Real

There are 30 centimeters left before the Montejaque ghost dam becomes a very real problem

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At the beginning of the 20th century, getting light to the most remote towns in the Serranía de Ronda and Grazalema was an impossible mission. Despite “being close”, they were areas that could only be accessed with a lot of effort and any infrastructure became a logistical problem. It was at that time when the Sevillian Electricity Company decided to make a clean break: build a dam on the Gudares River and produce the energy (up to 20,000 kW) right there. They commissioned the work to a Swiss company and built an 83-meter concrete structure near Montejaque, in Malaga. Then they realized that it was tremendously stupid: the limestone soil in the area turned the reservoir into a sieve and, in the more than a hundred years since its construction, it has never been in use. Until now. Although “use” isn’t exactly the word. Because, in reality, what has happened is that, given the enormous amount of water that has fallen in the area in recent weeks, the dam has filled. Of course, this filling is relative: from the first moment the water has been filtering through the cat’s cavevery close to there. But, thanks to it, it has been possible to ‘laminate’ Gudares Avenue and control the flows. The problem is that, right now and for the first time since we have data, Montejaque is about to overflow. 30 centimeters away from it, in fact. A ghost dam filled to the brim? And draining as if there were no tomorrow: at a rate of 200 cubic meters per second. The images are not only spectacularbut (also) are completely unheard of. There were no clear precedents, but the system (using siphons, as opposed to the usual spillways) has been put into operation before it overtopped the dam. And now what? In principle, monitoring and preparation. The town councils of Jimera de Líbar and Benaoján they have evacuated 150 people and monitor both the Guadiaro riverbed and the Hundidero-Gato cave system. This dam system stands between the reservoir and the closest towns, but no one is very clear about what could happen: it is expected to collapse the possible flood, but it has never happened and the UME continues to monitor the situation for what may happen. Calm. That is the message most repeated by the authorities and, from what we know so far, it is justified. However, it shows that too often we forget what is in the bush. The Montejaque concession has already declined, but it is still there, converted into a tourist attraction. From now on it will also be the constant reminder that we have to rethink all our water infrastructures. Image | Ronnie Macdonald In Xataka | Andalusia anticipates the storm and has already canceled in-person classes and activated the UME. The doubt is placed on the workers

A Brazilian has shown that having Internet in mid-flight is possible with Starlink. It has also shown that it is a real danger

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If the Internet does not reach the plane, let the plane reach the Internet. One of the Azul Linhas Aereas travelers must have thought something like this, who along with another hundred passengers began to discount the first minutes of their flight. A flight that began on the ground but has not yet ended. And our protagonist tried to connect to the Internet during takeoff using a Starlink antenna and a battery that far exceeded the maximum allowed capacity. The flight has landed but is not over. And the company is now investigating what happened. On Instagram. It’s where the Azul Linhas Aereas traveler has published his invention with the following text: “Who hasn’t suffered the frustration of getting on a four-hour flight and not having Internet? When you get on the plane and the WiFi doesn’t work… Your problems are over.” The video briefly shows how the passenger places the Starlink antenna on the window and hooks it to the window blind. From it, a cable hooks up to a large battery stored in the pocket of the front seat. Click on the image to go to the original post What is Starlink? Starlink is a internet service through satellite connection designed by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company. The system is simple, with thousands of satellites orbiting around the earth, the service seeks to ensure that a small antenna can provide Internet to anyone anywhere in the world, no matter how remote it may be. To do this, the customer mounts the antenna and points it towards the sky. From there a signal arrives that is interpreted by a router included in the pack to, in turn, multiply the signal so that we can connect to the network. Its latency is high compared to fiber optics, so it is not a system to compete with home connections, it is designed to provide Internet to areas without 4G or 5G coverage. And does it work on a plane? Of course, the operation is exactly the same as if we placed the antenna on the ground. In this case, what the airline passenger did was put the antenna in the window pointing outside to improve signal reception. For the rest, it works exactly the same as if we contracted Starlink to have Internet at home. In fact, Starlink service is being offered to airlines. And although it has been the trigger between the latest tantrum between Elon Musk and Michael O’Leary (CEO of Ryanair), the truth is that Starlink will be offered this year on Iberia, British Airways or Vueling flights. And the first tests with United Airlines They were already very satisfactory. Starlink improves what is already known because, although a plane also connects via satellite to offer Internet on its flights, the bandwidths that customers demand and its applications are increasing, which has been reducing the speed of data transfer that each device on board can enjoy. But it’s a danger. However, what this passenger has done is a real danger that is being investigated by the airline. In the Brazilian State Post Office They explain that the Starlink antenna was powered by a 60,000 mAh portable battery. Its 222 Wh capacity is far from the 100 Wh maximum that can be carried on board a plane according to Brazilian aviation regulators. Large power banks can be a danger on board, so Aeronautical authorities limit them in size and number. And it is that batteries can self-combust if a thermal leak occurs, which may be caused by overheating or a blow that results in a short circuit. The problem is already huge if we are on land But it can be much more serious if the plane is fully operational because lithium ion batteries are very difficult to turn off and, in addition, they release gases that are harmful to our health. That is why the size of the battery is limited and if an incident occurs, it is manageable by the crew. Photo | Wikimedia and Fallon Micheal In Xataka | Airlines are beginning to regulate and restrict the use of power banks on airplanes: South Korea leads the way

