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I was thinking about buying a Steam Machine, but its price has put me off. This PC seems like a better option to me

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Yes, we already know the official prices of the Steam Machine. I really liked the concept of a tiny PC that I could have in the living room connected to the television, ideal for enjoying my gigantic Steam library (hello, digital Diogenes), but the price is much higher than expected. To contextualize it a little, its price is higher than that of PlayStation 5 Pro despite his last rise and its performance is quite far from the Sony console. So, to be honest, I wouldn’t buy the new Steam device, even though I really like the idea and I love how well it works, for example, Steam Deck. For a little less, there are computers like this PC Neo that can offer similar performance and, although it loses the concept of a compact PC along the way, has many other strong points. It is available, by the way, for 999 euros. NEO Gaming PC Ryzen 5 5500 RTX 5060 Ti SSD 1TB 32GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links An alternative to the Steam Machine if you are looking for a conventional PC We must start from the basis that they are two very different PCs (despite having a very similar price), but knowing that this Neobyte equipment can be a very good alternative if what you are looking for is to have a conventional PC to place in your setup with two monitors as is my case. First of all, let’s look at the prices of the Steam Machine in its different configurations to fully understand what the outlook looks like: The processor used by this computer is an AMD Ryzen 5 5500. It has 6 cores and 12 threads like the one used by the Steam Machine, although what matters here is the architecture. In that sense, the Steam team’s CPU uses Zen 4 architecture and the Neobyte Zen 3 team, so the Steam Machine clearly takes the point there. The same does not happen on the graphics card. As explained Digital Foundrythe graphical performance offered by the new Steam Machine is between an RX 6600 and an RX 7600 from AMD. Both GPUs are one step below PNY’s RTX 5060 Ti which uses the PC Neo that we are using in the comparison. Graphics card that, in addition, It is compatible with DLSS 4.5a technology that can help us have much better performance when playing. And how are they doing by memory? The Steam Machine uses 16GB of DDR5 RAM in a single module, while the PC Neo comes with 32GB DDR4 memory. In addition, the most basic version of the Steam Machine (which costs 1,039 euros) has 512 GB of storage, while the other gaming PC has 1TB. Finally, there is the issue of SteamOS, which is the basis on which the Steam Machine and Steam Deck are based. This operating system is comfortable to use and great for playing, offering the user an experience very similar to that of a console. Windows is not at that level, but we can use the Big Picture mode of the Steam app itself to achieve a result that, although not the same, provides a similar solution. So which option is better? There is no easy, universal answer for everyone. Personally, I think this Neo PC from Neobyte is a better option. It will offer performance very similar to the Steam Machine, although with the advantage that we can change your graphics card or processor (or basically any component) in the future. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: neoybyte neo pc ✅ THE BEST Good GPU + RAM combination: Despite being DDR4, this PC comes with 32 GB of RAM and an RTX 5060 Ti. It is a combo to play for several years with DLSS 4.5. Updatable for the future: It is a conventional gaming PC, which means that we can update it whenever we want. ❌ THE WORST Bottom processor: Its CPU uses an old architecture, so it is somewhat limited. This is something that we will especially notice playing at low resolutions. It does not have that compact living room component: It is a gaming PC with the good and the bad, so you may not want to place it in the living room as it is bulky. 💡 BUY IT IF… You are looking for a computer to play with for several years with the possibility of being able to update it to improve its performance. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… What you’re looking for is a “living room PC” to play on TV with your entire Steam library. You may also be interested PcCom Lite AMD Ryzen 5 5500 / 16GB / 1TB SSD / RTX 5060 V2 / Windows 11 Home The price could vary. We earn commission from these links COOLPC Black I – Ryzen 5 5500 / GeForce RTX 5060 8GB / 16GB DDR4 / SSD 500GB / W11 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Steam, Artiom VallatNeobyte In Xataka | Best gaming laptops in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and six recommended models In Xataka | DDR4 or DDR5? What RAM to choose so as not to pay even more than necessary in the middle of the price crisis

Mexico desperately needed Mexicans to care about axolotls. So he put them on the bills

