problem

Having solar panels at home sounds very good in case of national blackout. The problem is that they don’t work

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The national blackout that Spain has suffered It has been historicalbut has also sown the doubt. While the vast majority of citizens ran out of light, in the street there was “life” in some supermarkets or marques that made the use of other renewable alternatives. Surely also, today more than ever many will ask about the need to have a solar installation in their home, which leads us to another question: how does a network of domestic panels work before a national blackout? Installation in normal conditions. Before talking about the case of a blackout as the one that occurred in Spain, it is convenient to explain the most basic of A “standard” installation In a typical home. In most cases, solar panels capture the radiation of the sun and generate what we call DC (DC). This current passes through an investor that converts it in turn in alternating current (CA), and that is precisely what we use in homes. In Spain and in almost all countries, most solar facilities are connected to the electricity network (known systems as on-Grid). This allows, on the one hand, to consume solar energy directly in the house. On the other, pour the surplus to the network (which entitles economic compensation, such as the net balance or Simplified compensation). Finally, of course, it allows you to receive electricity from the network when there is not enough solar generation (for example, at night or on cloudy days). The problem occurs when there is a situation like that occurred yesterday. Installation in blackouts. When you have a photovoltaic installation in the house of only panels and there is a blackout, something contradictory but very important happens: even if you have solar panels working, the sky is sunny and the beginning of the day, your house is also It is left without electricity. As? Yes, this occurs by security regulations (for example, in Europe under the standard VDE 0126-1-1 and similar), all solar investors connected to the network must detect the loss of tension and turn off immediately, is what is called Anti-Isla protection. The reason? The reason for this “cut” is to protect network maintenance technicians: if there were thousands of houses by sending electricity to a supposedly “dead” network, it could be lethal for workers They are at that time repairing the failure. Therefore, if you have only solar panels connected to the network, you cannot use electricity during a blackout. Your solar panels are automatically disconnected. There is no more. The solution: batteries. If you also have batteries, the thing changes, although here the situation varies depending on the type of investor and configuration you have. If you have hybrid investors (solar + battery), there are modern investors that already allow to continue operating in what is called Island or back-up mode. This means that when they detect a blackout, they are physically disconnected from the network and come to feed only your house using solar energy and energy stored in your batteries. In addition, there are also systems for backup investors (The so-called back-up inverters), where a separate system is used that can feed a specific part of the house (for example, fridge, essential lights or internet). One More Thing. But even so, for this to work you need lithium or lead batteries properly sizeda hybrid investor compatible with operation in island mode or an inverter with backup function (Back-UP), a automatic cutting system that separates your home from the public network in case of blackout guaranteeing safety, and finally an electrical panel prepared to isolate non-essential loads (for example, it makes no sense to keep the electric oven or air conditioning on if the energy is limited). In any case and to place all this in perspective in the Spanish landscape, only 33% of facilities Current domestic lots in Spain include batteries. This means that most households with solar panels would continue to suffer electric cuts during a blackout like the one that occurred yesterday. The reasons are very varied, but the extra cost of investment of them after the solar installation (already large) is key. The promise of self -supply. All this leads to a final question: Is it possible to be self -sufficient (energetically) in Spain? The short response is no. The promise of solar self -supply on the peninsula is based on taking advantage of the high solar radiation (Spain receives on average between 1,600 and 2,000 kWh/m²/year) to generate clean energy and reduce dependence on the electricity grid, especially in single -family homes. Thanks to photovoltaic self -consumption and the Price drop Of the solar panels (more than 80% have fallen in the last decade), today it is technically possible to cover between 60% and 80% of the annual consumption of an average house in Spain only with solar energy, and in some cases, almost 100% If appropriate storage batteries are installed (although with the network hitch). The problem. However, self -supply has important limits: solar production is intermittent (there is no generation of night and lowers a lot in winter or cloudy days), the batteries remain expensive (between 4,000 and 9,000 euros a complete domestic installation) and its capacity only allows a few hours or days of autonomy without network. Plus: We already said it, the current legislation requires that the systems connected to the network be disconnected in blackouts if they are not equipped to function in Isla mode, which implies that, without a specific design (and of large disbursement), even with solar panels, you could run out of electricity in general cuts. Image | Pxhere In Xataka | What is the “energy zero” and why the supply can go suddenly but it takes hours to recover In Xataka | Spain is dark: a general blackout has left us all without light

