puts

The new law puts an end to one of the last tobacco subterfuges in Spain

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Some customs survive by pure inertia. In Spain, one of them consists of going out to a terrace, ordering a beer and assuming that someone, sooner or later, will light a cigarette half a meter from your table. It doesn’t matter that you are eating, that there is a baby carriage and a mother breastfeeding. It doesn’t matter if the smoke reaches you before the waiter does. So far: the Council of Ministers has given the green light to the project of the largest anti-smoking reform since the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in 2011. To exemplify the power and scope of this measure: in Madrid alone more than 6,300 bars, almost 64,000 tables and more than 200,000 chairs on terraces. That’s a lot of money. The terrace will no longer be a shared ashtray. The most visible measure affects one of the great symbols of Spanish hospitality: the terraces. When the law comes into force after its parliamentary processing, smoking will not be allowed on the terraces of bars and restaurants. Nor vaping. The Government equates e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches with conventional tobacco in most restrictions. The Ministry of Health survey said, STUDIES 2025that the prevalence of daily smokers among adolescents was registering all-time lowssince counting began in 1994. However, it seems that the problem lies more in a distortion of the samples. The danger of vaping. The Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFyc) warned, however, that the problem, rather than disappearing, has moved: 90.5% of underage smokers use both vapers and conventional cigarettes. Many young people, in fact, They do not smoke other cigarettes that are not electronicmore in line with other lifestyles and appearances cleaner and more modern. An alternative, clearly, defective. Although the legislation protected the interior of the premises but left a huge legal vacuum in the exterior spaces, this has now ended, understanding that a risk exists and persists, especially for children, pregnant women and hospitality workers who spend full days breathing that environment. Now the inn will have to face this new reality which leaves the local smoker without margin and equates it with that of Sweden, the only country in the EU where smoking is prohibited in public spaces. Tobacco also disappears from campus. The reform promoted by Minister Mónica García seeks to expand smoke-free spaces to marquees, music festivals, and outdoor or non-open-air events (in addition to theaters, cinemas, and any closed venue) and, for the first time, expressly prohibits smoking by minors. It is a cultural change. And there is more: the text, which modifies Law 28/2005, also adds as cigarette-free spaces the beaches, both sea and river, sports centers and public swimming pools, the network of National Parks and the work vehicle itself, as long as you are on professional duty. Denormalize tobacco consumption. Or so the norm says: that smoking stops being part of the daily landscape. Yeah you see smokingit is more likely that you end up smoking. Because if a teenager spends his entire life watching smoking on terraces, at concerts, at universities or in swimming pools, he ends up perceiving it as normal behavior. Reducing this presence also reduces the social attractiveness of cigarettes, according to the scientific evidence supported by the Ministry. “The reality of smoking has changed and this reform pursues a very clear objective: moving towards a tobacco-free generation,” said the Minister of Health, Mónica García. And the data seems to support his claim. The big news: the minors. Until now, the law prevented the sale of tobacco to minors. Now it also prohibits them from consuming it. It may seem like a semantic difference, but it has important legal consequences. The text incorporates an express prohibition on smoking, vaping or using nicotine pouches as a minor. The sanctions will fall on those legally responsible when appropriate and seek to reinforce the preventive message rather than collection. Of course, the reform modifies the sanctioning regime and establishes fines from 200 euros for these infractions. In the case of minors, the financial responsibility will fall on the parents or legal guardians, as always. But the project also foresees that this economic sanction can be replaced by work for the benefit of the community, with a clear educational and preventive focus, similar to what already exists in other regulations aimed at minors. Images | Pexels (Eyüpcan Timur, Helena Lopes) In Xataka | Experts agree: “Regular physical exercise makes the difference in quitting smoking” IN Xataka | It’s never too late to quit smoking: the lungs have an incredible capacity to regenerate

Google puts a death date on the Android we knew. The developers are clear that your phone is about to stop being yours