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The cultural phenomenon around Mexican axolotl It began with an apparently modest gesture: its appearance on a bill, part of a design process in which specialists in Xochimilco advised the Bank of Mexico to faithfully represent this unique species and its chinampero ecosystem. The initial intention was pedagogical and symbolic, but it ended up unleashing an unexpected enthusiasm of unknown dimensions. The creature that conquered a country. As we said, the emergence in 2021 of the axolotl on the Mexican 50 peso bill completely transformed the country’s relationship with a species that, until then, was known only by specialists and inhabitants from Xochimilco. From the first day of circulation, the design captivated millions of people, not only for its aesthetics, but for the soft and enigmatic figure of the amphibian that, unintentionally, embodied a mixture of tenderness, identity and cultural pride. Without millions in circulation. The bill became an immediate phenomenon: collectors, families and young people began to keep it as a small treasure, which explains that, in 2025, more than four years later, the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) announced through a report that 9.8 million Mexicans They keep or collect this bill as if it were a treasure and they have decided to remove it from circulation. In fact, the bank has detailed that 68% of those consulted, who responded that they keep or collect this paper money, have one to five units. According to the calculation, if 9.8 million Mexicans keep a 50 bill, it is estimated that around 490 million pesos of this currency, or its approximate equivalent of more than 26 million dollarsare out of circulation. Hallucinatory. Awards. Its success even led to it being internationally awarded as ticket of the yearconsecrating what was already intuited: the image of the axolotl had connected with a collective sensitivity that went far beyond the economic. And behind that image there was a real animal, an axolotl called Gordaselected after a careful process of documentation and photography, which ended up becoming a national figure without anyone planning it. The daily life of la Gorda. Gorda currently lives in Axolotitlán, the National Axolotl Museumwhere she remains in a deep and well-kept fish tank where she is no longer constantly exposed due to her advanced age. Even so, those who visit it can recognize it by small white spots on its head, a feature that ended up becoming its hallmark. Its fame has generated a parallel ecosystem of objects and souvenirs (from stuffed animals to mugs and clothing) that have reinforced its presence in the country’s daily life. But beyond popular culture, specialists have remembered that admiration also implies responsibility: the axolotl is a extremely fragile speciesdependent on a specific environment, and its sudden notoriety only makes sense if it translates into greater awareness about its conservation. Gorda’s story shows that a single specimen can become a bridge between citizens and nature, but also that collective emotion must be accompanied by decisions that guarantee the survival of the species. An extraordinary creature. The qualities axolotl biologicalfrom its ability to regenerate limbs, tissues and even parts of the brain, to its breathing through gills, skin and mouth, or its condition as a salamander that does not complete metamorphosis, have made it a unique animal in the world. However, this singularity coexists with a critical situation: he Ambystoma mexicanum It is classified as extremely endangered and the destruction of its habitat has been constant for decades. Xochimilco, the only place where this species exists naturally, faces a combination of threats: accelerated urbanization, water pollution and the presence of invasive species that have decimated native ones since the 1980s. And more. Added to this are improvised interventionssuch as the release of axolotls without scientific protocols, which end in almost immediate mortality due to thermal shock, poor water quality or competition between specimens. The specialists they insist in which the conservation of the axolotl is not an act of isolated goodwill, but a technical process that requires strict control of the environment, genetic evaluation, slow acclimatization and comprehensive protection of the channels. The fragility of the animal reflects the fragility of the ecosystem that supports it. Restore Xochimilco. Scientists say that the conservation of the axolotl is inseparable from recovery of Xochimilcoand that evidence has led researchers and chinamperos to undertake shelter projects that recover ancestral agricultural techniques. These restored chinampas act as safe microecosystems where axolotls can remain free of contact with invasive species and with adequate water quality. The objective is not to create artificial reserves, but return to the environment its original balance so that the species can survive without eternally depending on human intervention. Xochimilco is not just a historical heritage nor a tourist postcard, it is a living system that regulates floods, stabilizes temperature, supports traditional agriculture and houses a biodiversity that depends on its continuity. The axolotl is only the visible tip of a problem much broader: if your home disappears, ecological functions on which the entire region depends will also disappear. Takeoff and the World Cup. Since May 2026, the government of Mexico City (with the head of government Clara Brugada at the helm) has taken the image of the axolotl to a much larger scale in view of the 2026 World Cup that is being held: the Light Train has been renamed like “The Axolotl” (with an investment of more than 2.3 billion pesos), bridges, pedestrian crossings, buses and street furniture have been painted purple and decorated with axolotls in what the Mexican press has dubbed “axolotization”, and an official city mascot was even presented for the tournament (“Ajolotín”). The phenomenon has generated so much viral memes as reviews for public spending and for using the animal symbol while the real species continues to decline. The hype. Be that as it may, the social phenomenon of the 50 peso bill demonstrated that an image can change public perception of an entire species. Gorda became a symbol recognized by millions of people, capable of arousing curiosity, affection … Read more