The most brutal rains in the history of Andalusia have already ended. Now the real problems begin

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The storm Leonardo little by little begins to fade from the maps, leaving in its wake mainly alerts for strong gusts of wind in certain regions of Andalusia. The problem is that its footprint on the ground is just beginning to show its true dimension, since the main danger is that even if rainfall begins to decrease, the water continues to rise in the rivers. And this gives rise to the feared floods that are already has caused numerous evictions. Extreme saturation. To understand why authorities and the AEMET maintain the emergency level 2 and red warnings despite lulls in rainfall, we have to look under our feet. The soil functions, under normal conditions, like a sponge capable of retaining large volumes of water. However, after weeks of constant rainfall, Andalusia has reached its saturation point. In this way, the land does not support any more water, which increases the runoff coefficient throughout the territory. This means that each new liter that falls, no matter how small, will barely filter through the ground. The result is that it will run on the surface, turning slopes and mountains into giant slides towards the rivers. Increase of the channel. This is the reason why 14 rivers are under red notice today and another 31 under orange. Rivers such as the Guadalete, the Genil, the Guadiaro and the Guadalhorce They are not just responding to today’s rain.but to the inability of the basin to drain what has accumulated in the last 48 hours. We have an example in Huétor Tájar in Granadawhere the Genil River overflowed, making the entire town become a large lake. And this is the main risk we face despite the fact that rainfall is beginning to reduce its intensity. The reservoirs. The other major front of this crisis is hydraulic engineering. The reservoirs act as buffers during floodsretaining the water to prevent it from devastating the towns downstream. But Leonardo has managed to finish filling these reservoirs to their maximum limits. This has forced us to initiate technical releases with increasing amounts of water to avoid breakages or uncontrolled overflows of the dams. The problem is that doing so injects more flow into rivers that are already at the limit of their capacity, keeping towns like Ubrique or the lower areas of the Guadalquivir in suspense. Sierra Nevada. Gravity in the Genil basin is not based solely on precipitation, but on thermodynamics. Leonardo is not a cold storm of polar origin, but rather an Atlantic storm loaded with humidity that is causing snow accumulated in previous weeks melts at a high speed. The result here is clear: a greater flow in the rivers that drain the Sierra that joins all the factors that we have mentioned before. Landslides. For the next few hours, in addition to the increase in the riverbed, we must also keep in mind the risk of hillslide. In these cases, water saturation increases the weight of the soil and reduces its internal friction. This translates into a greater risk of landslides on roads and slopes, something that can especially occur in mountain areas such as Cádiz or Axarquía in Malaga. More rain on Saturday. Faced with overflowing soil, the last thing you want is to receive more rain. But the reality is that this same Saturday a new storm comes in that has already activated an orange alert in a region that has been greatly punished by Leonardo such as Grazalema. In this case, accumulations of up to 80 liters per square meter are again expected, which may further aggravate the situation that is being experienced. Images | Ted Balmer In Xataka | We have always believed that London is very rainy and that Barcelona is not. The only problem is that it’s a lie

Saudi Arabia already knows the real price of Neom and it is not measured in billions, but in barrels of oil at $90