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In August of last year, Google announced one of the most controversial maneuvers from the history of Android: completely changing the DNA of your operating system. This means that, in the future, any app you want to install on your Android device, wherever it comes from, must be signed by a verified developer. Now we know the implications of this a little better and there is a group that is not happy: app developers. In short. With the objective, according to Google, of strengthening the security of ecosystems and in full trial against Epic for the antitrust case which led Android to open up to third-party stores, the company announced a series of measures to make its system and users safer. In essence, there are critics pointing out that what they really want is more control, but basically what Google is going to start asking for is that developers identify themselves if they want their app to be downloaded. We are not talking about an ID to publish in the Play Store, but in any Android store. According to the company, they will begin by verifying the installations from the following stores: Google (Google Play) Honor (HONOR App Market) OPlus (OPPO App Market) Samsung (Galaxy Store) Transsión (Palm Store) Vivo (V-Appstore) Xiaomi (GetApps) The justification of malware. Google defends the decision in order to strengthen the security of ecosystems and “prevent malicious actors from hiding behind anonymity to launch harmful applications.” In fact, when they took the measure they pointed out that they have detected 50 times more malware in apps downloaded outside the Play Store than in their store. According to the company, it is the beginning of a deployment that will be an industry-wide effort, but will contribute to creating a safer ecosystem. And, if the question is how they will do it, developers will have access to a new ‘Android Developer Console’ that will be mandatory and in which they will have to provide legal name, address, email and telephone number. Additionally, organizations will need a corporate website and a DUNS number (like a business ID). Very sensitive data, but which Google promises not to show to anyone but themselves. As if leaks of this kind of thing didn’t exist, wow… The airport metaphor. In the message from a year ago, Google compared this measure to airport procedures in which travelers renounce rights in order to gain security. “Think of this as an identity check at the airport, which confirms a traveler’s identity, but separates it from the security screening of the bags,” Google commented. “We will confirm who the developer is, but we will not review the content of their application or where it came from,” they said. Calendar. That said, the wheel keeps turning for Google and in the post blog of developers have better detailed the calendar: June 2026– A new developer authentication service will be installed on most Android devices. July 2026– The Developer ID Status API will be launched globally, as well as an account type designed for students and hobbyists to share their apps with up to 20 devices without a country-issued ID, coming in early access. August 2026– July early access will be consolidated, but they will also launch an “advanced flow” system for installing apps from unverified developers that will include security checkpoints to resist coercive scams. They assure that it is the method so that advanced users continue to be able to download apps from unverified developers. September 30, 2026: the big stuff begins. App registration will be required for participating stores in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Unregistered apps can be downloaded with Android Debug Bridge or advanced flow. 2027: After receiving feedback from everyone and the first tests in those countries mentioned, they will expand the program worldwide. Worry. How it will affect us users remains to be seen. Google comments that the majority of developers in the Play Store are already verified and more than 99% of their apps have been registered. Those who distribute outside of Google Play can register from the android developer console and the students have this access to prepare (in case you are interested). On Reddit, developers have shown concern due to the need to show a national identification, arguing that Google is not an airport or an official institution, but reactions have also been seen positive arguing that anything that involves preventing coercive scam apps (an important group of apps that Google wants to eliminate with these practices) is fine. The head of Android himself already commented in August of last year that It is a fundamental feature for Androidwhich is not going away and they simply want to protect users from malicious developers, not limit user options. The problem is that it is not so clear what is going to happen with all those apps that are distributed via APK, which do not have to be malware or piracy and that, certain users who have chosen Android, did so precisely when the system was opened. and reaction. As points out my colleague Iván in Xataka Móvilthe developers have not sat idly by. Despite Google’s pro-security arguments, they see this move as something that simply wants to give them more control over the system and its developers. That is why campaigns such as ‘Keep Android Open’ have emerged, bringing together signatories from around twenty countries, including heavyweights such as EFF, the Free Software Foundation, the Tor Project, Proton, KDE, LineageOS and Nextcloud. The argument is the following: “You, the consumer, bought your Android device trusting Google’s promise: an open computing platform on which you could run any software you wanted. However, starting in September 2026, Google will implement, without your consent, an update to its operating system that will permanently block this right and leave you at the mercy of Google’s discretion about which software you are allowed to trust. In Xataka | “The biggest mistake of all time”: Bill Gates let slip 400 billion when Microsoft didn’t … Read more

Fernando Sáenz, one of the best ice cream makers in the world, puts the dots over the i’s, “Mercadona has modified the palate of the Spanish people”