Scientists have put kombucha to the test against stress. and has lost

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For many people, kombucha is a super drink. They consider it the ideal option for replace soft drinksbecause it is better than water and does not cause health problems, but it does bring many benefits. Some experts have warned that we must be careful, since many commercial kombuchas have a large amount of added sugar, so the benefits can be overshadowed by the risks. However, it’s not just about the risks related to sugar. According to a team of Australian scientistswe could be relating kombucha to more benefits than it really has. Having the bioactive compounds is not enough. These scientists carried out two studies in the same group of healthy adults. On the one hand, they analyzed blood and urine samples in search of metabolites associated with the positive effects of kombucha. On the other hand, they analyzed how the consumption of this drink affects a controlled stress test in the laboratory. Although most of the benefits conferred on kombucha are digestive, there has been a lot of talk lately about how it can help reduce stress through the gut-brain axis. That is why this second test was carried out. In the first, as expected, they found very interesting metabolites. This indicates that kombucha contains bioactive ingredients, which have effects on metabolism. However, in the second test they did not find the benefits they expected. Not all kombuchas are the same. Kombucha is a drink obtained by fermenting tea with sugar, thanks to the bacteria and fungi present in a culture called scoby. As a result, some beneficial tea polyphenols are mixed with organic compounds and metabolites resulting from fermentation. Beyond that, it is important to clarify that not all kombuchas are the same. The final result depends on factors such as the storage method, the tea used, the fermentation process or added sugars. There is also a big difference if technologies such as filtering or pasteurization are used. That’s why, in an article for The Conversationthe authors of the Australian study point out that one cannot compare some studies with others without taking into account that possibly very different kombuchas were used. Homemade Kombucha The studies. To avoid the problem of different kombuchas, all participants in the Australian study drank the same kombucha. It was a drink based on organic black and green tea fermented for 4 weeks. Half of the participants drank 330 ml of this drink, once a day for 8 weeks. The other half did the same, but with a placebo with a similar flavor. Before, during and after the process, blood, saliva and urine samples were taken and they were subjected to a stress test that consisted of alternately putting their hand in cold water and doing mathematical calculations under a stopwatch. Basically, it is a way of mixing physical and mental stress. The results. Blood and urine samples showed that those who drank kombucha had higher levels of beneficial metabolites. The compounds in this fermented drink had acted on their metabolism in an apparently advantageous way. The problem is that, as they concluded with the second experiment, not everything that has bioactive ingredients generates visible benefits. There is nothing more to see than the Saliva levels of cortisolthe famous stress hormone, did not improve with kombucha consumption. They increased with the stress test, but did not decrease with the kombucha, but rather with the passage of time. There were also no beneficial effects on other stress markers such as sweating, heart rate or self-observed stress. Yes, there was habituation. As time passed and the stress test was repeated, cortisol levels and the rest of the markers improved. This, according to the authors of the study, is due to a habituation phenomenon, but most likely not to the kombucha, since there were no differences with the placebo. Studies will have to be improved. These Australian scientists consider that, in the future, it would be interesting to carry out studies with more participants, for a longer time. If possible, also with people with high basal stress. It would be the best way to thoroughly study whether there are real effects of kombucha on stress. At the moment, with what they have observed, it seems that we have overestimated this drink. In the end, if you need a raise in your salary or for your landlord to lower your rent, it seems that kombucha is not going to solve anything for you. Image | Magnificent In Xataka | Neuroscientists believe they have found the trick to solving the most complicated problems: taking a nap

the initiative of a town in Huesca to make neighbors look each other in the eyes. “We’ll put the cell phone in a bag”

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The United Kingdom announced a few hours ago that is going to ban social networksamong other things, to those under 16 years of age. In a much more diplomatic line, the Aragonese people of Alcalá de Gurrea will soon celebrate a day without screens to enjoy the best social network: eye contact. This is an experiment that will put the entire town in “airplane mode” and, as you know, people are quite dependentthey will ensure that it is fulfilled in a very curious way. Putting cell phones in a bag with a sheriff patrolling the town. It’s much nicer than it sounds. Town in airplane mode. It will be next June 28 when, for a few hours, the Aragonese municipality will implement this measure. They will invite neighbors who want to join in to leave their cell phones aside to interact with the rest of the town and, as detailed in Chain Beingduring those hours there will only be one cell phone: the one owned by one of those responsible for the activity. “The sheriff will go throughout the town in case something happens and will call the right person if necessary,” the organizers point out. The objective is clear: to make people look each other in the eyes. “The plan is for people to do all kinds of activities but, above all, to interact with each other during those nine hours,” they say. To do this, there will be a group meal, activities such as a kayak experience and common spaces in which various types of activities and creative workshops will take place. What if you’re embarrassed? Well, they have it covered: “the organizers will be waiting for people to break the ice,” they say. The typical “do you know my friend?” of all life. to the bag. And the way to make sure people put their phones aside is to do it…literally. The event, as those responsible in Ser comment, will take place on the outskirts of the town and will be where participants will be given a bag to store their devices. “When you cross the border of airplane mode, there is no turning back: no one will be able to locate you,” they point out. “Since people are so dependent, we will put it in a sealed bag that they will not be able to open for nine hours.” As we read in Zaragoza-Citythe capacity will be very limited in this first edition, of just 200 people and the organizations defend that it is not about giving up technology, but about realizing that we can not be constantly glued to the screens. Not so original. If you are unable to put your phone down for a second (which is not the user’s fault either because applications use sophisticated tactics to ‘tickle’ our brains and that are very addictive), is a good solution. However, you should know that Alcalá de Gurrea is not the only place where this is done. On April 18, Euskadi celebrated the first ‘Family Cell Phone Free Day’ which, basically, was the same: the cell phone was left in a safe and guarded bag to experience a fun day without screens. There is an association called EsMontañas that has also driven a similar initiative in almost 60 Alto Aragonese towns and there are private initiatives such as ‘Offline Club’ that organizes meetings of the style in some cities. Others do it out of obligation. The truth is that the absence of the sound of notifications and not having the phone at hand to pick it up, unlock it and look into space simply on impulse does not seem like a bad idea to ‘detoxify’ the device. Now, it is fine as long as it is voluntary and not an imposition. In Vadgaon, India, every day at 7:00 p.m. a siren sounds which urges citizens to turn off televisions and cell phones with the aim of recovering face-to-face dialogue. And Green Bank, a city in the United States, is a municipality without mobile phones by obligation. Due to the presence of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory implies a radio-silent zone in which mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices are very restricted. Curiously, this situation is a claim for people who want a life without smartphones. In Xataka | The science of “doomscrolling”: how technology hacked psychology so we can’t let go of our phones

