reality

also its own ending, which in reality was not the end of anything

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The current showrunner from the oldest series on television, Matt Selman, has made it clear: the series will never end. Or at least, it won’t end with a typical episode, like all series. In fact, ‘The Simpsons’ also predicted the ending, as they do with so many things, and about a year and a half ago they advanced their own series finalecertifying that when the series ends, it will end and that’s it. Although at the moment he has no intentions. All endings. On September 29, 2024, Fox aired what appeared to be the final episode of ‘The Simpsons’. However, it was the premiere of season 36, the 769th episode of the series, and it was an exquisite joke. It had been conceived by showrunner Matt Selman shortly after the writers’ strike ended from the WGA in September 2023, and in it he tried to answer the eternal question of: when and how will ‘The Simpsons’ end? The narrative mechanism chosen was HackGPT, a ChatGPT parody AI that had analyzed all the episodes of the series and all the endings in television history to generate the perfect closure. and it was a string of commonplaces: Mr. Burns died, Moe closed the bar, Krusty canceled his show, Milhouse moved to Atlanta, Skinner retired, and to top it off, Maggie finally spoke. All the clichés of the final episode trope condensed, with Conan O’Brien (former series writer) as master of ceremonies and a cast of guest stars that included Tom Hanks, Seth Rogen and John Cena. The antifinal as a declaration of intentions. In a recent interview, Selman confirmed that what he was looking for was to reboot, in a sense, the series: “we put all the possible concepts of a series finale in a single episode, to say in some way that we are never going to do a series finale.” In addition, there was a background: the Hollywood writers’ strike had just ended and one of its workhorses had been the use of AI. This episode satirized what a contrived screenwriter would do in a final episode: a melee of meaningless clichés. The satire worked because the episode became one of the best rated by viewers on IMDB in years. Timeline. None of this matters, really, because ‘The Simpsons’ has no canon: Selman claims that a show that has been on the air for 37 years with characters that do not age cannot, structurally, maintain a fixed canon. The series works with what is known as floating timeline o floating timeline: the year of birth of the characters is updated every time the plot requires it, so that the adults are always in their forties regardless of the historical moment in which the action takes place. In your own words: “It seems to me that story and character should come first, and the rules of the cinematic universe of a show that has no rules should come a distant second.” Valid satire. The anti-AI satire of the fake final episode of ‘The Simpsons’ is increasingly pertinent: although legislation on the use of AI tools in environments such as writers’ rooms is being refined, the adoption of tools such as Sudowrite or ChatGPT does not stop. An analysis July 2025 documents that tools of this type are already used to generate everything from first drafts to commercial viability analyses. But its use in professional production series under agreements such as the one signed after the WGA strike continues to be conditioned by the restrictions of each contract. Still, there are professionals like John August, screenwriter and co-host of the ‘Scriptnotes’ podcast, who have mixed positions: August, for example, considers that AI is useful for summarizing or doing auxiliary work, but not for replacing the writing process. Dilemmas that point to the future. Maybe by the time ‘The Simpsons’ turns a thousand episodes? In Xataka | The day ‘The Simpsons’ rubbed shoulders with ‘Toy Story’: the legendary episode that changed the history of television

The world has been fascinated by the collapse of the Mayans for decades. In reality, almost everything we thought we knew was wrong.