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A few days ago, Fernando Sáenz, one of the best ice cream makers in Spain (and, quite possibly, the world) gave an interview that left everyone confused. It’s not just that Mercadona “has its clientele totally dedicated,” it’s that they have “modified the palate of the Spanish.” Coming from an ice cream maker famous for its strange gourmet flavors like ‘fig shade’, one might think this is a typical “elitist chef vs. super normie” outburst. And it is possible, yes; but what if it’s true? Can a single chain shape what a country eats? Who Fernando Saenz? An ice cream authority: the head behind sellaSera, in Logroño and one of the key suppliers of the best elite restaurants in the country (from Mugaritz to El Celler de Can Roca through Quique Dacosta or Eneko Atxa). Best Pastry Chef in Spain from the Royal Academy of Gastronomy, Best Sweet Space in Madrid Fusion and Prix ​​Chef Pâtissier 2025 of the International Academy of Gastronomy. In other words, not only is he someone who knows the world of ice cream deeply, he is someone who thinks about it deeply. Therefore, such a harsh statement is worth examining. Because Mercadona has a lot of power. After all, almost one euro out of every three spent in supermarkets she takes it. Not only that, between 2018 and 2023, the manufacturer brand references on their shelves fell 45%. Increasingly, Mercadona is judge and party in what is sold or not: its size allows it to do something that almost no competitor achieves and that is to convert each assortment decision into a change in habits on a national scale. And how does that change the “taste” of an entire country? It doesn’t just happen with ice cream, of course. But the sustained strategy of “short assortment and dominated by own brand” reduces the number of flavors, formats and recipes to which the regular buyer ends up being exposed. It’s not so much that ‘taste’ gets worse, as that the frame of reference becomes narrower and more homogeneous. In fact, some experts such as Howard Moskowitz talks about “hijacked palate” due to industrial dynamics. Can’t we do anything? We are trying to do it, in fact. In recent years the National Reformulation Plan has managed to reduce sugar, salt and saturated fat in most packaging categories, according to a study from the CEU San Pablo University; and Mercadona has reformulated its own products downwards. Ironically, Saénz puts his finger on the sore spot because one of the few categories where reformulation has not yet worked is ice cream. A palate at two speeds. The reduction in assortments is causing the industry to begin to concentrate on two levels: large stores and specialty stores. The “middle class” is dead and the problem may come in the long term: a generation raised on a narrow menu sets expectations that are difficult to move. Image | Fernando Saenz | DAP In Xataka | Spain’s favorite ice creams are from Mercadona and have no “brand”. And there is a Valencian company making gold with them

The EU puts an end to some of the most desperate airline practices. The fact that the carry-on suitcase is free is really not one of them.

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Thirteen years after the European Commission opened the reform process, the European Parliament and the EU Council They have closed a political agreement to give a twist to the issue of the rights that passengers have when getting on a plane. The current rule dated back to 2004. At that time, Ryanair transported about 23 million travelers a year. Today it moves more than 180 million. The world has changed a lot since then, and regulation will have to too. We tell you all the details. Why has it taken so long? The European Commission launched the reform proposal in 2013. The European Parliament positioned itself relatively earlybut the Council, where the national governments are, blocked the file for almost a decade. There were several discrepancies, including delay thresholds for compensation, which some states wanted to raise; the issue of regulatory burden on the plane, and more. What has ended up unblocking the process has been in part the calendar. And in July the presidency of the EU Council changes hands to Ireland, which is precisely the headquarters of Ryanair. And so, according to sources cited by El Mundowould have complicated the negotiations even more. What changes for the passenger. The agreement introduce several measures Important for those who buy a plane ticket in Europe: Carry-on suitcase in the base rate. Airlines must show from the first moment of purchase a price that includes the transportation of a trolley-type cabin suitcase (up to 7 kg and maximum dimensions of 100 cm in total). This measure is the one that most affects the low-cost business model, which For years they have started from the lowest price and then add extras. Now the starting point will include the luggage. And those who do not want to take it can opt for a reduced rate. Always free personal item. The right to board the plane with a small piece of luggage (a backpack or bag of up to 40x30x15 cm that fits under the front seat) will be guaranteed at no additional cost, regardless of the contracted rate. Families and people with reduced mobility, together without paying more. Airlines will not be able to charge for ensuring that minors under 14 years of age travel seated with an adult companion. The same applies to people with disabilities or reduced mobility and pregnant women. End of some lower rates. Charges for correcting spelling errors in the name on the ticket or for printing the boarding pass disappear if the passenger has already checked-in. Delay compensation, unchanged. This has been the other major front of the negotiation. The threshold of three hours of delay to be entitled to compensation remains intact. The amounts too, paying 250 euros for flights of up to 1,500 km, 400 euros for journeys between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and 600 euros for the rest. What’s wrong with the suitcase?. Regulation around cabin baggage has been a constant tug-of-war for years. The European Parliament came to the negotiations asking for carry-on luggage to be included in the ticket free of charge and universally. It has not completely succeeded, since airlines will be able to continue charging for this service, but they must reflect its cost and make it visible from the beginning of the purchase process. Javier Gándara, spokesperson for the Association of Airlines (ALA), which brings together companies such as Iberia, Vueling, Ryanair and easyJet, account to El Mundo that the standard “does not respond to current needs and goes against consumer philosophy in recent years.” How airlines read it. The ALA employers’ association celebrates that Europe has recognized that “it is perfectly legal to offer a cheaper fare to those passengers who only carry a carry-on bag”, something that indirectly validates this business model against the sanctions imposed by the Government in Spain. But they criticize that forcing the cost of the suitcase to be included from the first price shown “distorts the principle of consumer choice” and can lead to many travelers “ending up paying for a service that they do not need.” For companies like Ryanair, services not included in the ticket generate more than 4,000 million euros annual in revenue, so it seems more or less inevitable that the airline will end up raising the cost of its base fare. And Spain?. The country has voted against the agreement in the Council, along with Latvia. Finland and Austria abstained. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, led by Pablo Bustinduy, continues to maintain that the fact that hand luggage is free is a right already recognized by the Spanish courts and by a ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU, and that this criterion was what it was based on. that fine of 179 million euros imposed in 2024 on five low-cost airlines. Brussels, however, opened infringement proceedings against Spain for these sanctions. The new agreement does not resolve that conflict. And it is that the Ministry considers it insufficient because it has not really managed to force the airlines to include the cabin bag in their lowest fare, and the airlines now have a guarantee to strengthen their position. What remains pending. The political agreement must be formally ratified by the plenary session of the European Parliament, whose vote is scheduled for July. Once adopted and published in the Official Journal of the EU, the new rights will come into force twelve months later, expected in 2027. The Commission has also committed to assessing in three years whether the scope of the regulation can be extended to third country operators flying to the EU. Cover image | Suhyeon Choi In Xataka | The fastest civil aircraft since Concorde has just set its first record. Speed ​​is only part of the story