After the blackout, Adif has a serious problem on its ways: three “lost” trains in remote states of the network

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Although electric service has begun to recover, almost medium Spain continues in the dark and the sequelae of the blackout remain palpable. In the field of transport, 35,000 passengers trapped were rescued by Renfe, Adif and the Military Emergency Unit (UME). However, there are still three trains to recover. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, He explained that these units are in areas especially difficult to access. Rescue equipment deployed throughout the morning. Since the supply cut occurred on Monday after 12:30, ADIF, Renfe rescue teams and the UME work continuously to recover trapped trains in different parts of the rail network. The difficulty does not reside solely in the lack of electricity, but that some convoys were isolated in difficult access areas, which complicates rescue maneuvers. Adif had already warned That the average and long distance services would not operate throughout the day, regardless of the evolution of the supply, and the suspension also extended to the nearby and rhodalies lines. A clear objective: to recover rail mobility. The government has stressed that one of the priority objectives is to restore the trains circulation as soon as possible, starting with the nearby lines. Pedro Sánchez has pointed out that the objective is to restore mobility in vicinity as soon as possible and also in average and long distance throughout Tuesday, the media and long distance services can also be resumed, although he has clarified that the recovery will ultimately depend on how the electric supply evolves. In parallel, the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has pointed out That the tension is beginning to stabilize in some areas of the rail network, allowing several trains to resume their march. At the Atocha station, in Madrid, the arrival of at least seven trains that were detained is expected. Click to see the original message in x Open stations as improvised shelters. To mitigate the impact on travelers, Adif has enabled several of its main stations as places of night shelter. Stations such as Atocha, Chamartín, Sants, Valencia, Bilbao, Sevilla, Córdoba, Zaragoza, Valladolid and Malaga will remain open during the night so that those affected can be protected. Besides, The UME has deployed Mantas and basic resources to serve passengers who have been forced to spend the night in the stations. The origin of the blackout, still under investigation. While the recovery work advances, the cause of the blackout remains a source of research. The Government has explained that it occurred The sudden loss of 15 GW of electricity generationa phenomenon that has no precedents in the Spanish energy system. At the moment, no hypothesis about what happened is ruled out. Images | Renfe In Xataka | The fact that illustrates the magnitude that Spain has lived with the blackout: 60% less demand in five seconds

The US deserts have 1,200 GW solar for AI. The only problem is that Big Tech do not dare to use them