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Saudi Arabia is mired in a paradox that revolves around barrels of oil. Years ago the kingdom launched an ambitious program to reduce its dependence on ‘black gold’, a key element in its accounts and public treasury. Under the name of ‘Vision 2030’ basically proposed to diversify its economy with a rosary of projects which included large urban developments such as Oxagon, Trojena or the famous The Line. The problem is that the swings in the price of crude oil (the same one from which he wants to get away) is complicating the things. So much so that the kingdom has already been forced to moderate its expectations. What has happened? We told you a few days ago: Saudi Arabia has had to rethink the Neom megaprojects, the program with which the kingdom wants to promote works such as Trojena or The Line, a futuristic city 170 km long, 500 m high and 200 meters wide built from scratch in the middle of the desert. According to Financial TimesNeom’s president, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is now considering a “much smaller” scale. In fact, there is already talk of a drastic cut in The Line and changes also in Trojena. Is it a novelty? Half. Despite the efforts of Saudi Arabia for showing how the works were progressing, the international press has been warning for some time the difficulties (technical, but especially financial) that the kingdom has encountered to carry out its projects. own FT posted a few months ago a report in which he talked about how Neom’s dream is “unraveling.” His last article It goes further however and helps to understand the context. The cuts come after Neom officials commissioned an audit of the project. And although its final conclusions are not yet known, they seem to be strong enough that there are already architects working on the redesign of The Line. Their goal: to turn it into a “modest” project that can take advantage of the infrastructure built in recent years. There is talk of a change in concept, of a Neom that (without giving up the diversification of the Saudi economy) stops focusing on the “cities of the future” to focus on something much more concrete: data centers. The kingdom insists in any case that Neom is a bet that “aims to span generations” and its discourse (at least the public) is far from being defeatist. What is the problem? Beyond the scale and enormous ambition of the projects (only The Line involves building a 170 km city), Riyadh has encountered a perfect storm. Not even her years of waste (or precisely because of them) have prevented her from being forced to rethink some milestones in her initial schedule. The clearest example Trojena leaves it. There, in its ambitious ski resort, the 2029 edition of the Winter Games was going to be held. A few days ago, however, the Asian Olympic Council and its Saudi counterpart announced that the appointment will have to be postponed indefinitely. Financial Times remember that in the medium term the kingdom also has important commitments that will require it to step on the accelerator. The first will arrive with the international fair Expo 2030. The second, with the 2034 World Cup. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And what does the oil look like? If something they usually repeat analysts trying to explain the development of Vision 2030 (and more specifically Neom) is how the price of crude oil is influencing it. The reason is very simple. Although the financing of Vision 2030 does not fall directly into the budget of Saudi Arabia, its implementation does depend on large projects funded by the State. And it receives a large part of its income through oil. Saudi Arabia is the main exporter of crude oil on the planet, which explains that in 2024 this will represent 60% of public income. In general, oil and natural gas accounted for more than 20% of its entire GDP that year. A few months ago Arab Gulg States Institute (AGSI) I remembered that the weight of the oil business in the Government’s tax revenue is today much lower than a decade ago, when it reached 88%, but it has still accounted for close to 63% in recent years. Not only that. Its technicians recognize that the health of Aramco (the Saudi national oil company) is “vital for the health” of the public coffers and the country. Why is it important? By a simple rule of three. The implementation of Vision 2030 depends largely on the Saudi kingdom and its PIF (the Public Investment Fund), sovereign in nature and chaired by Mohammed bin Salman. And the money they receive is closely linked to the progress of the global oil business. In April of last year, in a complicated context, marked by fear of the trade war and differences within OPEC, Reuters warned of how the fall in the price of crude oil would be reflected in Aramco’s dividends… and these, in turn, in the money that would enter the coffers of the Government and the PIF. “The Government and the PIF will receive 32 billion dollars and 6 billion dollars less, respectively,” collected the chronicle signed by Yousef Saba. Already at that time there were experts who pointed out that this snip would take its toll on some of the projects that the kingdom had in its hands. “Saudi Arabia is likely to depend on debt financing and will have to delay or reduce some planned contract awards,” insisted Karen Young of Columbia University, recalling the nation’s deficit. Is there more? Yes. A key fact that in recent months have slipped several analysts and in which affected these days Brad Setser, CFR researcher, following the latest news about Neom and The Line. It is not just a matter of the price of oil rising or falling in the market, it is that Saudi Arabia needs the barrel of Brent to remain at certain … Read more

We have been relying on the Nutri-Score in stores for years. Science believes that its real impact is zero