NASA puts astronauts from the International Space Station on evacuation alert

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It could have been just another day of work aboard the International Space Station, but the situation has taken a delicate turn. NASA has put in evacuation alert to several astronauts after an air leak in the Russian part of the orbital laboratory worsened, prompting the agency to order them to take precautionary shelter in a docked spacecraft. The order came from NASA mission control at 9:04 a.m., East Coast time of the United States (3:04 p.m. Spanish peninsular time). Several crew members were instructed to enter the ship SpaceX Crew Dragon and put on their corresponding space suits in case the situation led to an emergency evacuation. There are currently seven crew members on the ISS, but the preventive measure does not affect all of them. Bethany Stevens, of the NASA communications team, explains that The order reaches Americans Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, from NASA; to the French Sophie Adenot, from the European Space Agency, and to the Russian Andrey Fedyaev, from Roscosmos. The leak is located in a very specific area of ​​the Russian segment: the Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK. According to Stevens, that part of the station has been showing cracks and leaks for some time, an issue that NASA has closely monitored and that Roscosmos has tried to contain until now with operational measures and partial repairs. In development. Images | POT In Xataka | Western scientists have been debating the origin of Kamo’oalewa for years. China went looking for him

The measles outbreak is close to 8,500 cases and puts the health status of the country in check

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Measles has ceased to be a latent threat and has become a worrying statistical reality in Mexicoas the latest consolidated data from February 2026 have pointed out. These leave no doubt that the country is going through its most complex outbreak in decades, accumulating 8,459 confirmed cases since the start of the crisis in 2025. It’s already worrying. The situation has escalated to such a point that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has issued a clear warning: If the chain of transmission is not cut in the coming weeks, Mexico could lose its status as a measles-free country. X-ray of the outbreak. The figures are compelling and draw a map of active transmission in the 32 states of the republic. Although the problem is national, the intensity is not homogeneous, since there are points where positive cases are much more evident. This is something that can be seen in the reports of the Ministry of Health (SSA) of Mexico, which indicates that so far in 2026, 2,143 cases have been reported. But the current epicenter is in Jaliscowhich is where 1,245 cases have been concentrated, representing almost 60% of the reports this entire year. Historical accumulated. Since February 2025, the state of Chihuahua leads the accumulated total with more than 4,400 cases, now followed by the rebound in the west of the country. But the most tragic thing is undoubtedly the human losses, since they have already been confirmed 27 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in February 2025, with two recent deaths recorded in Tlaxcala and Michoacán This is in addition to the fact that the most vulnerable population is the youngest children, who are between one and four years old. Something that also makes it act as the perfect vector to infect the older population and those at greater risk of suffering from a more serious disease. The root of the problem. Experts point out that it is necessary to have a herd immunity to be able to apply containment to this serious health problem. And for such a contagious virus, at least 95% of the population is required to be vaccinated, something very similar to what was noted in the Covid pandemic in our environment. And the problem is precisely in low vaccination coverage that exists in these regions, causing many to not reach this percentage. And, despite the fact that the SSA reports the application of more than 11.8 million vaccinesthe spread of the virus suggests that there are still susceptible population groups, especially those where there are a greater number of cases right now. Use of face masks. As already happened in the COVID pandemic, there are some states such as Jalisco or Nuevo León that are evaluating the use of masks or face coveringsespecially in closed spaces and with a large influx of people. This is a simple containment barrier to prevent spread while the population finishes its vaccination schedule. The ultimatum. On the technical side, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched an extension until April to evaluate whether Mexico has achieved endemic transmission of this virus. This is something that is achieved when there is no continuous circulation of the virus in a territory for 12 months. Mexico has been fighting this outbreak since February 2025, and if transmission continues uninterrupted beyond the calendar year, measles will once again be considered endemic (typical of the region) and not an imported case. In addition to this, PAHO has confirmed that Mexico currently accounts for 71% of the cases on the entire American continent, a figure that forces health authorities to rethink the containment strategy to prevent its spread to the rest of the neighboring countries. What’s coming The next PAHO meeting in April will be critical in this regard. The decision that