail. I asked to analyze the impact of AI on chips design and, although it generated a text of 1,504 words with several quotes in just over a minute, omitted to mention important advances such as the framework ALPHACHIP from Google. In later and insistent attempts he did. I also asked for a full report on Xataka On financial, media, reputational level, etc. It was quite successful, although it showed an inherent limitation of any Deep Research system: He knows a lot about what is in public, but he doesn’t have many Insightsit lacks the expert criteria that knows not only the public, but what underlies. This is something of Grok and any other with Deep Research. When you ask for information about something you do not control, it is easy to assume that Deep Research (or in this case, Deepsearch) gives you everything. When you are in garlic it is easy to detect deficiencies. As in this example. Image: Xataka with Grok 3. The speed impresses: it is remarkably faster than Deep Research of OpenAi … but at the cost of sacrificing depth for speed. Of course, your selection of sources and appointments is usually really good. Unlike Gemini, it does not allow exporting reports directly to documents or customize the research approach. Again: Grok is very intelligent and capable, in his own way, but he lacks a product. Little llm is of little use if it forces to start from scratch and process all the information. Creativity and tone To try his creative writing I asked him for a story about a time traveler facing a paradox. The result was quite solid in construction of characters, details, descriptions and atmosphere, overcoming even the one that I consider the best in that aspect, Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Of course, some plot turns seem quite forced. Image: Xataka with Grok 3. His humor is basic and predictable, limited almost all the time to quite obvious words games. Teenage humor If the concept of disturbing valley You can move to a chatbot, Grok 3 is in that 99%: too fine to look like a caid robot, too predictable to finish convincing. It maintains political neutrality even on issues such as immigration or trans rights. Musk says it can be politically incorrectbut it seems that it is something that has more to do with what the user requires that a feature of his personality. That is to say: it can be taken out of correction, but only when the user pushes to it. Some limitations It does not allow customizing the behavior of the model, unlike chatgpt; or the response style, as Claude allows. It is limited to being a text drawer. You are only accompanied by the buttons to attach a file, activate your Deepsearch or activate your reasoning mode. That, and a few elementary instructions. No projects such as Claude or GPTS of Chatgpt, or the agents of Le Chat. In short: Nothing to retain pre -established contexts and guidelines or documentation to facilitate work. We always have to start from a new canvas. The interface is good, intuitive, simple … but they miss tools that make it more versatile and appetizing to integrate it into our day to day. It is powerful and capable for specific uses, but the product built around chatgpt, claude or le chat (projects, agents, previous instructions, etc.) make those alternatives something much more interesting for serious and recurring use. Image: Xataka with Grok 3. The security keeps are stricter than those of Grok 2. with that version We hallucinate for its lack of scruplesbut Grok 3 seems to recover them: he refused to generate a template for a mass fraud campaign by mail simulating that I am a Valencian prince in search of heiress. The generation of images does seem, again, more lax. Midjourney does not allow to create anything containing the words “Donald Trump” or “President of the United States”. Nothing. Grok 3 does not put so many objections. Not even with its owner. Image: Xataka with Grok 3. You can try Grok 3 from its official website or from Its integration into x (which is why you have seen two somewhat different interfaces in this article). It is temporarily free, but we already know that it will be one of the reasons to pay a subscription to X, and not the cheap. Its ability … Read more

The United Kingdom has been investigating why there is a giant hole in a street. The problem is that another