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He Nutriscore what we can see in some foods born with an ambitious promise: simplify the nutritional complexity of products into a code of easy to understand colors to know if a food is healthy or not. However, what on paper seemed like the definitive solution against obesity and poor diet is facing a much grayer scientific reality. His dark side. Although the idea seemed quite good, the reality is that new scientific reviews are setting off alarm bells. The conclusion being drawn is quite clear: the real impact on the shopping basket is minimal and the algorithm categorizes foods that are essential as something very bad. A good gap. One of the strongest arguments in favor of Nutri-Score comes from studies conducted in controlled environments, i.e. a laboratory. But what happens when we go down to the real, everyday world? This is what they wanted to analyze in a recent narrative reviewwhich evaluates consumer behavior in physical supermarkets and throws cold water on the system. And with this food color coding, the data shows that the improvement in the nutritional score of the purchase is only 2.5%. That is to say, it has hardly been noticed that a person begins to eat much more appropriate foods with this color code. Something that quite disagrees with the laboratory results that predicted that the effect was going to be much better. The real victim. The fact that some people’s shopping baskets have improved a little is the motivation that some producers of these foods have to change their ingredients to achieve a better Nutri-Score. as seen on Eroski. But this does not mean that citizens have changed the way they shop. The great blind spot. The fiercest criticism from the scientific field, highlighted by organizations such as the Puleva Nutrition Instituteis the omission of micronutrients. The current algorithm focuses almost exclusively on macronutrients, which are fat, sugars and proteins, but forgets other points that are fundamental. One of these points are vitamins and minerals, which are logically essential for the body, especially because some of them must be taken as they are not produced by the body. But polyphenols or bioactive compounds also stand out, which are essential antioxidants that can prevent chronic diseases. Unfair penalty. The system that is implemented right now also penalizes foods for their total fat content without differentiating whether they are healthy, something that has led to putting a bad score for olive oil. A paradoxical situation. The study from the University of Granada wanted to see the same thing about soluble cocoa to highlight these large discrepancies that force us to question Nutri-score. The result of the research team indicates that while pure cocoas with a higher bioactive profile can receive low grades such as C or D. But, on the other hand, others ultra-processed products with additives They achieve better scores, even A, simply by adjusting their sugar or fiber levels, without necessarily being healthier. Trying to correct it. The scientific community is no stranger to this problem and logically when something goes wrong you want to fix it to make it fit reality and that it truly fulfills the objective with which it was created. In fact, recent updates have already tried to correct the algorithm to better treat vegetable oils and nuts and penalize ultra-processed foods more strongly. However, the validations insist that, although there is an association between scores and macronutrientsthere remain huge gaps with comprehensive dietary guidelines. And we must keep in mind that the Nutri-Score measures “isolated nutrients” but not the overall quality of the food. ¿Where are we going? Science seems to indicate that the Nutri-Score is a useful but overly simplistic tool. By trying to condense health into a letter, nuances are lost that really make a difference in longevity and disease prevention. Although the algorithm is being refined to better align with European recommendations, the risk of the consumer blindly trusting an “A” for a processed product versus a “C” for a natural food remains present. Images | Franki Chamaki In Xataka | Ozempic’s “great rebound”, in figures: science reveals that the weight returns four times faster than with a diet

Europe’s passenger car industry, in a revealing map that makes it clear who is the real “engine” of the EU

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Even though it is submerged in a deep crisis of competitivenessIt’s no secret that The automobile industry is one of the driving forces of the European Union. Thus, it is responsible for 8% of its GDP (figures collected by CCOO) and employs 13,000 million people, including direct and indirect jobs. Of course, the EU is large and the distribution of its factories presents enormous divergence. Although there are things that don’t change. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association has an interactive map which is quite good to see what the distribution is like quantitatively, insofar as it shows even the few electric battery plants on the old continent, but if you are more interested in the qualitative and only passenger cars, there is a clearer map: that of World Wide Mobility. And beyond a barrage of concentrated icons that are difficult to distinguishshows in general terms the main brands that are produced or assembled there, production volumes and the percentage they represent of the total. Which countries are the engine of Europe in the automobile industry The data on the map dates back to 2024 and shows a figure of 11.4 million passenger cars manufactured in the European Union, which are essentially concentrated in three states in a non-uniform manner: Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic. World Wide Mobility Germany, 12 points. The leading country in the old continent when it comes to motors is, of course, Germany: it is not only the largest producer by volume with more than four million passenger cars and a 35.7% share, but also the one with the densest network of high-tech factories. Own brands stand out such as Volkswagen and its five factories that include the headquarters in Wolfsburg, BMW with four factories, the three of Mercedes – Benz or the two of Audi, Porsche or Opel (Stellantis). But it also has plants from foreign companies, such as Tesla in Grünheide (Berlin) or the North American Ford in Cologne. Much lower but still outstanding silver is Spainwith a share of 16.4% and almost two million cars assembled in the state. With the high efficiency per flag (in the words of the Spanish Minister of IndustryJordi Hereu), has fewer of its own brands but in exchange it is the nerve center for foreign groups. Thus, in addition to Martorell’s own SEAT/Cupra, legendary highlights include the Volkswagen factory in Landaben in Navarra, Stellantis distributed in three plants, both of which are Renault, Ford in Almussafes, and the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant in Alava. And be careful because it does not take into account the reactivation of the old Nissan factory for Chery/Ebro EV, already operational. Third place belongs to the Czech Republic with 12.7% and almost 1.5 million passenger cars, which together with Slovakia (fourth with 8.7% and almost a million cars) form “the Detroit of Central Europe“. A bronze achieved thanks to the importance of Škoda and the growing impact of Hyundai and Toyota. In fact, Slovakia It has the highest car production per capita on the planet: over there Large SUVs in the most premium segment are manufactured of the Volkswagen group in its factory in Bratislava, but it also houses manufactures of Kia, Stellantis or Jaguar and Land Rover. Romania and Hungary below demonstrate a reality: the strength of the Central European axis in this industry. France deserves special mentiona country with historically mythical brands that have been relocating production, but which still houses five plants of the Stellantis group and four of Renault, as well as foreign brands such as Fiat. And if we go to luxury, Italy and Sweden appear on the map, with high-end brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg or Volvo, although their figures are lower. In Xataka | There is a Europe that is suffocating to pay for housing and another that lives in peace. And this map shows the differences In Xataka | All the car plants in Europe (including the few battery-electric ones), on a map Cover | World Wide Mobility