Mexico lose “measles-free” status It is not just a diplomatic label, but it implies greater costs in epidemiological surveillance, potential barriers in tourism and the confirmation of a major setback in the country’s public health status. Intensive campaigns are underway, but with the virus present in all states and active community transmission, the Mexican health system faces its most important test of the post-COVID era. A global problem. Although the news focuses on the many cases in Mexico in this case, the reality is that In other parts of the planet cases have also increased. One of the clearest examples is in the United States, where the CDC has raised alarm bells after observing how cases are multiplying in a matter of months. In Spain Official data also indicate that, while in 2023 only 14 cases were recorded, in 2024 they increased to 229 cases and in 2025 the forecast points to almost 400. Images | NIH Ed Us In Xataka | The myth of 37º: it is increasingly clear to us that there is no “normal” body temperature

who puts the most data centers into orbit

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He map of world data centers It shows that there is no decentralized internet and that they are proliferating like mushrooms. In fact, planet Earth has fallen short and big tech companies already have their eyes set on the sky to plant a data center in space due to issues such as energy demand, environmental impact and, why not say it, to avoid regulation. The “panacea” of space. Faced with the threat of energy consumption similar to that of Japan in 2030according to data from the International Energy Agency or the brutal density of Data center Alley in Loudonin northern Virginia, with nearly 250 operational facilities, space envisions the possibilities of having satellites equipped with solar panels that capture energy directly from the sun, thermal dissipation in space and the absence of terrain limitations. There’s less left. For it to be viable, it takes at least a decade, as esteem University of Central Florida research professor and former NASA member Phil Metzger. However, it is one thing for the bills to work out economically and another for technologically having to wait so long. According to Josep Jornetprofessor of computer and electrical engineering at Northeastern University and satellite researcher, in just a couple of years we will begin to see evidence. And he is clear: space is the next frontier to conquer: “There was a gold rush in the West. Now there is a space race and everyone wants to place their technology in space.” Money galore. The Catalan scientist is clear that companies have incentives to move quickly and invest to get ahead to dominate the AI ​​race in general and space in particular: “Everyone wants to say they have the first platform to reach this milestone (…)So companies are spending money like there is no tomorrow.” However, Google, SpaceX and Blue Origin they are already working in developing technologies for this purpose and they are not the only ones: SpaceX. At the end of the year the Wall Street Journal uncovered Elon Musk’s company’s plan to realize data centers in space. Its CEO explained in a tweet how he would do it: “It will be enough to scale the Starlink V3 satellites, which have high-speed laser links.” More specifically, they are working on modifying and improving their rockets to make them capable of hosting computing loads for AI. Blue Origin. The American media also put on the table Jeff Bezos’ project, which at the time revealed at the Italian Tech Week that it’s a matter of time before we see “giant training clusters” of AI in orbit in the next 10 to 20 years. The company has a team dedicated to developing the technology required for centers in space. Google. Last November the Mountain View company speak of their experimental project Project Suncatcher: in 2027 and with the collaboration of Planet Labs they will launch two test satellites with their own AI processing chips. Others. There are other smaller corporations working in this area. The most notable is StarCloud, a startup backed by NVIDIA that a few weeks ago launched a satellite with an NVDIA H100. This GPU is used to run a version GemmaGoogle’s open language model. You need energy (and knowing how to use it). Although the foundations have already been laid, the road is not exactly downhill. Jornet details that one of the big obstacles will be having enough energy for these orbital data centers to function: “The Sun can be a great source of energy, but to properly harness it, orbiting data centers would need huge solar panels kilometers long or a constellation of smaller panels that could number in the tens of thousands.” Life in space is hard. There are more melons to open, such as how AI chips will withstand harmful space radiation, as well as heat dissipation and cooling. On Earth thousands of liters of water are used. In space there is no such option and although temperatures are low, there is no air to cool the chips naturally. The bill to the Earth. Even ignoring the environmental impact in space, it also leaves its mark on Earth. At least, in the short term: rocket launches not only consume fossil fuels, but also damage ecosystems and animals in the environment, as happens at Cape Canaveralwhich now hosts about 80 launches a year. In Xataka | The real reason why Musk, Bezos and Pichai want to build data centers in space: bypass regulation In Xataka | The problem with data centers is not that they are running out of water or energy: it is that they are running out of copper Cover | Pixabay