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At the beginning of February there was such an unusual event in Japan that it was news worldwide. In the north of Tokyo it had appeared a giant hole that “swallowed” a truck and its driver. Worse: every day that passed it became bigger. The story in Asia is not over yet, but in Europe the scene has just been repeated. On Monday, the United Kingdom dawned with a mysterious and giant hole in a street. And then there were two. An unexpected collapse. The story began last Monday night. A huge crater appeared on a very busy street in the town of Godstonein Surrey County, England, growing rapidly until reaching 20 meters long, six meters wide and five meters deep. Shortly after, a second hole of five by five meters and the same depth arose on the other side of the street. Although both have stopped expanding at this time, the magnitude of the sinking has forced to evacuate around 30 homes and has generated serious concerns about the structural safety of the area. The solution goes for long. What the hell is happening. The big question. Although the exact cause is still unconfirmed, Geologists suggest several hypotheses. The region is settled on weakly cemented sandstones dating from the lower Cretaceous period, more than 100 million years ago, an area that It can easily erode with the action of water. In this regard, Pete Burgess, expert from the Wealden Cave and Mines Society, explained that The nineteenth -century maps show an area marked as a “sand quarry”. This quarry would have been exploited for decades to extract sand used in construction and gardening, leaving unstable land. Plus: factors such as heavy rainsexacerbated by climate change, could be further weakening underground structures, causing collapse or collapse. In addition, and as it happened in the case of Tokyoit is possible that a broken pipe has eroded the rocky substrate, or even that the roof of one of those old sand mines has collapsed, triggering the sinking and in turn, damaging a water pipe. That said, what is most repeated among experts is that The growing urbanization in the United Kingdom has increased pressure on infrastructure of sanitation already aged. Impact on the community. Although they have not reported injured, the life of residents if it has been seriously affected. Cases such as Noosh Miri, one of the evacuated people, who declared that His house is no longer safe and does not know when he can return. Traffic, of course, has diverted, and the country’s media speak of a car that was dangerously close to the edge of the second hole, without its owner being able to withdraw it. In addition, some residents have had to Spend the first nights in their vehicles due to uncertainty about the stability of their homes. For all this, Tandridge District Council has enabled an information center to attend those affectedwhile Bletchingley Parish Council has offered its sports hall as Temporary refuge for those who do not have housing insurance. Councilor Linda Baharier stood out The difficulty facing tenants who do not have insurance coverage and must find a long -term housing alternative. A call to the community has even been released so that who have available rooms can host. Economic impact: closure of shops. The economic repercussions of the disaster are also significant. I told the BBC Shane Fryowner of the mechanical workshop DD Services, of his concern about the closure of the road and the restricted access to his business, which has drastically reduced its clientele. “We have lost an important part of our income because people cannot get here or simply choose not to come,” he lamented. With four employees in charge and families that depend on the workshop, Fry anticipates difficult months. Other businesses in the area face the same uncertainty. Graham Bristow, owner of Blossoms Café, told the British chain that his daughter, who manages the business with him, is trying to stay optimistic, but fears that the next months will be devastating. “If we suffer losses, will there be any kind of help, such as tax reductions? We don’t know it,” he said. Measures to repair a giant hole. Local authorities have cataloged the incident as A “major emergency case”. Currently, they are being carried out Structural studies to evaluate security of the area and determine how to fill the craters definitively. The bad news? Than repairs They could take at least months. Meanwhile, some residents have been able to return to their homes to collect essential belongings, although there is still no clear date for their final return. Let’s think that repairs not only involve filling the holes, but completely rebuild the road from the baserelocating and reconnecting all public service pipes and networks before being able to repair. Are these undercuts common? The truth is that sinkings in the United Kingdom They are usually smaller and occur in rural areasalthough occasionally they emerge in urban areas. In December 2023, a sinking in Wales affected the house of a reality winner Love Island. That said, the collapse in Surrey has been particularly striking, and geologists repeat that although Most housing are not built on land of old registered minesin some cases the houses have been built on those undicted medieval mines, which It generates unforeseen risks. In short and As in Tokyothe two undercuts in the United Kingdom have evidenced the vulnerability of certain urban areas to geological and climatic factors. While experts work in solutions and in determining the exact cause of collapse, residents face the uncertainty of an uncertain return to their homes, possibly months. If you want also, the incident stands out The need to review and reinforce infrastructure in areas with sinking potentialespecially in a context of growing urbanization and climatic changes that could aggravate this type of phenomena in the future. Image | Peter McDermott In Xataka | Japan has been trying to get a man out of a hole for six days. … Read more

Some microbiologists have taken 10 years to solve a problem. The AI ​​has solved it in two days