the real money is in customizing them

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Supercar and luxury car brands they know their clients very well and they know that an expensive car is no longer enough: they want something exclusive that no one else can have. For this reason, extreme customization has become a very profitable business within the luxury segment, to the point that custom programs compete in importance with the mass production of the models themselves. ​Customers are no longer satisfied with choosing a certain color or finish of the upholstery. You want unique craftsmanship that turns each car into a unique piece that reflects the personality of its owner. In this context, Porsche makes its customers’ wishes come true with Sonderwunsch, which could literally be translated as “special wishes.” Its name already suggests what that department of the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen, north of Stuttgart, is dedicated to. Sit down with Porsche to design your car A little over two years ago, practically only Bentley and Rolls-Royce offered their customers the possibility of customize down to the last detail the design of their cars. However, currently the brands themselves recognize that the turnover from their artisanal customization workshops is a lucrative business that can double the price of their supercars. According to the official dataFerrari made a profit of 1,525 million euros in 2024. Some 1,300 million euros of those profits were billed from units that had gone through the Ferrari Atelier. Now, and given its recent drop in salesit is Porsche that gives an additional push to its artisanal customization department with more options for its customers. Have you always wanted to have a Porsche? We do it for you just as you dreamed of. That’s what Sonderwunsch offers, Porsche’s program for customers who want to go beyond the configurator options and create something truly personal. Porsche customization goes in layers Porsche has designed a layering system based on the customization requirements of its customers. The first level, the most basic, begins with the brand configurator. Here you can choose a certain range of colors, finishes and equipment defined by the brand. The second level of customization goes through the program Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur for more advanced (and expensive) customization options such as designing special colors that are not available in the configurator range or unique finishes. The last layer is Sonderwunsch, which fulfills requests that no one else can fulfill. The brand explains that Exclusive Manufaktur already allows deep customizations, such as exclusive metallic paints or upholstery with custom prints, but Sonderwunsch takes everything to another level with one-off projects or limited series. Porsche 911 GT3 (992) Le Mans Tribute 1985 With these extreme customization options, the German brand wants its customers to create the cars they have always dreamed of in close collaboration with its design and manufacturing experts. Alexander Fabig, Vice President of Individualization and Classics at Porsche, explains that “Since the beginning, we have constantly increased our personalization offering and made it more attractive to our customers.” Sonderwunsch allows its wealthiest clients to do things the brand configurator will never offer: color schemes created from scratchspecific wheel designs, body or interior modifications with hand-picked materials for a single car. Porsche 911 GT3 RS (992) The most ambitious projects, the so-called “one-off factory”, are conceived as unique pieces with its own approval, a process that can involve hundreds of employees for more than two years. Fabig admits that “most of our Sonderwunsch customers are absolute Porsche experts” and know the products “in and out.” The Sonderwunsch trip begins with the owner’s visit to the Porsche factory museum in Zuffenhausen, where he will sit down with a team of brand specialists who will listen to his initial idea and launch a technical, legal and economic feasibility study of the project. As and how they stand out in DiaryMotoronly the previous study requires an advance payment of 150,000 euros to demonstrate that the client is serious. Dreams come true, but they are not free. Porsche 911 Speedster 993 by Luca Trazzi ​Some of the most representative examples that Porsche shows is that of Luca Trazzi, who created a 911 Speedster 993 in “Otto Yellow” color, inspired by his dog Otto, who sports a unique yellow and black checkered interior made specifically for him. A one-off of these characteristics can cost millions and take more than two years, but the result is an approved and unique car. A KM0 Porsche is another story Porsche is not limited to the extreme customization of new cars or the creation of debut works in its artisan workshops. The brand has developed, within the Sonderwunsch umbrella, a kind of time machine with which cars that left the factory decades ago can be used again. As and how do they count in Mortor1the “Zero Miles” program allows cars to be restored from the factory to the point that, legally, their odometer can read zero kilometers again so that customers can return to release a historic supercar. This program only applies to three very special models for the German brand: Carrera GT, 959 and 918 Spyder. The process is exhaustive since the car is revised to the millimeter, all the parts that need it are restored or the necessary components are manufactured again, without forgetting the customization of details such as color, upholstery or even certain dynamic aspects to improve your behavior. When this process is finished, Porsche offers the customer the same warranty with which the car originally left the factory because, technically, the car is new again…even if it stopped being produced a couple of decades ago. In Xataka | Bill Gates was so obsessed with driving a Porsche 959 that he managed to change the laws that prevented him from doing so Image | porsche