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The Data centers They are the new 21st century factories. And like any factory, they need energy. A lot of energy. The main technology companies are building and operating Great data centers that allow offering services (video or Streaming video gamesfor example), but also where the different models of artificial intelligence. The problem is that They need more and morewhich translates into a growing energy demand. And although there are those who bet on the nuclear power and for the reactivation of fossil fuels, a study considers that the future is in the Solar energy outside the energy network. The problem is that, although the solution sounds great, it is not being applied. Hyperscalists. This is an important term. Technology companies that operate cloud computing infrastructures on a global scale are known as ‘hyperscalist’. Its data centers are crucial for the development of digital services, but also for the ‘big data’ and the advance of AI, and the term “hyperscalist” responds to those data centers can be scalar quickly and on demand. Climbing … how? Well, depending on the needs of that company and the fan that wants to cover, that scalability translates into more storage, a faster processing or a greater bandwidth on the network. Demand. The main players in this are Google, Microsoft, Meta or Amazon and although they have the capacity to expand their data centers, they are running with a huge problem: the amount of resources they consume. In large server centers, Water consumption It has always been a problem that companies have solved in different ways to be more responsible with the environmentbut the arrival of AI has been a revolution. Train and maintain these models consume a A large amount of energy resources And, apart from the water to dissipate the heat of the servers, a great energy capacity is needed. So much so, although there are companies Building more sustainable data centers At the structural level, energy demand is so brutal that They require coal and natural gas To meet demand. And some like Google either Goal they will use nuclear energy to feed your needs Energy out of the network. Contextualized the problem and seeing that these energy needs play against decarbonizationinvestigators of companies such as Stripe, Paces or Scale Microgrids have got to work to determine the best solution to feed those data centers in a sustainable way. His conclusion has been presented in a study in which they estimate that the total energy demand of the AI ​​for 2030 will range between 30 and 300 GW. In the case of the centers where AI training is carried out, that demand will be between 15 and 150 GW. It is a huge fan, but the solution they pose and that they consider optimal is the creation of micro -redes outside the network, fed by solar energy. According to them, systems with 44% solar energy are already competitive in costs compared to those based only on gas, and those that reach 90% renewable can be even more profitable than nuclear projects such as Three Mile Island of Microsoft. Green spots are green plots for a 90/10 stage Build where the sun glued. The advantage of this system is that its construction is fast because you do not have to reactivate a nuclear power plant. You are not tied to what the energy market demands, Geopolitical conflicts They do not leave you without supply, it is clean energy, buy solar panels is getting cheaper And, above all, it is easily scalable. If more energy is needed, it is as simple as adding more panels, but the most important thing in this equation is that they can build these centers in optimal places. Unlike servers centers, which do need to be close to the end user to offer a better service, the data centers in which the AI ​​training is carried out have geographical flexibility. This implies that they can install them in areas with optimal solar radiation and in places where the land is cheap. Optimal areas Optimal areas. In the study they have identified plots in the United States with a potential for up to 1,200 GW of solar energy outside the network, with gas support and an optimal area with large esplanades and radiation during a large percentage of the year. So, CaliforniaNevada, Arizona, New Mexico and the east of Texas They would be ideal places to house those data fueled data centers outside the network by 90%, with the remaining 10% backed by gas. Beyond this, the study points out that most of the appropriate land is private, so it can be purchased to build these facilities and that, in addition, many are within lands that would allow subsidies. If you start today, the construction bond would be between 12 and 24 months and everything seems positive, but it is not being done. If it is so good … why isn’t it? According to researchers, there are three issues that come into play. Two are closely related and have to do that this of AI training is a very recent phenomenon. The designers of the data centers have historically been skeptical when it comes to getting off the network because what they wanted was to enhance, above all, the reliability. They can’t stay a second without energy, go. Related to the historical tendency is inertia: it has never been done before, although current technology would allow to operate only with renewables (as some countries already do). And the third reason is the cost, $ 23 per MWh, specifically. The panels are increasingly affordablebut it is more expensive than not buying those panels -evidently. However, the researchers point out that this extra cost would be dampened by the Cost of emissions and compensation that would be avoided in the short term. Therefore, these solar micro -lands outside the network seem a quick way to feed large -scale data centers, but although technology is mature, it seems to spend time until … Read more

We have been looking for the definitive cure of allergies for years and we have not yet solved the big problem: understand them