AI steps on the accelerator while everyone else puts on the brakes

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AI is not only turning the economy upside down, politics and, in general to society. But it is also generating a salary gap between those technological profiles oriented to their development and implementation of AI and those who simply contribute to maintaining current technologies. At least that is one of the clearest conclusions drawn from the Salary Guide 2026which produces the technological employment portal every year Manfred, prepared with data from more than 120,000 profiles in its database, which, this year, has also been reinforced with data from the salary platform prosfy. Manfred’s guide shows that there are positions that have appreciated strongly, while others have lost traction and some have stagnated. Profiles on the rise: AI drives the market The big winners, without a doubt, are those roles linked to data, infrastructure and deployment of AI models, as well as their integration into the operations of companies. He AI engineer already starting from a median salary of 52,250 euros per year for a profile with between five and ten years of experience, with the 75th percentile close to 68,500 euros. This is a key hybrid profile in the deployment of AI as it navigates between the backend, MLOps and artificial intelligence, being very scarce and demanded by companies. For seniors with more than ten years of experience, the salary range is between 71,000 and 90,000 euros. He Data Scientist It has been the profile that has been most revalued since the popularization of AI. Their median salary reaches 55,400 euros, and the most experienced professionals easily exceed 70,000 euros. The shortage of specialists in AI models and architectures explains this jump towards 2026. Even higher up appears the MLOps Engineer (Machine Learning Operations), a key figure in bringing AI models to production. Their median salary is 60,125 euros and the 75th percentile is 80,000 euros. It is one of the most coveted profiles in large companies that seek to take the models they have been training in laboratories to production. In parallel to these profiles elevated by AIthe salary grows in profiles related to the structure for AI. For example, the profile of data engineer has increased its median salary by nearly 10,000 euros in recent years, already marking a median salary of 52,720 euros, with seniors above 65,500. Likewise, the roles of Data architect They already move at a median of 67,455 euros, exceeding 85,000 euros in the highest percentiles and with more than 10 years of experience. Advanced infrastructure profiles are also revalued, with the role of SRE/DevOps (Site Reliability Engineering and Development Operations) marking a median salary of 58,500 euros. As highlighted by Manfred, this profile is one of the most demanded by companies, but only a small number of senior professionals meet the requirements, which explains why their salary almost triples between those who have less than two years of experience and those who accumulate more than 10. Profiles that lose weight: less demand, less salary On the opposite side are the roles that companies are stopping hiring or, directly, doing without. One of the most punished is that of Mobile Engineeras a reflection of the stagnation of companies in the development of new projects based on this segment. The median of their salaries falls to 40,500 euros, with a clear contraction in the high percentiles limited to 50,500 euros. Only the more specialized professionals In very specific frameworks, such as React Native or Flutter, they remain in the highest percentiles with salaries that are around 65,000 or 70,000 euros for the most senior. More pronounced is the decline in the role of Product Designerwith a median salary of just 35,575 euros for professionals with more than five years of experience. Its cut has occurred due to a combination between the equipment cutting and excess supply, which has pushed the market downward. Something similar happens with the profiles of QA&Testinga role that is being assumed by the development teams that are directly automating with AI agents. The case of Tech Lead lives a somewhat ambiguous situation. On the one hand, his status as an intermediate position has placed him as a target in the structural flattening strategies that technology companies have implemented to cut costs. On the other hand, the senior development employees They have been acquiring the functions of this role “unofficially” so their demand has reduced in recent months. In any case, their median salary is 58,755 euros, but with fewer positions to fill. The stagnant: necessary roles, but not decisive Among the profiles that do not fall, but also do not grow, are those related to classical development functions. That is to say: the Front-End and Back-End, the largest group, on the other hand. The salary of a Back-End Engineer It is around 45,654 euros and the sections below the 50th percentile and with less experience even regress. This behavior highlights that new hires or those with less experienced staff have lower salaries than those who have been working for years. Something similar happens with the Front-End Engineerswhose median salary drops in all percentiles, standing at 42,570 euros, weighed down by the abundance of junior profiles and a lower volume of hiring. The underlying message that emerges from the salary study prepared by Manfred reflects that the Spanish tech sector is no longer increasing uniformly, but that AI has created a salary economy at two speedsdifferentiated by the segment in which value is added. Those who are focused on the development and implementation of AI are experiencing a meteoric rise, while the rest, who keep the current technological structure in operation, do so at a much slower pace. In Xataka | A study has compared the gap in public salaries vs. private companies in Europe and has found a problem: Spain Image | Unsplash (Hack Capital)