It already has quantum weapons that it is testing in real missions

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The research, weapons and defense departments of the main powers are a black hole. We cannot know what is on the other side, unless we They are the ones who allow us to take a look. It makes sense, since announcing a technology hastily would alert the rival. In this context, China has just taken a step in the war of the future: quantum war. We are very used to talking about traditional computing, and that of cyberwar It is an easy concept to understand. Hacker attacks on critical enemy systemsforms of make your troops invisible to rival radars or cyberespionage are concepts that have become everyday in current conflicts. And the future lies in quantum weapons. The quantum computing It’s not an incremental improvement in a computer’s processing speed: it’s a breakthrough. It is a paradigm shift and that is why researchers are developing these quantum computers which, in essence, allow solve complex operations in much less time than a classic computer. It is not easy, since although important steps have been taken in recent years, it still has challenges to solve so that your results are optimal. In a war and security context, and in a nutshell, this translates into one thing: if it takes a conventional computer hours or days to breach an enemy’s security, a quantum computer It would take minutes or seconds. And China not only says They are not only developing a dozen quantum warfare tools, but are already testing them in combat. “To design a good weapon, you have to think about what the war of the future will be like” As they point out in South China Morning Postthe People’s Liberation Army confirmed through the official newspaper Science and Technology Daily that they have more than ten experimental quantum cyber warfare tools in development. As we say, some of them are being “tested in frontline missions”, ‘capturing’ intelligence that can be used in the future. This is a project led by the National University of Defense Technology and, according to the report, focuses on three areas: Cloud computing. Artificial intelligence. Quantum technology. The fact that they are already testing some of these systems implies that they have left the theoretical framework, and the Army points out that “speed” is the main advantage that these tools offer. It is not just about making smarter weapons, but about giving more tools to those who analyze the situation. For example, quantum computing allows process large amounts of battlefield data in a matter of seconds. This implies that analysts can help make decisions practically in real time. They can also help in terms of both cybersecurity and cyberespionage, better protecting themselves with artificial intelligence systems that rewrite their code in real time – something we already see with malware such as PromtLock– or busting enemy crypto security faster. Related to this, they can help make GPS navigation systems more resistant to jamming or spoofing attacks. Or even perform navigation and positioning based on quantum sensors without depending on vulnerable infrastructure such as GPS or Starlink. It looks kind of steampunk, but this is part of a quantum computer Really, the applications seem limitless when we consider what has already been achieved with classical computing. These technologies also have potential to improve defenses aerial and detection of stealth aircraft, something in which United States with its F-35 and China with its J-36 They are investing a fortune. As they have commented in the magazine, the development of this technology responds to the need to think “what the war of the future will be like”, and how the war in Ukraine and Russian cyberattacks are showing uscyberwar will be the protagonist. They are, in short, tools that allow a conflict to end before the rival knows that it has started. It is the same philosophy that led to the development of the American F-35 fighter and a form of asymmetric warfare. Ok, very good, but what time advantage are we talking about? An example is the Google Sycamorea quantum computer that performed a calculation that would have taken a classical supercomputer 10,000 years in just… 200 seconds. In 2020, China already complete in another 200 seconds an operation that would have taken a supercomputer more than 2.5 billion years. Are they the only ones? Not even close. For Putin, the race for quantum computing is like the nuclear race after the end of World War II If there are hackers with a good reputation, they are the Russians, and the country is already testing prototypes such as quantum supercomputers Lomonosov Moscow State University with 72 qubits and another 70 qubits of the Lebedev Institute. Europe is also immersed in the era of the ‘Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography’ in matters of defense of critical infrastructure (energy, finance, health or telecommunications) with the objective of having operational systems by 2030. Japan is also in itand the United States has high the budget for research and development of quantum systems from 141,000 million in 2024 to more than 179,000 million dollars (part of a total of almost a billion engaged for general defense). They have an advantage: IBM and Google are leaders in quantum systems maturitybut China is estimated to be closing the gap. And they must be confident in the possibilities of their systems if they already talk about them openly. CCTV images (via X), In Xataka | China has achieved something hard to believe: reducing the production of laser weapons and parts for electric cars to one second