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The end of the rains and the arrival of good weather have, for many, a dark back: The allergies. Spring, and especially the months of May and June, brings us the pollen proliferationone of the most important allergens, the main cause of sneezing at this time of year. The most common way of treating this type of allergies is through antihistaminesdrugs aimed at blocking the effects of histaminea neurotransmitter that also plays an important role in immune system. Recall that allergies are nothing other than a reaction of our immune system to external substances that understands as dangerous and that are not really, allergens. Antihistamines are very useful when treating allergic symptoms. But one thing is that, and another thing is to definitively cure these disorders. Today we do not have A cure for allergiesbut at least there are some routes open to hope. So close we are to achieve it. Perhaps one of the first treatments that come to mind when talking about healing the allergy are vaccines. What we understand today as vaccines against allergy are immunotherapy -based injections, and its logic is not far from conventional vaccines: it is about administering a small amount of what causes us allergy capable of alerting the immune system without unleashing an allergic reaction. While they are a useful treatment in many cases, they do not finish solving the problem, so we will need periodic injections that will improve the response capacity of our immune system. What ways are there open? Almost ten years ago, We commented on some of the open research lines in the search for a cure for allergies. These ways included, for example, the “biological therapies.” These are therapies that focus on antibodiesthe proteins that our body produces when it detects substances that it understands as harmful. This type of treatments They are still One of our great hopes. An example of this is omalizumab, a drug in principle aimed at combating asthma and approved two decades ago in the United States. In recent years, science has been validating this therapeutua option. A recent example is in A study Posted in 2022 in the magazine Clinical and Translational Allergy. In this analysis, the team observed that the drug was effective when preventing spring allergic rhinitis. Understand the problem To understand how our knowledge has evolved in recent years, we must first understand why it is so difficult to find a definitive cure. The background problem is simple: We do not understand the allergies well enough to find a solution. We still do not understand why certain people suffer from a certain allergy while others suffer from another type of reaction, at the same time that others do not seem to have such problems. We don’t know either Why allergies are permanent despite the fact that the antibody that we generally associate with them does not usually remain in our body for long periods of time. Two studies Published last year in the magazine Translational Medicine Science They can help us understand this situation a little better, explaining at least this last point. The answer could be in an antibody that we usually do not associate with allergies, immunoglobulin G (IgG), and the cells that produce it. What the teams responsible for these studies discovered is that some cells responsible for producing IgG produce immunoglobulin E, which is associated with allergies, when they run into an allergen. The key to allergic “memory” could therefore be in these cells. Before going better, everything seems to indicate that the allergies problem will go worse. And is that every time More people suffer This type of disorders. There are several factors that could be, independently or together, behind rapid ascent in the number of allergic people in the world. One of these hypotheses is that of hygiene. Since our immune system is “trains” through exposure to external agents, the absence of these agents in early stages can imply that our system does not perceive them as normal and, exposed in later stages, ends up reacting disproportionately. s From the environmental point of view, we must also consider the presence of pollutants in the atmospherelike particular matter. These pollutants can also affect our airways, combining their effect with that of conventional allergens and aggravating the situation. In Xataka | The time of the year in Japan has arrived where everyone has a mask. The fault is World War II Image | Cottonbro Studio

Tariffs force Apple to manufacture US iPhone in India. It is not a problem: it is a tactic with many advantages and few fissures

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On April 12, the US government announced that semiconductors, some electronic devices and strategic components They are exempt from tariffs. This decision has appealed to the big US technology companies, But only temporarily. And it is that the administration led by Donald Trump has also anticipated something that we should not overlook: within a period not exceeding two months will announce to what tariffs Imported chips will be subjected. As we have explained this morning, at this Apple situation he has decided to transfer all the production of The iPhone that sells in the USA to India. This strategy will allow you to cushion the impact that the short -term tariffs will have on integrated circuits and electronic devices that come from China. Of course, a plan like this cannot be executed overnight. In fact, Apple aspires to get the 60 million iPhone that sells every year in the US come from India before 2026. India is not a casual destination India’s choice, as we can intuit, is not casual. It is currently the best option for Apple in a context in which it is being dedicated to China. To understand what India’s role is in Apple’s business, we necessarily have to investigate the component and services chain of the apple company, as well as in the role of two of its most important partners: Tsmc and Foxconn companies. In Xataka Iter has faced one of the great challenges of nuclear fusion: prevent plasma from 150 million ºC to destroy the reactor Currently TSMC manufactures the chips designed by Apple in its lithographic nodes of 5 and 3 nm The first of these companies, TSMC, manufactures the chips designed by Apple. The lithographic nodes currently used to produce integrated circuits for the Cupertino company are those of 5 and 3 Nm, and during the second half of 2025 the manufacture will also begin In the new 2 nm line. TSMC produces these semiconductors for Apple In Taiwan and the USA. Its distribution network in Asia is very robust, so for this company transfer a part of the chips that come from Taiwan to India instead of China does not represent a problem. In addition, and this is the most important thing, you are already doing it. Foxconn takes care of the assembly of most of Apple’s smartphones, and has plants in India in which This work is already carrying out. Pequeatron is also responsible for assembling a part of the iPhone from this Asian country. These two companies have a very robust electronic component supply chain in Asia, so with the support of Apple they can develop their production infrastructure in India to respond to the needs of this customer. The geographical proximity of China and India helps. {“Videid”: “X81Felr”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “A future without mole in China the industry changes the paradigm and we explain why”, “Tag”: “”, “Duration”: “182”} Apple would have a difficult problem to solve if it was forced to transfer all the production of Asia to another continent, but derive from one Asian country to another in which it already has a consolidated infrastructure is perfectly assumed. And in current circumstances it is evident that it is the best option. Even so, This strategy has a fissure with which you will have to deal with this plan: the manufacturing infrastructure that has deployed in China side with Foxconn will be underutilized, so that investment will have a much shorter route than the initially planned. Image | Apple More information | Financial Times In Xataka | China backs down: Loongson processors will finally sell to Russia whose export had prohibited (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news Tariffs force Apple to manufacture US iPhone in India. It is not a problem: it is a tactic with many advantages and few fissures It was originally posted in Xataka by Juan Carlos López .