South Korea just turned on AX K1. “An AI for everyone” that puts the country in the race between China and the US

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The race for artificial intelligence It is the new diamond of the economy of many countries. one to whom they are throwing money as if the world were going to end and that it is having serious implications on issues that affect citizens such as energyhe employment and with one last controversy: the exorbitant price of RAM. The great powers they want to be sovereign in this field, and South Korea has just light his first hyperscale artificial intelligence model. His name could be some son of Elon Musk: AX K1. In short. Developed by the giant SK Telecom, AX K1 is a model that has 519 billion total parameters, although during inference, which is the practical use case, it “only” activates about 33 billion. It’s still accurate (as accurate as an AI can be) but consumes far fewer resources. That 519B – A33B mode is based on the ‘architecture’mixture of experts‘ that selects in real time and dynamically the optimal parameter subsets for each task. These parameters are like the neural connections that allow the model to “learn” during training, and the fact that South Korea already has a hyperscale model is a huge leap in the country’s position within the global picture of AI. Master Model. The design of this model allows stable performance in tasks such as advanced reasoning, mathematics and multilingual comprehension, but there is also an interesting concept: it works as a “Master Model”. These models are the ones that transfer knowledge to smaller models. While the master knows everything, the lighter model is specialized in a specific task. And, although the large model consumes an enormous amount of resources, the “student” that inherits complex capabilities without having to manage so many parameters can run on devices and environments with more limited resources. For example, the AX K1 with those 512B can “transfer its knowledge” to those below the 70B scale, much more specialized and cheaper. “As Korea’s leading AI company, we will continue to push forward our efforts to deliver AI for everyone” – Tae Yoon Kim “AI for everyone”. In less words: the master model allows the expansion of AI to be accelerated because the hyperscale is used for research, but the lower scale is used for more everyday products. And, precisely, that is what SK Telecom seeks: for its IOA to be the basis on which the country operates. In collaboration with different universities, associations and thanks to the memory manufacturer SK Hynix –one of the giants of the sector and part of SK Telecom-, the company hopes it will be the foundation of an “AI for all.” This implies that they will deploy it in their services and, as it is open source, its API can be the basis of other models in university, business and even national ecosystems. In fact, there is already talk of very specific solutions, such as access to AI through text messages and even phone calls, but also multilingual search services and even a boost for AI in video games. And, of course, for humanoid robotics either for education. The great advantage that the consortium that owns AX K1 has is that it is one of the largest groups in the world, with a presence in the semiconductor, telephone, transportation, construction, energy and video game industries. Therefore, you can easily scale this technology. Third in contention. SK Telecom has confirmed that it plans to continue expanding its model with agent-based execution and those 519Bs allow Korea to become “one of the top three artificial intelligence nations in the world,” in the words of Tae Yoon Kimone of those responsible for the model. The group’s intention is to help “consolidate South Korea as one of the world’s top three artificial intelligence nations,” a race that is taking place resources difficult to contextualize in both the United States and China and which is crushing markets like RAM for consumers. Image | SK Telecom In Xataka | The exorbitant deployment of data centers for AI has a new problem: salt caverns