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Professor José R. Penadés and his Imperial College team in London had been working on a way of demonstrating how certain superbacteria are immune to antibiotics. After all that time they had finally achieved a conclusion in this regard. They recently dedicated to give AI a chance to solve the same problem. They got a surprise. Ten years they, 48 hours the AI. The scientists used a new Google AI tool called co-scientist to provide a brief prompt asking him about the essential problem they had been investigating for ten years. The AI ​​reached the same conclusion as them, but it took only 48 hours to reach it. And the AI ​​did not know the response in advance. One of the important details here is that AI could not have found out the solution looking for it on the Internet. Penadés and her team had not published the study, so Co-Scientist could not find the answer because it was not public domain. “I need to digest it”. The Penadés Professor He indicated in BBC How he learned that AI had reached the same conclusion in just two days. “I was shopping with someone, and I said,” Please leave me only one hour, I need to digest this. ” no. I could have saved years. Even considering the AI ​​solution as a hypothesis when they started working on the problem, having it would have saved years of work, Penadés explained. But it was the AI ​​went further. In fact, Google tool had done more than replicating its research. “It was not only that the hypothesis he provided was correct. He provided another four, and all of them made sense. And in one of the cases, he never occurred to us, and now we are working on it.” A for superbacteria. The study tried to reveal how some superbacteria are created that are resistant to antibiotics. The hypothesis proposed that superbacterial can form a tail from different viruses, and that allows them to spread between species. It is as if they had the “keys” to move from one place to another and “enter” different guests. That is the same hypothesis that Co-Scientist arrived in 48 hours. “This will change science”. For the Penadés professor “this will change science, sure.” Tools like this, says, “give the opportunity to play a great game. I feel as if I was finally playing a Champions League match with this.” And there I don’t know the thing: Evo 2 arrives. This discovery binds to launch these days of Evo 2the most large biology -oriented model so far. A group of researchers from the universities of Berkeley, Stanford, the ARC Institute, the UCSF and NVIDIA have trained an AI model with 9.3 billion nucleotides (from which DNA chains are created) from 128,000 Complete genomes. Thanks to this model it is possible to precisely predict all types of genetic mutations. Image | Wikimedia In Xataka | Some engineers have simulated 500 million years of evolution with an AI. Now we have a fluorescent protein

The problem is secondary school

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Go ahead: that the iPhone 16E Count on just one camera is simply unjustifiable. We want to use more cameras or not, the addition of a wide angle or optical teleobjective is a minimum to demand in this price range. Said which, that this phone incorporates a single camera makes much more sense than we may seem to the most Techies. The evolution of camera systems on phones is A story of comings and goings. A few years ago it was The absurd fashion of megapixelsafter which the companies themselves have admitted that they are of no use if the quality of the sensor and the final process does not accompany. Until not too long ago, fashion was to flood the phone with up to four cameras, including macro and deep cameras whose utility was also at least questionable. There is so much obsession with the number of cameras that some manufacturers even add empty holes that look like cameras. Everything seems to have stabilized in a current sweet point in which everything moves much easier: two or three camerasfour for the most ambitious (double optical telephoto). But even at this point of common sense we continue to face a big problem: the quality of secondary cameras in mobiles of less than 1,000 euros is minimal. In fact, it is usual to find main sensors with good performance accompanied by ultra -angle sensors of 8, 12 or even 50 megapixels with mediocre quality. It is also common also in humble teleobjectives (2x): they only serve to do a little zoom during the day. Apple wanted to solve the zoom problem as it did on iPhone 14 Pro: taking advantage of the 48 megapixels for Cut the central area and achieve a zoom “lossless“. For practical purposes, you have a similar quality to that of an X2 optical zoom Reddit They suggest that the ultra great angle does not enjoy the best popularity. There is a lot, a lot of work to do yet. Image | Apple In Xataka | What camera for beginners buy: these are the models and recommendations of the Xataka editors

Three years after the beginning of the war, Europe wants to enter. The problem is that there is only one prepared nation: Ukraine