You don’t need to buy ‘Flight Simulator’ to explore the world. Google Earth has just put it at our fingertips

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I have long been a fan of ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator‘. That is why I followed with special interest his arrival in PS5: I wanted to try it beyond the PC, not only because of the possibility of piloting an aircraft, but because of something that has always attracted me to the game: exploring landscapes, looking for frames and using the photo mode almost as a small tool to explore the world from the screen. And that fascination makes sense precisely because Microsoft has worked for years to make ‘Flight Simulator’ much more than an airplane game. The company speaks in ‘Flight Simulator 2024‘ of its most detailed recreation of planet Earth to date, with improved elevation maps, more than 500 cities recreated with 3D models based on irregular triangular networks and more than 100,000 square kilometers of rural photogrammetry. The novelty is that now there is a much lighter way to get closer to that experience without going through a full game or installing anything on your computer. Google Earth announced last Friday that his flight simulator It is now available for all users. Fly without installing anything, directly from the browser Google Earth is not trying to sell us a full-fledged flight simulator, and that works in its favor. On their help pageGoogle describes the feature as experimental, available only in Earth on the web, and geared toward a casual exploration experience. He also warns that the flight physics is simplified, so if what we are looking for is a simulation in its most demanding sense, this is certainly not it. But it may be interesting to try it, draw our own conclusions and discover another way of exploring the world in images. If you want to start trying it, the path is quite simple. You just have to open Google Earth on the webenter Explore the Earthdisplay the Tools menu and click on Flight Simulator. The option appears within the menu itself. In a matter of seconds you go from the traditional map to a flight view, with the interface ready to start moving over the terrain. Once inside, the management also focuses on the immediate. Google allows you to control the plane with the keyboard: Page up to accelerate, Page down to reduce thrust, the up and down arrows to change the altitude and the side arrows to tilt the aircraft. You can also turn mouse control on or off by clicking inside the simulation. And if things go wrong, which can go wrong pretty quickly at first, the option to start over after impact appears. The most attractive part is that Google Earth dynamically loads 3D buildings and high-resolution images while you fly. This allows us to turn a very simple function into a quite interesting visual experience, especially if we choose recognizable areas and we change the basemap to Satellite when necessary. However, Google also warns that flying at extreme speeds or with a slow connection can cause temporary delays in loading. There are, in addition, known problems in some areas of the field, so it is best to assume it for what it is: a light and still experimental function. Then there is the other option, of course: taking a real plane. In specific searches on services such as Skyscanner we have seen flights from Spain for less than 40 euros, always depending on route, date and availability. Looking at an image from the browser is not the same as looking out the window and seeing how the landscape changes under the clouds. But that is precisely why it makes sense to bring it here: we are talking about different experiences, different ways of moving, looking and playing with the idea of ​​traveling. The interesting thing about Google Earth is taking a tool that many of us have used for years to explore the planet and adding a simple playful layer to it, free and accessible from the browser. It doesn’t always take a complex simulation to spark that curiosity. Sometimes a small, well-placed function is enough to make us look at the map again and want to get lost for a while. Images | Screenshots In Xataka | After marathons and combats, humanoid robots already have their next challenge: climbing Everest

The trackpad on laptops is a real pain. So Logitech has invented the foldable mouse to put an end to it