The US promised them very happy resurrecting its nuclear industry. Now a problem with tariffs has been created

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The commercial war that He has started United States this April has given much to talk about, especially for Tariff dispute with China. This situation has put an old energy problem on the table: the dependence of foreign uranium. An uncomfortable dependence. The policies of the current American administration They have made clear their position not to continue towards the change of the energy transition. The Trump approach is placed in fossil fuels, but in nuclear matters it was preceded by Biden. In this specific case the energy constant is has maintained Between both governments, which in the road map left that nuclear energy should triple. In this way, the United States has been importing 99% of Uranium concentrate to make fuel for your reactors. In addition, the 54 nuclear centrals of the country generate about a fifth of all the electricity it consumes, According to Ciphernews. Who are the suppliers? As detailed in the same medium, most of the uranium has come from Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia, Russia and Uzbekistan, and although this mineral It was exempt of tariffs, the situation can vary Seeing the stage. In short, the issue has generated a stir in the energy sector and has exposed a structural vulnerability in its nuclear supply chain. A bet towards national mining. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA)last year the national production of uranium concentrate multiplied by thirteen, but still is not enough to meet the demand. However, Scott Melbye, president of Uranium producers of America, He has assured that at least six companies have restarted mining operations in the country. It was not always like that. USA It was the largest uranium producer of the world in 1980, but in the following decades other countries ate the land, as was Canada and Kazakhstan because the extraction costs were lower. The situation worsened with a nuclear disarmament agreement of the USSR and for 20 years the half of the US nuclear fuel came from the recycling of Soviet uranium. After all this situation, in which it began more and more to depend on the uranium of others came the Fukushima accident in 2011. After this tragedy many countries, including USA, They reduced their investment in nuclear energy. Western mining companies paused operations, while Kazakhstan, with state support, Increased its production without worrying about profitability. Russia also continued to sell cheap uranium, even after the end of the disarmament agreement in 2013. Will it be self -sufficient? The orientation of Trump’s policies It seems to point towards the reactivation of its internal nuclear supply chain. Although uranium is still free of tariffs, global tension, technological advances and energy urgency are pushing the country again to look at their own subsoil. The big question is whether this rebirth will be sufficient and sustainable in the long term. Image | Pxhere and Gage Skidmore in Flickr Xataka | The uranium is listed up after the nuclear resurgence. And a company wants to start extracting it in Greenland

Chrome’s extensions have a big problem. Anyone can buy them and fill them with malware without finding out