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They cultivated fields, raised livestock, built some of the most amazing buildings on the planet, developed a rich culture that included advanced astronomical knowledge that still intrigue today to the experts. The Mayans are one of the most fascinating civilizations on the planet. And rightly so. Without it it is impossible to tell the history of Central America. However, little by little and as technology allows us to delve into their secrets, we begin to understand something: much of what we thought we knew about the Mayans was wrong. And that includes its collapse. What happened to the Mayans? The question is very simple. His answer not so much anymore. As our knowledge of the Mayan civilization has expanded (thanks to resources such as LiDAR technology) has also mutated the idea that historians had of its decline. I remembered it recently in Guardian Marcus Haraldsson remembering what we know about Tikalone of the largest urban centers of the Mayans, located in what is now Guatemala. “Sudden and disastrous”? The most recent stele located at the site dates back to the year 869 ADwhich leaves the question of what happened in Tikal from that date on. For a time historians assessed the possibility of a “sudden and disastrous” collapse that marked its fate; But today that explanation seems increasingly distant. Now experts are leaning towards another option: a broad period of decline of around 200 years during which farmers moved north and south and powerful urban centers were abandoned in favor of settlements such as Chichén Itzá, Uxmal or Mayapán, towards the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. There is even talk of the period Classic Terminalwhich goes from the years 750 to 1050. Changing perspective. This perspective has been adapted over the decades and goes beyond the period of decline of the Mayan civilization. “We are no longer really talking about collapse, but about decline, transformation and reorganization of society, as well as a continuity of culture,” comment to Guardian Kenneth E. Seligson, associate professor of archeology at California State University (CSU). “There have been several similar changes in places like Rome. (But) we rarely talk about the great Roman collapse anymore because they re-emerged in various forms, just like the Mayans.” But… What happened? What exactly happened for many of the main Mayan settlements (not all) to begin to collapse towards the 9th and 10th centuries It remains a complex and highly discussed topic. Today the authors point out a combination of factors including changes in trade routes, adverse weather, severe and prolonged droughts and wars, among others. The truth is that in the middle of 2026, researchers continue collecting clues that helps us clear up unknowns about that period. The importance of water. You don’t have to go far back to read new discoveries that tell us precisely about the collapse of the Mayan civilization. Last August a group of scientists published a article in which they basically emphasized the “important role” that “prolonged droughts” played in the Mayan decline. For their study, the researchers analyzed a stalagmite located in a cave in the Yucatan, a true geological and archaeological treasure if its oxygen isotopes are analyzed. The examination revealed a series of periods of severe drought between 871 and 1021, during the Terminal Classic, stages marked by water shortages during which the Mayans found it “extremely difficult” to grow their crops. It may seem exaggerated, but the study revealed eight droughts during the rainy season that lasted at least three years. Not only that. The longest drought lasted about 13 years. Other previous studies, carried out from sediments collected in the Chichankanab lagoon or stalactites rescued in Belizehad already suggested the role that climate played in the Mayan collapse. Question of droughts (and something else). Months after that study, in November, Benjamin Gwinneth, from the Université de Montréal (UdeM), published another that helps complete the ‘photo’. The Canadian institution recalls that between 750 and 900 AD the population of the Mayan lowlands suffered “a significant demographic and political decline” that coincided with “episodes of intense drought.” What Gwinneth’s work questions is whether this collapse is explained only by the lack of water. Curiously, their research is also based on the analysis of sediment samples dating back to around 3,300 years ago. And what exactly did he do? Gwinneth dedicated himself to analyzing samples taken from Laguna Itzán, in present-day Guatemala, near an archaeological site Maya. To be precise, they focused on three “geochemical indicators” that reveal the evolution of fires, vegetation and population density in the area (something they estimate thanks to fecal stanols) for thousands of years. The first conclusion they obtained is that the first settlements appeared in the area 3,200 years ago and for centuries the Mayans cultivated, burned to clear forests and used the ashes as natural fertilizer. It also gradually increased the population of the area. Over time they even changed their “agricultural strategy”, dispensing with fire. A “stable” climate. The second conclusion (and this is the interesting part) is that, unlike Mayan populations located further north that did suffer “devastating droughts”, in Itzán the climate was relatively “stable” thanks in part to its geographical location, near the Cordillera. Curiously, that did not free Itzán from the crisis that they suffered in other areas of the Mayan world. The question is obvious: Why? If it kept raining there, what dragged them into the crisis? “Although there was no drought in the area, the population decreased during the Terminal Classic period. Indicators show a drastic drop, traces of agriculture disappear and the site was abandoned,” Gwinneth points out.which recalls that some archaeologists place the beginning of the Mayan collapse in the Itzán area. Why is it important? Because it suggests that drought (no matter how stubborn) is not enough on its own to explain the Mayan decline. “The answer lies in the interconnection of Mayan societies,” reflects the expert. “Cities did not exist in isolation. They formed a complex network of commercial ties, … Read more

We thought that AI was going to take our position. The reality is that it is making us work more and rest less