Science puts the beta blockers in certain cases

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In the late 50s, Sir James Black Cardiovascular therapy revolutionized With your new treatment: beta blockers. A medication that has been the immovable pillar in current medicine for patients with an acute myocardial infarction in their history. But now, A series of studies They have arrived to change the idea we had about the administration of this treatment. A group of patients more affection. Studies published in the most prestigious medical magazines, such as The New EnglandThey arrive to draw a much more complex and personalized panorama of treatment administration. And he has reached such an extent that he suggests that for some people with a very specific clinical profile, and especially in women, their administration may not be necessary. Why are the beta blockers. To understand the magnitude of this change, you have to travel in time. The studies that cemented the use of beta blockers were carried out in the 80s, a very different era for cardiology. At that time, a heart attack was much less aggressive. There were no urgent angioplasties with stents to open obstructed arteries, nor the general use of High power statins either antiplatelet therapies dual In that context, the beta blockers demonstrated reduce mortality by an impressive 23%. A question in the air. Today, the standard treatment of a heart attack is radically different and much more effective. The question that floated in the air for years was: in this new era, are they still the universally necessary beta blockers, especially for those patients whose heart has not been seriously damaged? A concept that is key. To understand the great advance that has been made, you have to know what the left ventricular ejection fraction (FEVI). You can think like the “power percentage” that the heart has to expel the blood from the left ventricle to the aorta and by entity towards the coronary vessels of the heart. In this way, there are two scenarios right now on the table: Patient with a reduced fevi (≤40%): the heart has been weakened. In this group, no one doubts the benefit of the beta blockers since the evidence is solid. Patient with a non -reduced FEVI (> 40%): The heart maintains a good pumping force after infarction. It is here that the great debate has emerged around whether it is necessary to apply or not beta blockers so that they have a beneficial effect. THE REBOOT TEST. The first great protagonist of this new story is the reboot essaya massive study conducted in Spain and Italy with more than 8,500 patients. All participants had suffered an acute myocardial infarction, but had a FEVI greater than 40%. Half of these received beta blockers and the other half not. After a follow -up of 3.7 years, the results were overwhelming: there was no statistically significant difference between the two study groups. The Beta blocker group had an event rate of 22.5 per 1000 patients-year, compared to 21.7 in the group without them. Statistically, a technical draw. Beta blocker effect on women. Reboot analysis by sexwhich included 1,627 women, revealed a significant interaction. In men, the beta blockers showed neither benefit or harm. The event rate was practically identical, with or without treatment. In women, the result was radically different. Those who took beta blockers had a relative risk of 45% greater to suffer the main combined event with which they did not take them. Concentrated in two groups. This excess risk in women was mainly driven by an increase in mortality due to any cause. The study also discovered that this potential damage was concentrated in two subgroups: women with FIVI preserved (≥50%) and women who received higher doses of beta blockers. The researchers suggest that there could be pharmacokinetic reasons behind this. At equivalent doses, women tend to reach higher concentrations of the drug in blood due to physiological differences such as lower body weight and different metabolism. This could lead to adverse effects not seen in men with the same doses. Although it is something that will have to continue deepening. Studies that are opposite. The grace of science is that opposite results can be found on the same topic. And just when the reboot result seemed to sentence the debate, the results of the twin trials were published Betami and Danblock made in Norway and Denmark with almost 5,600 participants. With a similar design (patients with IAM and FEVI ≥40%) their conclusions were different. In this case, the treatment with beta blockers did demonstrate a benefit, reducing the risk of the primary objective (a death combined, major cardiovascular events, unplanned revascularization, stroke …). The incidence was 14.2% in the group with beta blockers compared to 16.3% in the control group. When the data broken down, the main engine of this benefit was a significant reduction in the incidence of a new myocardial infarction: 5% vs. 6.7%. Interestingly, and in direct contrast with reboot’s findings, its subgroup analysis showed that the benefit seemed more pronounced in women. A meta -analysis to find the midpoint. We have two mass studies, well designed and with opposite results. How do we solve this apparent contradiction? For this we use the most powerful tool of scientific evidence: a meta -analysis of individual patient data. An international team, led by the researchers of the previous essays, decided to combine strength. They combined the data of reboot patients, Betami, Danblock and a fourth smallest study (capital-RCT) to focus on a very specific group: those with slightly reduced FEVI (between 40% and 49%). This is the “gray area”, patients who do not have seriously damaged heart, but not completely normal. A surprising result. When analyzing the 1,885 patients who fit in this profile, the conclusion was clear: in this subgroup, the beta blockers are beneficial. A 25% reduction was seen in the risk of having a heart attack, heart failure or dying. In addition, the Hazard Ratio (a risk measure) was 0.75, indicating a clear and statistically significant protective effect. Beta … Read more

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