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Europe has decades without a direct armed conflict in its territory, with the exception of Yugoslavia wars in the 90sthe last great episode of violence in European soil. Since then, security in the continent has been marked by A strategy based on deterrence and diplomacymore than in military confrontation. And, suddenly, the conflict in Ukraine recalled that fireworks It is not the same as direct fire. Europe before Ukraine. As we said, the European armed forces have been reserve for a long time. In fact and how we will see, mostly they have been reduced and adapted to a context of stability, with investments limited in defense and a focus on Peace maintenance and humanitarian assistance operationssuch as missions in Balkans, Africa or the Middle East. Despite the growth of NATO and its presence in Eastern Europe, European armies have been more accustomed to acting in controlled scenarios that to prepare a direct confrontation against a weight opponent such as Russia. Fireworks. In fact, this approach has led to many military operations from European countries being Mainly exercises, joint maneuvers and drills in allied countries such as Slovakia, Poland or Latviabut without the real experience of a conventional combat against a military power. And it is not the same to deploy troops for an exercise in the Baltic countries to face in battle against a force like the Russian army. Enter the war. Under all this context we arrive at this week. A few days ago several European leaders have gathered in Paris to discuss the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine as part of A possible peace agreementalthough the viability of this measure depends largely on the support of the United States. In fact, the summit was promoted by the decision of the Trump administration of exclude Europe from negotiations They started in Saudi Arabia between Washington and Moscow, although Trump has suggested that Europeans could perform “a peace maintenance role.” Plans and divisions. And then Europe seems to have realized that the “defense” had it careless. According to The Washington Postsome European countries consider The deployment of up to 30,000 soldiersthat, yes, they would not be on the front line, but as a deterrence in case of a resumption of the conflict. Another option, or plan B, is the one that They have called “resettlement force” destined to protect Ukraine from future Russian attacks in case a peace agreement negotiated by the United States is reached. That said, France is the country with the most advanced plans estimating that could contribute almost 10,000 soldierswhile the United Kingdom, through its prime minister Keir Starmer, has opened The possibility of a British contribution. And so far, because the rest of the countries have shown a more ambiguous position. Sweden and the Netherlands, for example, They do not rule out the shipment of troopsbut they have not made a specific decision. Germany, Poland and Spain have rejected the idea, At least for now. Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz emphasized that Any solution should be based on a strong Ukrainian forcewhile Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, said that Warsaw “does not contemplate sending Poles soldiers to Ukraine.” For its part, the Spanish government was blunt when pointing out that Peace is still far and only depends on Putinmaking it clear that any military mission should define objective, participants, mandate and leadership. Strategic objectives. If the “plan B” is given, with a peace agreement underway, the main mission of this eventual “resettlement force” would be guarantee the safety of Ukrainian airspaceallowing the reopening of commercial flights, and protect maritime trade in the Black Sea, fundamental for grain exports and other essential goods for the Ukrainian economy. It would also be prioritized The protection of key infrastructure such as Public Plant and Public Servicesthat have been constant target of Russian bombing since the beginning of the war. Ukraine proposes a broader approach. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky stated that Ukraine’s security does not necessarily require foreign troops in his territory. Proposed The creation of “Armed Forces of Europe”capable of responding on land, sea, air and artificial intelligence before any Russian aggression. He also stressed that advanced air defense systems would be effective measures to strengthen security without requiring permanent foreign troops. The elephant in the room. No doubt, Europe’s plan faces important diplomatic obstacles, the first of all: United States support It is, at the moment, uncertain. Although the Trump administration has insisted that European troops must guarantee the security of a future peace agreement, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made it clear that They must be part of a mission not related to NATO and not be protected by article 5 of mutual defense. Not just that. Even in the uncertain scenario of a peace agreement, the mission and role of Europe would require an American “backstop”that is, a support from the United States in case of a military escalation. Although there are no specific details, this support is expected It focuses on aerial power with operations based on Poland and Romania. In this regard, Starmer and Macron will travel to Washington next week To press Trump and ensure that the United States provides this strategic support. “Old” defenses. In the background, what is showing is a great weakness in its defenses, possibly oxidized. In fact, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, warned this week at the Munich Security Conference that Ukraine is making weapons faster and less cost than any other country in Europe. It is not a trivial detail. It does so despite being at war, which shows the slowness of the continent in strengthening its military capacity. Frederiksen urged to reduce bureaucracy and increase arms production in collaboration with the United States emphasizing that Europe can no longer act as if it were in peacetime. The rise of the Ukrainian military industry. From the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has exponentially increased its armament productionmanufacturing missiles, obuses and large -scale drones. In 2024, 30% of the military equipment used … Read more

Trump has determined to obtain a piece of the rare earths of Ukraine. The only problem is that they may not exist