BTS returns after its members have gone through military service. Now the real war begins: get tickets

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After almost four years of silence, the flagship group of the k-pop phenomenon returns. And he does it in a big way: announcing a world tour of unprecedented dimensions that will travel through 34 countries between April 2026 and March 2027. The announcement was made at midnight on January 13 and marks the official return of the South Korean group after complete mandatory military service of all its members, with a new album scheduled for March that will be their first joint work since 2022. A huge tour. The magnitude of the event transcends the merely musical. The tour will begin with multiple dates in Goyang (South Korea) and Tokyo before traveling across all continents, culminating in Manila in March 2027. The group’s website It also anticipates additional dates in Japan, the Middle East “and more regions”, suggesting that the final scale could be even higher than initially announced. A different panorama. The world of Korean pop that welcomes BTS in 2026 has experienced a radical metamorphosis compared to how they left it in 2022. What was then an emerging phenomenon in the West has been established as mainstream global cultural. When BTS momentarily disappeared, a phenomenon like ‘The K-Pop hunters‘, a film that became the most viewed in the history of Netflix and whose soundtrack dominated the sales charts for weeks. Every day we are more. BTS’s competition has intensified dramatically. Groups like Stray Kids have broken multiple records previously held by BTS: with eight consecutive albums debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 (compared to six for BTS), they have become the group with the most number one albums of any band of the 21st century. Seventeen was the best-selling K-Pop artist in 2025 and his world tour generated $142 million. The evolution of the genre has also transcended linguistic and national borders. Katseyethe global group created through a collaboration between Hybe and Geffen Records, represents this new direction: formed after a selection process that attracted 120,000 applicants from around the world, its six members hail from the United States, the Philippines, South Korea and Switzerland. Her repertoire was documented in the Netflix series ‘Pop Academy: KATSEYE’, and her repertoire is mainly composed of songs in English, aimed at the Western market. And let’s not forget that ‘APT.’Blackpink and Bruno Mars’ Rosé’s 2024 hit, was a best-seller with Grammy nominations. How are the sales? The BTS tour comes amid a deeply deteriorated ticket sales outlook. The last three years have shown that the global technological infrastructure for mass events is facing systematic crises. It all started with Taylor Swift’s debacle with Ticketmaster in November 2022, when the pre-sale of ‘The Eras Tour’ collapsed the system: the platform received 3.5 billion requests on the day of the sale, causing millions of users to be expelled with error messages after hours of waiting. The controversy ended up in the US Senate and Live Nation’s monopolistic dominance in the industry was questioned. Dramas in Europe. The Oasis case, in 2024, showed that Europe was not exempt from similar problems. Tickets advertised at 150 pounds escalated to 355 because of dynamic pricing, and he had to intervene on the issue the british competition authority. In Spain, the most notable cases have been those of Rosalía and Bad Bunnyseasoned with presence of banking institutions giving favored treatment to their clients. K-pop, in short, has not been immune: Blackpink had its own difficulties with the topic, and although the random selection system characteristic of K-pop is fairer, it also generates brutal speculative secondary markets. The strategic dimension. Furthermore, the return of BTS transcends the merely artistic to become a corporate rescue operation. Hybe, the group’s parent company, has seen its position shake during the hiatus of its main assets: the controversy with NewJeans, which we already explained hereeroded market confidence, and the reputational scars are on the table. The ensuing legal battle publicly exposed internal tensions over the treatment of artists and corporate practices. The key is BTS. However, BTS has potential that many of the groups that have continued their legacy cannot replicate. To begin with, they arrived first: they were the ones who transformed K-pop from an Asian niche into a global phenomenon mainstream. They are considered pioneers. But in addition, their fan base has matured economically: ARMYs, as they call themselves, who were 16-20 years old in 2018 are now 23-27, with significantly greater purchasing power. A test return. The BTS tour poses a definitive test for the infrastructure of live music in 2026. Will current anti-bot systems be enough to cope with unprecedented demand? The US BOTS Act of 2016 imposes fines of up to $16,000, and The European Union banned ticketing bots in 2019. But there is much more to take into account, such as international coordination that requires synchronizing not only ticketing technology but also radically different laws, with different regulations for secondary markets, for example. A real challenge that will put one of the biggest musical events in the world to the test. In Xataka | The economic phenomenon of BTS is so gigantic that you can now invest in them on the stock market