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I have always thought that technology should be used to solve everyday problems, not to create artificial needs. And one of those small problems that I had in my daily life was not finding a mouse that could truly accompany my laptop without taking up space or being uncomfortable when carrying it. It turns out that Logitech has just solved this problem, knowing that many of us are fed up with trackpads. The pot. I am not from wallet easy, but when a product comes on the market whose purchase I don’t hesitate for a second, it’s usually for a reason. Logitech just released the Mobi Folda foldable and ultra-compact mouse. Specifically, we are talking about a mouse that, when folded, has a height of just over two centimeters and a length of six. Pretty crazy. When unfolded, it doubles its length, all while weighing just 79 grams. The tech. The Mobi Fold has simple specifications, with a sensor resolution of 4,000 DPI. In case it sounds Chinese to you, DPI (Dots per Inch) basically indicates the sensitivity of the mouse and the more the better. In fact, if we compare with high end mice of the brand, such as MX Master 3we have just half the DPI. What is it noticeable in? In that the greater the amount of DPI, the less we have to force our hand. What sets it apart. A mouse is a mouse. Or that’s what you think until programmable buttons are discovered. This is one of the main features of Logitech mice, and despite the ridiculous size of this Mobi Fold, two programmable touch buttons have been incorporated under the sliding surface. For example, as I write these lines I copy and paste links with the two programmable buttons on my mouse. But you could also take screenshots, open applications, or adjust any app or shortcut to these buttons. For what and for whom. In my particular case, I usually take my laptop out of the house a lot. Events, travel, working away from home… And carrying a bulky mouse like the MX Master 3 (or any other high-end mouse) is not a realistic option. This Mobi Fold completely solves this problem: if your office mouse is horrible and you want a small, programmable and quality one, this is an option. How long does this last?. Durability is one of the keys in any folding product. In the case of this mouse, 50,000 folds are promised. According to Logitech, if we folded and unfolded it eight times a day, it would last a whopping 15 years. In addition to this, the device is capable of detecting how much it is raised and when it is not so that, when closing it, we cannot make accidental presses. And yes, when you fold it it turns off by itself, so you don’t even have to keep an eye on the battery (which lasts 32 days according to Logitech). Price and availability. The Logitech Mobi Fold It can be purchased now for 79.99 euros, in the colors Lilac, White and Graphite. Image | Logitech In Xataka | Best gaming mice: which one to buy and 8 recommended models

Greece wanted to put AI to monitor traffic. The problem came when the fines had to be reviewed

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Putting cameras with artificial intelligence to monitor traffic sounds, on paper, like an almost inevitable solution: less paperwork, more speed and an administration capable of detecting violations without depending on an agent being in the right place. The problem appears when that promise comes down to the asphalt and what we have seen in Greece forces us to ask a much more difficult question for any automated system: what happens when the machine flags a possible infraction, but then someone has to check if it really existed. The problem. Ta Nea published a figure which forces us to look at the system from the inside, not only in terms of the fines that reach the driver. According to the Greek media, during the pilot phase the percentage of failures or incorrect registrations would have reached between 90% and 95%. The scale helps to understand the problem: of 5,500 records generated by the system, only 400 were validated as correct after review by the Greek Police. The remaining cases included 1,300 cases attributed to cell phone use and 3,800 due to speeding that were eventually discarded. The key. The Greek system provides for a long chain: cameras record a possible infringement, this information goes through validation by the competent authority and only then can it be broadcast and digitally notified to the citizen. That is why Ta Nea’s data is so relevant. It does not simply point to drivers who resort after receiving a sanction, but to a previous bottleneck: a huge amount of records that the system generates and that the Police have to review before considering them good. New violation management model. Greece has a pilot phase since the end of March the Digital Traffic Violations Certification System, designed to gradually replace handwritten fines with a digital registration and processing process. In this first stage, two main sources intervene: the cameras of the public transport company OSY in the bus lanes, aimed at traffic and parking violations, and the network of “smart” cameras linked to the Ministry of Digital Governance. Then comes another plane. Until May 30, 2026, according to Euronewsthe new mechanism had generated 2,453 digital fines, for which 420 allegations were presented, 17.12% of the total. Of those claims, 52 were accepted, equivalent to 2.11% of all fines issued. Most of the accepted cases were related to technical or procedural issues, such as time differences, difficult-to-read data or exceptions linked to seat belt use. The distinction. One thing is the records that the camera generates and that must then go through police review before becoming a valid sanction. Another thing is the fines that have already passed that filter, have been issued, have been notified to the citizen and can then be the subject of allegations. In other words: the system has a human review before the fine arrives, but that does not prevent some drivers from continuing to appeal sanctions that had already gone through that circuit. Conflict point. As explained by a transportation expert cited by Ta Nea, the failure would not be so much in external violations as in those that occur inside the vehicle. Running a red light or driving over the speed limit can be recorded more faithfully, while detecting whether someone is wearing a seatbelt or using a cell phone depends on much more variable factors. Shadows, colors, camera angles or objects such as a cigarette can alter the reading and turn a questionable image into an alleged infringement. Images | Greek Ministry of Digital Governance In Xataka | A German driver set out to discover how much he could stretch the tank of his old diesel car. And he has done 2,400 kilometers