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Trump has begun this new legislature under an idea of ​​appropriating everything that can get an economic revenue and is not under his jurisdiction. It started with Greenland And now he wants to do it with Ukraine, but as happened with the first, in the Eastern country he will not find anything he thinks. Short. Donald Trump has declared that Ukraine has vast reserves of rare earths, but is far from reality. In fact, This statement is disassembled with the American geological service that does not include the East country as a significant deposit holder of these minerals. But why this obsession? As soon as he assumes the position as president, Trump He established that he wanted to “buy” Greenland as a strategic zone within the geopolitical framework and for its mineral wealth, which according to energy experts Javier Blas and Richard Milne It was not as the current president of the United States states, despite being an area with a large extension capacity. However, all this obsession behind rare earths is to ensure access to strategic resources that, for the most part, They are dominated by China. Control of these resources It is crucial For advanced technological applications and weapons production. Ensuring rare earth supply could have significant geopolitical implications, and in a context of rivalry with China, it could be part of its strategy to diversify the sources of these elements. And why now Ukraine? The analyst Javier Blas details it well for Bloombergsince the issue began when the Ukrainians presented to Trump a “Victoria Plan” highlighting the country’s mineral potential. This led Trump to speak publicly about the rare earths of Ukraine on several occasions, even mentioning a surprisingly high amount in dollars that the US could obtain from these resources, without basis on geological reality. The energy expert considers that the confusion probably arises from a misunderstanding or error of Trump by linking Ukraine with rare earths, when in reality the country does not have large deposits of these minerals. It could also have been confused with other mineral resources that Ukraine does, such as titanium and Gallium, which are valuable but not of the same strategic magnitude as rare earths. The misinformation is everywhere. However, it should be noted that this confusion by President Trump has also been fed by erroneous reports or conspiracy theories that circulate in the political sphere, which mention minerals such as lithium, beryllium or even uranium, which sometimes They are wrongly included in “rare earth” lists. In fact, this report It was published in December last year by the NATO Energy Security Excellence Center, a Autonomous organism Affiliated with the Military Alliance and that uses its name and logo. However, as Blas details, if these are the source used by Trump’s advisors, it is an important problem for global policy. The strategic point. Although Ukraine does not have vast mineral reserves, the country is in a very important geopolitical location, since it is a country of containment against Russia. For years, Ukrainian gas pipelines They have been essential For Russian gas supply to Europe, becoming a constant source of tension. The European Russian Gas Dependency has generated energy crisis and geopolitical disputeswhich further reinforces the relevance of Ukraine on the international board. In this context, the obsession with its mineral resources is not only an economic issue, but also an attempt to reinforce the geopolitical and energy security of the western bloc. Under threat. Before all this situation, in recent statements, Trump has attacked Zelensky calling it “dictator” And warning that, if he doesn’t act quickly, Ukraine could disappear. In addition, he has criticized the lack of previous agreements to avoid war and the high cost of the conflict for the United States. Within these recent statements, he also suggested that Europe should assume a majority of military spending, since it considers that war affects Europe more than the United States. Image | The White House and Unspash Xataka | Trump wants to apply tariffs of more than 25% to chips and that means one thing: much more expensive laptops

The Plan of Spain for leading green hydrogen has been faced with an unexpected problem: Zamora

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The countdown for the passage of the H2Med corridor It is underway. The one that will be the first clean hydrogen corridor of the European Union will be underway by 2030, but, as in any project, it is not exempt from controversy, since the section that goes from Zamora (Spain) to Celorico da Beira ( Portugal) has aroused a conflict. The controversy. The Duero Hydrographic Confederation (CHD) He has authorized A INARI SOLAR SL The extraction of 117,000 cubic meters per year of groundwater of the Natural Reserve of Las Lagunas de Villafáfila. The initiative will supply a 40MW green hydrogen production plant. Located in Moreruela Granja (Zamora), the Unión del Pueblo Leonese party (UPL) has warned about environmental impact of this project in a protected wetland. For this reason, divisions between neighbors, environmentalists and politicians have not been expected, between those who support it and who fear its consequences. In addition, the controversy has reached the Unesco Through the Ramsar agreement, an international treaty for the protection of wetlands. The decarbonization process. Spain It has different green hydrogen pointsbeing Zamora one of the most strategic points for the installation of infrastructure for the production of this renewable. However, producing green hydrogen requires large amounts of water, an increasingly scarce resource in Spain. In fact, 82.5% of the water It is used for agricultureand the country Face an accelerated desertification process. For this reason, the choice of the Villafáfila aquifer as a source of supply has generated outrage. The process. The CHD granted The concession in January after a period of public information of a month that, according to the agency, was closed without allegations or reports against. The Confederation argues that the extracted water will be minimal compared to the total of the aquifer, representing only 0.1% of the available resources. In addition, the concession will be 25 years, allowing a maximum flow of 3.8 l/Sy will capture by means of a 70 -meter depth survey. However, environmentalists in action, among other organizations, He has questioned These data because they point out the devastating impact on the wetland. In addition, he has denounced the lack of transparency in the process and has pointed out that authorization has been done on a place where restrictions for agricultural irrigation. From the town. Social discomfort has grown rapidly and already circulates In Change.orgunder the motto: “#Salvemosvillafáfila! A natural treasure in danger of disappearance.” The initiative accumulates more than 7,000 signatures, denouncing that water extraction will endanger an ecosystem necessary for bird migration and the local economy. From the political sphere, and as we have pointed out above, UPL has resorted to authorization before the Junta de Castilla y León and has taken the case to Ramsar agreementwith the aim of opening the door to a possible international review. In favor. From the Popular Party, the president of the Diputación de Zamora, Javier Faúndez, He has shown Your support for green hydrogen, but Reject the choice of aquifer as a water source. In addition, he argues that there are more viable alternatives, such as the Esla River or a nearby reservoir. While from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, on which the CHD depends, has defended the concession ensuring that the regulated procedure has been followed and that the impact will be insignificant. However, the authorization must still pass the filter of the Junta de Castilla y León, which has promised a rigorous evaluation of environmental effects. Forecasts The conflict continues to climb and everything indicates that there will be citizen mobilizations in the coming weeks. The Junta de Castilla y León has the last word, so if the authorization continues, the debate could reach European instances. All this would test the compatibility between the EU climatic ambitions and the conservation of the environment. Image | Akiv and designed by Freepik Xataka A Japanese study is being able to transform methane into a clean energy source: turquorogen turquorogen