Everyone blames the manufacturers for the lack of memory. Micron says real bottleneck lies elsewhere

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For months, memory shortage It has established itself in the technological debate as one of those phenomena that do not seem to need too many explanations. If RAM is missing and prices risethe immediate conclusion is that someone is privileging AI and leaving the consumer aside. That idea has resonated strongly, especially after visible decisions that have affected the domestic channel and have reinforced the feeling of abandonment. But when you get down to how memory is manufactured and kept stable today, the diagnosis becomes less obvious: the bottleneck doesn’t seem as obvious as it seems. A controversial decision. In this climate of widespread suspicion, Micron has become a preferred target, shared with other large manufacturers, but for a very specific and recent decision: the announcement of the end of Crucial consumer products. The company recently announced that will stop selling RAM memory and storage under that historic brand, with shipments expected through February 2026. For many users, that move was interpreted as a direct consumer recall just when memory is short. Micron justified that decision by noting that AI-driven growth in data centers has skyrocketed demand and that Crucial’s exit seeks to improve supply and support to its strategic customers in higher-growth segments. The market has changed size. From Micron’s perspective, the problem is not a renunciation of consumption, but an abrupt change in the scale of the market. Christopher Moore, vice president of marketing for the client and mobile business, He said in an interview with Wccftech that the company continues to have a relevant presence in PCs and mobile devices, while serving data centers. What has altered the balance is the growth of the data center business, driven by AI, which has gone from representing around 30% of the market to approaching, according to its figures, 50% or even 60%. That leap, he defends, has left the entire industry without sufficient margin. Variety also creates scarcity. For Micron, the bottleneck is not so much the lack of factories as how the existing ones are used. Moore explains that producing memory is not about making a single type of chip seamlessly, but rather about switching between multiple densities and configurations depending on what customers ask for. Each change, for example going from 12 GB to 16 GB modules or from 16 GB to 24 GB, forces lines to be readjusted and reduces the total output volume. In a context of skyrocketing demand, this variety, which was previously acceptable, becomes a direct brake on production. Micron’s new Idaho factory under construction Faced with the temptation to think that new factories will solve the problem, the manufacturer asks for patience. Moore explains that expanding memory capacity is not an immediate process, because it requires not only building facilities, but equipping them, validating them and certifying each product with customers. The company laid the first stone three years ago in its ID1 plant in IdahoUnited States, whose entry into operation is scheduled for mid-2027. Even so, it warns that there will be no significant impact on supply until the entire qualification process is complete, which it places in 2028. Crucial is gone, the channel is not. Moore assures that, although Crucial has disappeared from the consumer showcase, the company continues to provide memory to major PC and mobile device brands through channels less visible to the end user. This OEM channel, in which Micron supplies memory directly to integrators and manufacturers, concentrates a very relevant part of the market and ends up being incorporated into commercial designs and equipment. From their point of view, the consumer continues to receive Micron memory, even if it no longer does so under a recognizable label. With this panorama, the lack of memory ceases to be a problem of isolated decisions and is revealed as the result of several overlapping tensions. AI-driven demand for data centers that has changed the scale of the market, operational limits on production and long lead times to expand capacity explain why supply will remain tight for years. Micron places the relief horizon no earlier than 2028 and, until then, the consumer will live with fewer options and pressured prices. The bottleneck, the company insists, is not only in who buys the memory, but in how it is manufactured. Images | Micron In Xataka | The situation with RAM prices is so desperate that there are already those who build their own memory at home

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