The Kings League was born in 2023 to put an end to traditional football. Three years later he declared an ERE

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Gerard Piqué built a soccer league for the Twitch generation, and three years later he has cut 50% of his team, closed his leagues in France and Germany with no return date at the moment, and paralyzed the Spanish competition for six months. and the internet numbers and engagement on the internet they were not badbut that wasn’t the problem. The problem is that real football has other places where it reigns without rival. What has happened? Kings League workers published yesterday a statement in which they dismantled the version that the company had leaked to the press two days before starting the ERE negotiations. The company had spoken of a 30% cut in the workforce and the real figure, according to those affected themselves, is 41 layoffs out of 83 workers: almost 50%. At the same time, the French and German leagues are paralyzed with no expected return date, and the Spanish league stops its activity for six months to, in the words of the organization, “prepare the product for the future.” Kings League CEO Djamel Agaoua, incorporated in 2025, admits in the corporate statement that “money has been burned.” The simultaneous expansion to Brazil, Germany, Italy and the MENA region, managed from the offices in Spain, was economically unaffordable. Story of an ambition. The Kings League started on January 1, 2023 with digital audience figures that scared LaLiga. The first day reached an average of 300,000 people watching the matches between the league channel and the streamers on Twitch. They achieved a peak of 800,000 viewers only on the league’s main channel, data similar to the average of all LaLiga matches the previous season. Comparisons were published everywhere: it seemed that Piqué had found the crack in traditional football. Streamer world. Streamers like Ibai Llanos, TheGrefg or Guarnizo were presidents of the teams, and that turned each game into an extension of the entertainment that their communities already consumed. The format had gamified rules, random penalties, special cards. It was soccer 7, but designed for those who have been playing ‘FIFA’ for ten years. The numbers trick. However, Twitch’s numbers don’t exactly measure sustained following. In 2024 the drop compared to the first figures was evident: the decrease was 54% compared to the first months of the competition, with an average of 192,000 spectators at the beginning of that season. That year’s final reached only 258,000 people on average with a peak of 425,000. In the first months of 2023, the same competition had accumulated more than two million viewers at its maximum peak, adding the official channel plus those of each streamer-president. By then, the Kings League had bought into its own narrative, and oversupply compounded the problem. The first split, the second split, the Queens League, the Prince Cup, the Kings Cup, the Queen’s Cup and the Kingdom Cup suffocated the product, and each new tournament diluted attention rather than focused it. One round. In February 2026, with audiences already declining, the Kings League closed an investment round for 53 million euros. The round was led by the American fund Alignment Growth, with the stated objective of expanding the competition globally, with the United States as a goal. With this operation, the Kings League accumulated more than 160 million dollars in total financing since its launch. Four months later the ERE has arrived, and the workers are pointing in that direction: the company has just raised 63 million euros and the savings that justifies dismissing almost half of the workforce is just over two million. A martyrdom The workers’ statement also describes the work culture that prevailed in the company: three years of seven-day weeks, averages of ten hours a day, and overtime systematically above the legal limit of 80 hours per year established by the Workers’ Statute, in most cases without financial compensation or rest. On June 8, the CEO congratulated the entire team on the success of the Queens League final and two days later, the ERE was in the media. Had he left? The question, then, is whether the Kings League has ever had the possibility of competing with football. We have a precedent in American football: in 2001, Vince McMahon and NBC they launched the XFL with the aim of becoming the entertaining alternative to the NFL, with fewer penalties and a format with elements of reality show. The first broadcast achieved 54 million viewers, but by the following week the audience had fallen by 50%, with a continuous decline until the closure after a single season. Apparently, viewers were not interested in a hybrid between sport and wrestling spectacle. Unbeatable football. Spanish football has fans in third regional teams that fill stands with 800 people every weekend. This link does not arise from the product being entertaining, but rather from the fact that it is part of the local identity and, in many cases, family or territorial traditions. A child who grows up watching Rayo Vallecano or Villarreal with his father does not give the same identification value to a streamer. Even though he has a million followers. Football accumulates emotional capital for decades and the Kings League had to build it from scratch. And now? There are some pending issues: the Kings World Cup Clubs in Italy will be held in July 2026, and we will try to move forward with those who are still in the company. Piqué, in turn, publicly tested after the Queens League final the possibility of compressing the entire competition into a format of a few days. That is, a possible solution is to lower the ambition. Maybe it would have been a good exit idea. In Xataka | The Kings League has debuted on traditional television. It has had less audience than a La 2 documentary