The problem of buying a house in Spain is no longer just its price. Is that you have less than 73 days to decide

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Two and a half months. Something less even. In a real estate market marked by the mismatch between supply and demand and in which Operations increase of sale that is what lasts on a home in available: two and a half months, 73 days To be more precise. A few years ago that data exceeded the 90 days. They are just that, figures, raw data, but they act as a thermometer of the sector. In fact there are cities, especially those that have tension markets, in which the deadline is even lower. A market for fast. In Spain the real estate market has its peculiaritiestrends and Factors susceptible to interpreting in different ways, but of course something is clear: they buy the fastest. He last report Prepared by Technocasa and UPF, it shows that, on average, in 2024 only 73 days were needed to sell a home. The data is interesting for several reasons. First because it is two days less than in 2023. Second, he delves into a trend that dates back to the beginning of the decade, when the properties took average for more than three months to find a buyer. In 2020 the average was 94 days. Beyond the average. 73 is a statistical indicator, the average of sale for the whole of Spain. If we go down to detail and consult the segregated data at the territorial level we verify that there are locations in which the period in which sales are closed is considerably shorter. In Barcelona that average was only 68 days, in Valencia of 67, 66 in Malaga, 62 in Seville and 61 in Bilbao. The market in which the properties last The Madridwhere the brand is in just 60 days. A market, two realities. The report of Tecnocasa Group and UPF Also verify that not all properties run the same fate in the market. According to their data, 55% of homes have been selling less than half a year. Moreover, almost 37% is announced on online platforms and real estate agencies for just three months. In the opposite pole, almost a quarter of the properties (23.6%) have been available for a year or longer. One of the keys could be its overvaluation. The report estimates that in the most ‘veteran’ homes it exceeds 18%. Why is it important? From what he tells us about the market. The authors of the report verify a clear mismatch between the demand, upwards, and an offer that thinns. Two data arrive to check. While 2024 closed above the 266,000 active purchase applications, which is 80,000 more than during the same period of 2023, and the number of potential buyers grew by 39% in December, the housing offer has moved in the direction opposite The Technocasa and UPF report estimates that it fell 9.3%. City Necessary days for sale Saragossa 76 Barcelona 68 Valencia 67 Malaga 66 Seville 62 Bilbao 61 Madrid 60 “A boiling market”. The study calculates that if in an area with a 5,000 -homes real estate park there was an average of 70.9 properties for sale in the late 2023, a year later that data was significantly lower: it was already around 64.3. The result, points to The country José García Montalvo, Professor of Economics, is “a boiling market”. “What we are seeing is that demand is squeezing much more than the supply, which is still insufficient,” emphasize The UPF expert. Another of the keys that help to understand the market is access to financing. The study detects an interannual increase in the average amount of mortgages, which is added to other indicators on credit. For example, registrars of Spain It carries several months verifying a sensitive increase in mortgages. “It’s a real casting”. The phrase is again from García Montalvo and summarizes the reality of the Spanish real estate market, at least as drawn by the Technocasa and UPF report. “The properties have hardly time to appear in the listings before multiple offers compete for them in an authentic casting,” Comment The expert. In a similar line, the director of Analysis of the Tecnocasa Group, Lázaro Cubero, Explain that last year there was “a very important demand increase.” “A 39% increase in a single year is not usual,” duckin reference to the increase of potential buyers that the report detected with respect to December 2023. The other indicator: prices. The time it takes for a home to find a buyer is not the only clue that tells us about demand and supply. There is another even more eloquent indicator: prices. After calculating the measure of a selection of cities, the Technocasa report indicates that in the second semester of 2024 the M2 stood at 2,802 euros, 12.13% more than during the same period of 2023. The report is also interesting for another reason. Its technicians estimate that the price in the second semester of 2024 was more or less at levels of mid -2005, but still far from the dimensions that were reached during the real estate bubble, between 2006 and 2007. In recent weeks Some experts They have pointed out that the M2 would have already exceeded the 2007 values, although everything indicates that the Sorpasso It focuses only on nominal prices, not real. That is, this calculation obviates the effect of inflation. Does it happen only in sales? No. The sales rate will be increasingly agile in the sale market (at least among the properties not excessively overvalued by its vendors), but pales compared to the tempos of the residential rental market. At the beginning of 2024 idealista calculated that 18% of homes They were leaving in their portal did not last 24 hours free. Moreover, in some cities the percentage of homes with a fleeting step by real estate was even greater: in Tarragona they were 31% and in San Sebastián 29%. Images | ZHIYUAN SUN (UNSPLASH) and Jonas Denil (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Spain urgently needs to build thousands of homes. In the Basque Country they have … Read more