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One day John Tuckner decided to try to be evil. He found a browser extension called “Website Blocker” that could buy for $ 50 and took it. The extension, which allows to block certain websites so that the user is not distracted with them for some time, was especially interesting because it allowed to reuse it for spam attacks. And then things happened. Sight problem. In just a few days I had control of the extension and could do what I wanted with it. He modified the code, published the update and confirmed that the novelties had reached all users without being found. And then told what was happening: He is the founder of the cybersecurity company Secure Annex, and wanted to confirm their fears: there is great danger with extensions: anyone can buy them, modify them and reuse them for all kinds of purposes. Google reviews the modifications, but “it is not clear about what level of scrutiny,” Tuckner explained. Another recent case. At the end of January the creator of the Browser Boost Extra Tools for Chrome extension sold this development and transferred it to its new owner. Its 30,000 users were soon exposed to the new code, which dynamically redirected websites that the new owner decided unilaterally. I have not been. One of the extension users He warned of the problem in the github repository of the extension and analyzed the code notifying the danger of malware that could reach due to the new owner. The creator, n0m1111, explained who had sold the extension months ago and was no longer responsible for the code. Playing with permits. These extensions often allow permits of all types of browser parameters. Tuckner explained how in the extension he bought a permit called “declarativemetretreQuest” was used that was very wide and allowed to redirect users to false authentication sites to steal their passwords. Other permits would allow the owner of an extension to take screenshots with sensitive information or access the cookies that the browser keeps to steal data from the browser sessions. The possibilities are multiple and in Xataka we already talked a few months ago about how extensions They are becoming a silent method to infect users. A recent attack. In February, the Gitlab Threat Intelligence expert team They discovered A group of 16 Chrome extensions “used to inject code into browse to facilitate advertising and SEO fraud.” Among them they added 3.2 million users, and in Gitlab confirmed that the extensions had been bought and then modified, which allowed to avoid suspicions by users and the industry itself. These experts notified Google of the problem, and the company eliminated them all in January 2025. Block extensions, the solution. If you want to protect yourself from these problems, the solution is block The execution of extensions in your browser, especially in computers that handle sensitive data such as work. Unless they are extensions of trust, these types of problems can cause serious security problems. Care with permissions. Browser extensions can end up being bought, sold and reused without notice by their new owners, as has been the case. That raises a serious problem for users and companies, which before installing an extension should provide A lot of attention to permits that ask for these extensions to work. What do they say in Google. In Xataka we have contacted Google responsible and we will update this article if we receive new data on the subject. Be that as it may, the company offers A HELP DOCUMENT In this regard and also indicated in a Article in your official blog How to stay safe with the use of extensions in Google Chrome. In Xataka | Those responsible for the Robinson list confirm that it has not been hacked or data robbery (updated)

Spain has a huge problem with contaminated waters. These researchers believe that the solution is the poplars

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We say little, but Spain is an aquifer country. According to data from the Ministry of Ecological Transitionthese cover more than 90% of the national territory. To the point that the supply of two out of ten Spaniards depends on them. In this context, it is still worrying that the country has been overexploiting them, contaminating them And even making them disappear. And, eye, between 20,000 and 30,000 cubic hectometers of water come from there. Is there any way to save them? There are many. Many. But historical experience tells us that everything that entails rationalizing consumption is not simple in the medium term. Is the “Say law“In full performance: each resource is free for the efficiency improvements that the water system has achieved thanks to the new restrictions, investments and management improvements, they are dedicated to other economic sectors. They take it pointing at the Datadista For years: decades of “emergency measures” in front of drought has only ended up serving to “expand irrigation, increasing the problem of overexploitation and contamination of aquifers and wetlands.” The point is that the problem continues to grow, we continue to take water from the subsoil and the consequences begin to be very serious. The management that never comes. Wwf Spain revealed in 2019 that The four most important aquifers in the country have been sheared for years.Beyond: According to the reports of the Geological and Mining Institute“For decades, salinization of Mediterranean and insular Spanish coastal coastal aquifers have been known.” Despite this, “only in a few cases this situation is well managed.” What if we look for another way to ‘save’ the aquifers? That has been asked at the University of Granada and Institute for Agricultural and Fishing Research and Training of the Junta de Andalucía. And thanks to the European project Life Wood for Future, they have analyzed the impact of the chopperras on aquifers. Your findings They are very interesting because “It has shown that the chopperras purify the waters contaminated by agricultural fertilizers and that this crop has the capacity to take advantage of nitrates in their growth and prevent contaminating groundwater.” And no, it is not a theoretical issue. The researchers They are convinced That “the chopperras prevent the most important groundwater from the province, which covers 39 municipalities and widely exceeds the maximum concentration limits of legally established nitrates, 37.5 mg/l in groundwater, be contaminated.” An incredibly powerful approach. Because “due to their rapid growth, since they can reach about 20 meters high in ten years”, the poplars not only purify nitrate water naturally, but “They have a great ability to kidnap CO2 of the atmosphere, up to 20 tons per year. “ It is funny (so to speak) because suddenly two of the country’s large pending subjects, the management of aquifers and The health of treesare so intimately connected. Image | Silvan Schuppisser / Garnica In Xataka | In Spain, cutting urban trees looks like national sport. These Swiss have just demonstrated that it is a mistake