In Asia they haven’t put ice in the water during meals for centuries. Digestive physiology just explained why they were right

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The other day a friend told me about a peculiarity she observed during a recent trip to China: the glass of ice water on the table is almost a rarity. Instead you’ll find a pot of green tea, a bowl of broth, or just nothing cold. For centuries, in much of Asia, drinking cold liquid during a meal has been an eccentricity more typical of the West than there. What for a long time seemed like a quaint custom, or directly a matter of infrastructure—ice was not always available everywhere—turns out to have a pretty solid physiological explanation. The temperature of the water we drink while we eat is not a minor detail. It affects the movements of the stomach, the rate at which it empties, and how the muscles of the digestive system behave. And science, although with important nuances, is beginning to agree with what millions of people in Asia have been practicing for millennia. Before getting into the physiology, we must understand how this debate has reached the West. It has not been through a medical congress or a scientific journal. It has arrived, like so many other things, through TikTok. The phenomenon is known as chinamaxxing either Becoming Chinese: a viral trend in which thousands of Western people adopt lifestyle habits from Chinese culture, including drinking hot water. According to documents The New York Timeshot water has become “the new superstar of online well-being”, with influencers documenting how this habit deflates them, gives them energy and improves their digestion. But what the Internet presents as a revolutionary discovery is nothing new. This practice has been rooted for thousands of years. in Indian Ayurveda—where the morning ritual of drinking hot water is known as usha paana— and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where cold is believed to “turn off the agni“, the digestive fire, and weakens the vital energy or Qiforcing the body to expend extra energy to warm the stomach. Hot water, on the other hand, balances the Yin and the Yang and keeps the body calm. Just because something is part of an ancient tradition does not automatically make it scientific truth, of course. But it doesn’t disqualify him either. The question is what exactly science says when it begins to analyze what happens in the stomach according to the temperature of what we drink. What really happens in the stomach? To understand the debate, we must separate two things that are often confused: the effect of drinking water during a meal and the effect of the temperature of that water. They are different questions with different answers. On the one hand, regarding water itself, there is a widespread belief that drinking water during meals dilutes gastric juices and digestive enzymes, slowing down digestion. Medical portals such as HealthLine They explain that there is no solid scientific evidence that water dilutes gastric juices or significantly hinders digestion. The stomach has a dynamic regulatory system that detects changes in pH and automatically secretes more hydrochloric acid to compensate. Drinking a glass of water during a meal hardly alters that balance. Marina Domene, head of nutrition at SHA Spain nuances in Vogue Where is the real limit: the problem is not drinking water, but excesses. “What is not recommended is drinking excessive amounts, more than two or three large glasses, as it could distend the stomach too much and temporarily dilute the enzymes,” he explains. It also points out that there are specific contexts where it is advisable to be more careful: in people who suffer from hypochlorhydria – low production of stomach acid – it is not recommended to consume liquids during meals. On the other hand, regarding temperature the panorama changes and this is where physiology begins to agree with Asia. The temperature of the liquids directly affects gastric motility, that is, the muscle movements of the stomach that drive digestion. Domene explains it clearly: “Cold drinks can slightly slow down gastric emptying and constrict the blood vessels of the stomach, which in sensitive people can be heavy. Hot liquids, such as broths or infusions, have a relaxing effect on the smooth muscles of the stomach.” This is not just a clinical opinion. There are studies that support this, such as research on the effect of temperature on gastric emptying have observed that very cold drinks, around 2-5 °C, can temporarily slow down the initial phase of gastric emptying compared to liquids at body temperature. Drinks at 4°C also disrupt antral and pyloric contractions, briefly retaining stomach contents. An experiment with 11 young men who consumed 500 ml of water at different temperatures found that water at 2 °C reduced the frequency of gastric contractions compared to water at 60 °C, and that lower muscle activity was related to lower subsequent caloric intake. The sample sizes of these studies are modest—it should be said—but their results consistently point in the same direction. A study published in Gastroenterology Nursingfocused on patients who had recently undergone colon surgery, observed that the consumption of hot water had a positive impact on subsequent bowel movements. It is not a study designed for healthy people, but it adds evidence about the role of temperature in intestinal motility. Gastroenterologist Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, consulted by The New York Timesdescribes it more graphically: during the night, the digestive system slows down. Hot water generates waves of contraction and relaxation in the muscles of the esophagus, stomach and intestines. “It’s basically telling everyone, ‘Okay, get up. We’ve got to get going,’” he explains. Why did they take that path and not another? The physiological explanation that science offers today connects quite well with what traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda have been saying for centuries, although in completely different languages. In China, Japan and much of Southeast Asia, It is common to accompany meals with hot tea or soup. It is not a fad or a recent trend: it is part of the structure of food. The broth does not close the menu, it accompanies … Read more