The US has decided to leave paper straws because everyone hates them. The problem is the alternative: plastic

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Between him merchandising Maga with whom he dressed his bankrupt 2020 attempt For returning to the White House, Donald Trump included a much less resulting piece than his famous red caps, but endowed with the same political burden: plastic straws. The cannulas carried their last name in capital letters, were sold in packages of $ 15 and were, in the words of the Republican leader, the alternative to the “Liberal straws” of paper. They did not serve to win those elections, but to raise thousands of dollars. Now, back at the White House, He has decided that the whole government also begins to use plastic cannulas instead of biodegradables. And as happened in 2020, with it he launches a message that goes beyond the straws. What happened? Donald Trump doesn’t want more straws. Rather, he doesn’t want more paper straws. That’s why He has just signed An executive order with which he reverses the efforts of the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, who advanced right in the opposite direction. The Democrat aspired that federal institutions be disregarding plastic cannulas throughout The next few yearsfirst taking them out of their activities in 2027 and then suppressing them until they reduce them to zero in 2035. Why’s that? Simple. Because Trump doesn’t like them. He made it clear already during his failed electoral campaign of 2020 and has stressed again these days, in a resounding way and without half inks, faithful to his style. “These things do not work, I have had them many times, and sometimes they break, they explode. If something is hot, they do not last long, a matter of minutes, sometimes second. It is something ridiculous,” He settled. The republican argument does not end there. Trump has insisted that the attached straws that have been promoting as the ecological alternative to the traditional plastic are dissolved for years “disgustingly” in the mouth and even questions that its use is positive. For both consumers and the environment. Its decree in fact that they incorporate chemicals that “can entail risks to human health”, their production is more expensive than the conventional alternative and also generate waste. “Paper strases are sometimes involved individually in plastic, which undermines the environmental argument in favor of its use,” emphasize. Goodbye to biodegradable straws? Not quite. Trump’s decision is relevant and there are those who have seen in it A declaration of intentionssomething that goes far beyond the simple cannulas. The Executive Order declares that “US’s policy is to put an end to the use of paper straws”, but at the moment its scope is limited: it focuses on the federal administration, putting an end to The Biden era policy that sought that the federal government gradually eliminate the purchase of plastics from a single use. The regulatory framework around the straws is really something more complex. There are cities and states, including California, Oregon, New Jersey or Seattle, in Washington’s own territory, endowed with regulations that limit the use of plastic cannulas or prioritize biodegradable options. Trump’s goal is clear, in any case. Before journalists, he shared transparently what his bet is: “We will return to plastic straws.” Do paper straws work? Trump ensures that its use leads to “ridiculous” situations and even that they are “disgusting” in certain cases. Those are personal, subjective appreciations. What can be affirmed objectively is that science has demonstrated that biodegradable cannulas are far from being perfect and – beyond that they may or may not be softened while using some problems related to their materials. In 2023 a group of researchers published A study in which they exposed their conclusions after analyzing 39 brands of straws of different materials, from plastic or paper to glass, steel and bamboo. And his conclusion was that the biodegradable cardboard were the ones that contained the highest volume of PFAS. That is a problem because these synthetic substances are harmful to humans and the environment. Of a total of 20 paper cannulas brands, 18 showed PFAS. Why is it a problem? It He expressed clearly Two years ago at SMC Marieta Fernández, a professor at the University of Granada, precisely following that study. “The majority of paper analyzed (90%) contained pfas. They were also detected in 80% of bamboo, 75% of plastic and 40% of glass. The steel analyzed, “summarized the academic. Fernández recalls that PFAS are commonly used for non -stick purposes and to improve the resistance of water, heat or spots, so “it is not surprising” to find them in the cannulas. The problem, abundantis that their presence in paper and bamboo straws would question that they are really “biodegradable.” And what is so or even more serious: it question that they are really “suitable for human consumption” products. Better plastic? Paper strases may not be perfect, but those of plastic are also very far from being, no matter how much Trump likes them, confessed lover of sugary and gas sodas. As Remember Fernándezthe study of 2023 also detected PFAS in the plastic units. And while its percentage was lower than in cardboard versions, the result remained elevated: chemicals were detected in 75% of the samples. His big problem is nevertheless another: the impact they have on the environment. The data does not always coincide, but they usually show a worrying scenario. There are estimates that speak that in the US they are used a day 175 million of disposable straws, Straws Turtle Island Restoraction Newtory raises the data to More than 390 million And another calculation –so cited as disputed– points out that in the country each day more than 500 million of cannulas. And what does that mean? Let any of those figures or Another estimatethe truth is that we talk about a quantity of huge straws: hundreds of thousands daily, in the best case, which take only a few minutes to become garbage. The big question is … What to do with them when they are discarded? Do they all end up in the … Read more