The F-35 and the US ballistic missiles need the key component of a magnet. The problem is that it was “Made in China”

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Finally, China carried out what the global industry feared: blocking the export of rare earths more valuable. In this way, without more, it sounds tremendous, although surely many will wonder how far the scope of the veto really comes, or which supply chain will be affected in the short term with Beijing’s decision. There are many sectors against the strings, but there is an especially delicate one for Washington: Defense. If everything remains the same, you have a few months left for your F-35 or ballistic missiles to have a serious problem. The Achilles heel. I told it The New York Times A few hours ago. China’s decision to impose restrictions on the export of critical minerals and, especially, of certain rare earth magnets, represents a direct warning to the national security of the United States, whose military capacities They depend largely of these resources. Which is it? We talk about Combat fighters of the Air Force, like F-35of guided ballistic missiles of the army or electric drones of the Marines, where these magnets (made with elements such as neodymium, disposium or ititrium) are essential for the operation of motors, guidance mechanisms or emergency systems. If, for example, a ballistic missile does not include the component of these magnets, it would be impossible for their goal to reach. The background problem. That 90 % of these components are produces in Chinaand six of the key metals that compose them are only refined there, which gives Beijing a powerful pressure tool. This maneuver, considered a “warning shot” by An official From the Air Force, it could easily climb towards fees, tariffs or even a total prohibition, generating an immediate impact on the costs and availability of American military technologies. A vulnerable chain. It We have counted other times. Rare earth (a set of 17 elements) is not that they are scarce in the strict sense, but its processing is expensive (and polluting), which is why China managed to dominate both its extraction and the associated refining and manufacturing. This supremacy has allowed him control much of the final cost of the modern American weapons, including those poachers, submarines, war ships, tanks, missiles and laser systems. To get an idea, only one F-35 contains around 400 kg of rare earth materialswhile some submarines They exceed 4,000 kg. Although the American defense industry and the pentagon have accumulated strategic reserves of these elements, analysts warn that these collections would barely reach to cover a few months of production and maintenance, not even years. From there, as we recently counted, that Washington has noticed the Pacific fund. Future warnings. Actually, the United States already knew about this unit and what could happen for a few years. It happened with an emblematic case, the call “F-35 “magnet debacle”when in 2022 the Department of Defense temporarily suspended the delivery of these aircraft after discovering that a component contained a Alloy manufactured in Chinacontravening defense acquisition standards. Although at that time it was considered that the material did not represent a direct threat, the incident highlighted the depth of the US dependence. Now, with the obligation that Chinese exporters Request special permits Before sending rare earth to the United States, experts anticipate a price increase that will affect the entire industrial defense base. Yes, the MINTAIN PASS MINA In California it has resumed operations, but its production is far from competing with Chinese capacity. Historical precedents. Looking back, history offers examples of how the United States must have adapted to interruptions of the supply of strategic materials in times of war. For example, now It happened with the bauxite During World War II, when Germany sank allied charges that transported it from Surinam. So Washington turned to Domestic reserves in Arkansas to guarantee the production of airplanes. Today, The Times told that there are already voices from the sector, such as American Enterprise Institutewhich insist that current reserves are not enough to sustain the military-industrial complex in the face of a long interruption of the Chinese supply. Despite the initiatives of Trump and Biden governments to Reactivate national production Of critical minerals, the industry remains highly vulnerable to Beijing’s decisions. A critical dilemma. No doubt, there is a much broader background with what happened in the commercial war. Chinese control over rare earth supply not only implies logistic or economic vulnerability: it represents A geostrategic challenge First order for the technological supremacy of which the United States has always presumed in the military. The recent Chinese measure does not close trade routes completely, but it makes it clear that Beijin possesses A pressure lever Formidable about the American defense industry. Faced with this, analysts agree that Washington must accelerate efforts to diversify their sources of supply, recover internal industrial capabilities and ensure the resilience of a supply chain that supports a good part of its global power. Otherwise, the next crisis may not limit yourself to that “warning shot”, but to become a direct blow to the technological backbone of the National Defense. Image | Jasper Nance In Xataka | The United States imagined that China would veto its export of rare earths. Has a plan B: The Pacific Fund In Xataka | China has done what the global industry feared: block the export of the most valuable rare earths