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The most pessimistic vision of the future of AI predicted that the automation of processes would mean the elimination of many jobs. The most optimistic assure that AI will not replace employees, but rather will enhance your skills making them more productive, which will translate into shorter days. A analysis of Harvard Business Reviewbased on eight months of observation at a US technology company with about 200 employees, reveals something very different: AI is making employees take on more tasks, but also make them work longer days. Do more with AI. The study observed that the use of AI in the company It did not simplify the work, but rather expanded it. The researchers observed that employees, product managers, and designers began using AI on their own initiative, even though the company did not force them to do so. What it did do was provide business subscriptions to those who decided to use it in their work. This use made employees begin to tackle more and more tasks, not only within the scope of their position, but, for example, employees from the sales department asked AI for help. to program a tool to help them in their task. Employees argued that, with the help of AI, they had immediate response to their ideas and projects, which allowed them to accomplish more tasks. The end of breaks. The help of AI and the elimination of friction in starting new tasks motivated employees to take on more and more tasks, increasing their daily workload. The most curious thing is that the researchers discovered that this additional motivation also implied that employees gave up their natural rest times. The increase in workload, even voluntarily, increased their levels of cognitive fatigue and exhaustion, influencing their decision-making capacity. By not having to stop and reflect in front of a blank page of a report or simply go to a colleague’s desk for help with a question, employees endured greater mental strain. This progressive exhaustion had an impact on worsening of work quality and in personnel turnover due to burnout. Fast pace and multitasking. He productivity increase The initial advantage that AI provided made it possible for employees to have several open fronts. The researchers detected that employees assigned a task to the AI ​​(or even several tasks in parallel processes) and, while obtaining a result, started a new task. This practice caused a state of perpetual multitasking, with frequent interruptions and “juggling” between different ideas and open projects, which contributed to exhausting employees’ cognitive capacity a little more. More work for you, more work for others. Daring to take on tasks that did not correspond to them, in turn caused a supervision overload for the departments to which it did correspond. For example, if someone in the sales department created code to streamline the analysis of their sales data, that would require the engineering department to review that code to make sure it was correct. that is correct and safeincreasing your workload with unplanned projects. Blurred boundaries between work and life. One of the most notable consequences is how AI acts as an always-available “co-pilot,” removing barriers between work and personal hours. The employees who participated in the analysis ended up extending their work hours on their own initiative, reviewing ideas or polishing the work they had started with AI at home. As its authors point out, “organizations could see this voluntary expansion of work as a clear victory. After all, if workers do it on their own initiative, why would that be a bad thing?” However, this apparent initial advantage for companies can mask a long-term problem “Overwork can impair judgment, increase the likelihood of errors, and make it difficult for organizations to distinguish between true productivity gains and unsustainable intensity,” the researchers note. The report ‘Barometer of AI in the world of work’ prepared by PwC, corroborates that in companies with a high implementation of AI, productivity increases between 20 and 30% on average, but it is only maintained at these levels if it is accompanied by ethical governance and redistribution of efforts. Without these adjustments, the promise of efficiency becomes a trap of greater individual effort that ends up burning out employees with heavier workloads and longer hours. In Xataka | “The world is in danger”: Anthropic’s security manager leaves the company to write poetry Image | Unsplash (Christina @wocintechchat.com)

An alliance between Ford and Geely sounds like melodic music for Almussafes. The reality is much more complex