The biggest problem of Perovskita’s solar panels was its durability. China has just resolved it

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The University of Beijing has just presented the most forceful advance of Perovskita cells in terms of durability, so far the greatest weak point of technology that promises to conquer solar panels. The news. A team of researchers has designed a Perovskita cell with a 24%efficiency, similar to that of the best silicon solar panels, than maintains 99% of its performance after 1,100 hours of operation at extreme temperatures. The context. Perovskita cells are The most promising technology to generate solar energy at low cost. Perovskitas have a crystalline structure that absorbs sunlight in a very efficient waybut unlike silicon cells, they can be manufactured through simple processes, with cheaper materials, and in flexible films. There are already commercial solar panels of Perovskita and have begun to be installed on a large scale, especially in complicated lands of Chinabut their least stability and durability prevents them from competing with silicon in other facilities, even when they are manufactured in tandem with the semiconductor to improve their performance. The problem. One of the key components of Perovskita cells, the formamidinium and lead iodide (FAPBI₃), is difficult to stabilize at room temperature and tend to degrade when it is exposed to sunlight for long periods. Which, for a solar panel, is … inopportune. FAPBI₃ degradation causes Perovskita solar cells to lose efficiency rapidly (they convert less amount of light into electricity) and are not viable to compete with silicon panels, which last 30 years. The solution. To overcome this obstacle, a laboratory from the University of Beijing has invented A new “intercalation-decalation” technique of iodinewhich consists of inserting iodine atoms into the structure of the FAPBI₃ to help better organize its components, and then eliminate the excess iodine during the heating process. The key is to facilitate the formation of lead and iodine blocks, whose atoms are joined by sharing corners in the structure of Perovskita. By favoring this configuration, the mobility of the ions is reduced that, otherwise, would contribute to the degradation of the material over time. Iodine acts as a stabilizer that improves the internal cohesion of the cell. The results. This method allowed researchers to obtain a high quality Perovskita movie, without waste that may compromise their performance. The cells that developed have an energy conversion efficiency of 24%: almost a quarter of the solar energy that affects them is transformed into electricity. But the most important thing is that they maintained 99% of their initial performance after operating for more than 1,100 hours at about 85 ° C, which is a very encouraging indicative of its durability and potential long -term use. As for lead. Lead concerns its toxicity, but today it is an essential component in the Perovskita formula: it contributes significantly to its ability to absorb light and turn it into electricity, so that commercially viable cells contain lead. However, solutions are also being investigated To eliminate it. Goodbye to defects. In addition to the one at hand, other laboratories are explored complementary solutions to eliminate defects, such as the integration of molybdenum disulfide layers (MOS₂) In the structure of the cells, which act as physical and chemical barriers, blocking the migration of those defective ions that can deteriorate performance. Both the technique of iodine and that of the MOS₂ point to the same: achieve a pure and stable perovskita that can work optimally and lasting. And convert the “great promise” of solar panels into a commercial reality. Image | Huansun In Xataka | In 2009, Perovskita’s solar panels wasted 97% of energy. Now they are ready to conquer the industry

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