China has found a solution to tariffs for Amazon sellers in the US. The problem is that it is illegal

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The commercial war between the United States and China can shoot so many prices That the list is, a priori, endless. However, this 145% tariff figure imposed by the Trump administration (later Replicated by Beijing), it affects more products than others, and within that giant on online purchases called Amazon, the problem is much more fat for some vendors than for others. In China they have found a solution, although it does not seem legal. Fraud hidden behind shipments. I told it exclusively Fortune weekend. The rates imposed by the Trump administration of Chinese imports, which have reached such high levels Like that 145% We were talking about, not only have they destabilized great American retailers and sellers In Amazon, but they have also put in check the Chinese manufacturers and distributors who feed those supply chains. In response to this increasingly hostile commercial environment, several Chinese suppliers have begun to offer their US clients a “solution” as simple as illegal: falsify the declared value of imported products to reduce tariff load. It is, without any type of rodeos, a type of customs fraud. Illicit offers in digital tray. The medium lo He explained with examples. In messages sent by email and through the Wechat platform (then obtained by Fortune) at least half a dozen Chinese suppliers explicitly proposed to an American brand of domestic goods with a wide presence on Amazon that Subdeclara The value of its imports. “Many companies in the United States use invoices with minor values ​​to facilitate customs office and reduce rates,” wrote one of them. Another was still More direct: “We can modify the declared value in commercial invoices to help with tariff costs.” These proposals apparently have been frequent and formulated with total normality, as if they were part of the usual treatment. In some cases, suppliers added the option to use the shipping method Delivery Duty Paid (DDP), where the supplier assumes customs management and is responsible for manipulating the declared value of the shipment, thus creating a kind of deliberate barrier between the American seller and customs. Everything, of course, with the aim of relieving the tax burden, but assuming significant legal risks. A mined land for small importers. According to the medium, the founder of the American company involved (which anonymity requested so as not to compromise its usual suppliers) expressed concern that many small companies They can fall In these traps without fully understanding the legal consequences. Such and As he saidone of its suppliers said that this tactic is already common among competitors based on China. It is precisely this type of practices that, according to him, distorts the playing field: Chinese vendors who falsify the value of their shipments not only avoid high tariffs, but also obtain a direct competitive advantage over US vendors who follow the rules. From suspicion to confirmation. Apparently, suspicions about this type of practices are not new. Many American sellers have been complaining that their rivals in China could be Systematically subdeclating The values ​​of your products. Be that as it may, last week the issue exploded within the Amazon sellers community after a Chinese consultant published An entrance to LinkedIn stating that “the declared value of a typical container from China to the United States usually ranges between 5,000 and 10,000 dollars”, a figure that US vendors consider ridiculously low, especially in categories such as “home and garden”, where products such as furniture significantly raise real value. Play within legality. Options under the legal framework? Fortune said that in the face of pressure, some Chinese suppliers have begun to Offer small discounts in wholesale prices as a palliative measure, but that barely touch the surface of the problem. Others mention the possibility of Move production To other countries with lower tariffs, although they recognize that this alternative can only materialize over time. Meanwhile, illegal offers seem to continue on the table. The combination of punitive rates, unfair competition and lack of effective customs supervision has created a scenario where the incentive to the trap overcomes The will to respect the norms. A fraud without punishment. It is the last of the aid legs to explain this type of movements. Impunity seems to be a central ingredient of the crisis. Several American businessmen expressed to Fortune his frustration for the absence of consequences for those who commit customs fraud from China. The control mechanisms do not seem to be prepared to respond with the necessary forcefulness, and each container that enters undervalued represents not only a loss of fiscal income, but also a direct affront to the principle of loyal competition. In other words: the system, as it is, does not seem to punish the cheater. And as long as that does not change, the temptation to cross the line will remain there, in this case, disguised as a simple commercial proposal in an entrance tray. Image | World Bank In Xataka | The tariff war will shoot the price of a component that nobody speaks: the SSD units In Xataka | China responds again to US tariffs and rises to 125%: from here it would be a “joke” to keep climbing

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