Uber is going to put robotaxis in Madrid this year. The DGT’s response: we’ll see

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Robotaxis will arrive in Madrid before the end of the year. That is the headline you can read in the vast majority of media outlets. This is what Uber has made known, that has published the advertisement on your own website. There’s just one small problem: very few things are clear. The advertisement. With a press release that you can read on their own website. This is how Uber has announced that its robotaxis, in collaboration with WeRide and Avomo, will arrive in Madrid. In their press release they talk about collaboration with the regional government and the intention to launch the service before the end of the year. And little else. The information provided by the company about the project is, basically, that. It is barely mentioned that this is a pilot project and that they are willing to add “hundreds of robotaxis” as “key performance milestones are met” to “expand the commercial driverless taxi service to all urban areas.” many doubts. However, in the information that has been published there are many doubts that remain unresolved. In Xataka We have contacted Uber and WeRide but as of this writing we have not received answers to the following questions: How many cars will be available in the first phase? Will it be a service open to the entire city or will it be limited to specific neighborhoods in Madrid? Do Uber and WeRide already have permission to operate cars without a person on board? Will anyone be able to request a driverless vehicle to reach their destination? What the DGT says. The one who has answered our questions is the DGT. The organization assures us that they have no evidence that Uber or any other company associated with this project has requested permission to carry out tests of autonomous driverless cars. They also emphasize that, at this time, the companies in charge can only operate in “Test Mode” and, of course, “as long as they have been authorized to do so.” The latter, according to the DGT, has not occurred. What are the deadlines approved by the DGT? In its statement, Uber only mentions driverless vehicles but the DGT It refers us to the phases already approved to be able to carry out this type of tests. In these phases the most important points are the following: Controlled phase: no more than three autonomous cars and always with a safety operator behind the wheel. Extensive phase: no more than 10 vehicles and always with an operator behind the wheel. Pre-deployment phase: the limit of 10 vehicles is eliminated and the operator behind the wheel is optional but always has to supervise a remote operator. Right now, the only company that is in the “pre-deployment” phase is Tesla that is carrying out the tests of their FSD with 30 vehicles and have freedom of movement throughout the national territory. In collaboration with the Community of Madrid. In the text published by Uber it is mentioned that the arrival of the robotaxis to Madrid will be carried out “in collaboration with the Government of the Community of Madrid.” In Xataka We have tried to contact this party but have not received a response either. And, let’s talk about roads of regional or municipal ownership, the DGT has to give the go-ahead to be able to carry out this type of tests on Spanish soil. At first, from Expansion It was pointed out that two other municipalities, in addition to Madrid, would join the arrival of the aforementioned robotaxis and that companies such as Cabify or Bolt have also shown interest. At the moment, there is no more news on this. Europe. While in the United States and China the use of robotaxis is beginning to be normalized, Europe continues to be a forbidden field for them. Tesla has been pushing for some time your FSD is approvedpublishing videos collected in their tests in spaces as complicated to manage as Paris, Rome… or Madrid. The other test that had caught attention is the pilot project that is taking place in Zagrev (Croatia). There, 10 Arcfox Alpha T5 cars from the Chinese manufacturer BAIC offer commercial driverless taxi services, powered by the Chinese artificial intelligence company Pony.AI. Beyond. In China, as we say, the use of robotaxis is beginning to be widespread. Baidu’s Apollo Go, WeRide and Pony.AI have driverless vehicles that offer commercial services in cities such as Wuhan, Beijing, Shenzhen or Shanghai. However, the Chinese government itself is slowing down the arrival of automation in private passenger cars, especially after accidents involving some cars that had driving assistance functions active. In the United States, San Francisco and Texas or Los Angeles are the big places where autonomous taxis are tested. However, as the DGT suggests, the tests there began with humans at the wheel. And in some cases the service is limited in space and does not reach the entire city. Some doubts. The robotaxis service is one of the sectors that has moved and leveraged the most money in recent years. Also the one who has frustrated the most promises and money has burned. Billions of euros later and after a decade of intensive developmentits availability remains exceptional. Furthermore, robotaxis continue to generate doubts in the user. Transversal doubts from the moral dilemma to the purely practical debate. And in cities like San Francisco, the service is seen by many as an enemy not only for its ability to eliminate human jobs, but also for the problems that arise on a daily basis in case of facing an unforeseen event or, simply, if a blackout occurs. And in China they have also verified What happens when a system failure occurs and a hundred robotaxis are frozen in the middle of traffic. Some, frozen in the middle of a road with traffic on both sides. Photo | Jordi Moncasi and Uber In Xataka | Waymo’s self-driving cars have started honking at each other. At 4 in the morning

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