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Ford is looking for a Chinese car. Reason: here. This is the sign that could hang on the door of the Ford factory in Almussafes (Valencia). The American company is looking for partners in China to produce electric cars and Geely seems to be one of the best positioned brands. Nor is it the first that has raised rumors about possible collaborations with the American brand, which, in addition, is already linked to Volkswagen or Renault. But what does Almussafes have to do with all this? Ford and Geely. The last brand with which Ford has been related in recent days has been with Geely. According to Reuters, Ford and Geely, Chinese group that owns Volvo, Polestar or Smart, among othersare holding talks to produce cars in Europe in one of the spaces that the company has on our continent. In addition, collaboration is being studied for the development of shared technologies such as autonomous driving. In Reuters They point to two sources who were aware of this information and the company has not denied that this is happening. “We have conversations with many companies about many things. Some are fruitful and others are not,” the Americans assure the news agency. For its part, Geely has not commented. Ford moves. It is not the first time that the company has been related to a Chinese company. On this occasion, it is said that negotiations have been underway for months and that Ford would have sent workers to the Asian country to advance a hypothetical agreement. Coincidence or not, Jim Farley has been traveling in China recently and He has been complimenting Chinese manufacturers for a long time. One of those companies that he has complimented and with which it has also been related It’s Xiaomi. Farley himself took a Xiaomi SU7 to the United States and has not failed to point out all the good things this product does. The collaboration agreement, it seems evident, would be for Europe since Chinese cars have an almost impossible future in the United States as a consequence of the Government’s own veto. Why Geely? The conversations with Geely seem to have much more substance than the possible collaborations with Xiaomi. The automobile conglomerate has brands that are not unknown to the European public (Volvo, Lotus, Smart…) whose electric cars do not have to break that barrier of entry into the European collective imagination as a “Chinese car.” However, Geely has a problem: they pay a lot of tariffs. As many as 37.6% after The European Union will withdraw in 2024 to try to protect an industry that was threatened by cheaper electric cars. Since then, the impact of the Chinese car has been limited to the lowest priced units. And it doesn’t seem like it’s going to change whether the negotiations between the European Union and China They still don’t get ahead. Collaborating with Ford and using the company’s facilities would allow Geely to produce electric cars without going through the checkout. And although labor costs are higher than the Chinese, they would not have to build new facilities because they would take advantage of those that the company has already built. Almussafes? In the information of Reuters It is assured that “Ford’s plant in Valencia would probably be the factory involved in these talks, said a person familiar with the matter.” However, some details must be taken into account. The factory is running right now at half throttlewith a Ford Kuga that is facing its last days on the market and that is not going to be renewed. The promise is to produce a multi-energy vehicle small size until 2028 when an electric car should arrive. To do this, the plant would need a deep reconversion that Ford is reluctant to carry out because North Americans are obtaining very low sales with their electric cars. A solution, therefore, would be to reach an agreement with Geely so that the Chinese company would take advantage of these facilities by making the appropriate conversions. The only doubt is that, right now, the plan is to produce a small model with a combustion engine. Electrifying space can put in check this multi-energy car that Ford should start producing soon. For now, the newspaper Levant reports that the brand will send a Ford delegation in the coming days to speak with those responsible for the factory. Ford’s mess with the electric car. Little by little, Ford has been falling into a small hole with the electric car which has a complicated solution. The brand has decided that its future lies in two clearly differentiated family lines: one made by themselveswith the Ford seal as quality and names clearly differentiated from the rest of the range (Mustang or Bronco) and lower cost cars manufactured by third parties. Europe is heading towards a future where the electric car seems the only solution. Until now, Ford’s investments have fallen on deaf ears and that is why it has reached a agreement with Volkswagen which has borne fruit electric Ford Explorer and the Ford Capri. And it has also signed an agreement with Renault so that the French can produce them in France. a sort of Renault 5 and Renault 4 with the blue oval. Ford promises that the cars will have their own American essence. At the same time, Ford focuses its own models on high-priced combustion or electric vehicles, such as the Mustang Mach-E. This allows them to achieve higher profit margins and bring combustion models to Europe in dribs and drabs whose high price justifies the increase in the final volume of emissions to be presented to regulators. What are the exits? At the moment, the first information points to different exits in the event that the negotiations between Ford and Geely come to fruition. First, it must be taken into account that what Geely may be most interested in is a car factory capable of producing electric vehicles as quickly as possible. Ford has a … Read more

The European Bizum will soon be a reality. It is very bad news for VISA and Matercard

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Europe will have its pan-European mobile payment system. Although we all thought that we would have a unique and universal Bizum For EU countries, what will happen will be a little different, but just as effective and probably better: long live interoperability. European Bizums connect. As indicated in CincoDíasBizum and the rest of the European platforms that imitated those free transfer functions easily accessible from mobile phones have finally joined forces. all friends. That was the last obstaclebecause all of them wanted to become the unique and universal Bizum. That would have forced the rest of the platforms to say goodbye to make way for that single platform, but instead what will happen is that the different platforms will be interoperable. The agreement includes 130 million connected users. Thanks to this interoperability project, 130 million EU (and Norwegian) citizens will be able to use this system. Not only that: the interoperable platform will be prepared to accept those from other European countries such as Switzerland or even others from markets not belonging to the euro zone. The key is in SPL. This interoperability can be achieved thanks to the so-called Standard Proxy Lookup (SPL), a “directory” service at the European level managed by the European Payments Council (EPC). This service allows banks to check which IBAN corresponds to each telephone number. Everything runs on the SEPA Instant Transfer infrastructureand thanks to new EU regulations, these transfers will soon be mandatory free or will have the same cost as a standard transfer, eliminating the traditional abusive commissions for immediate transfers. In 2026, personal payments. The technical implementation will begin in the coming months, and it is expected that before the end of the year a Spaniard with Bizum will be able to send money to a German with Wero and vice versa in a transparent and simple way. In theory, the operation of the system will not change for users, who will simply have to enter the recipient’s mobile number, regardless of the EU country, so that the transfer is carried out instantly. Shops in 2027. These personal payments with the European Bizum will end up giving rise to the other great option of the system: payments in electronic stores and points of sale. This option will arrive a little later, in 2027, and will undoubtedly be the great spearhead of these platforms against the two fierce competitors that dominated this segment. Setback for Visa and Mastercard. This agreement allows the European Union to have an internal payment system that will allow it to reduce its dependence on the systems that have been the de facto industry standard for decades, those offered by Visa and Mastercard. And a measure of the banks for the banks. European banks are also strengthening their position regarding the digital euro project that the European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing. This currency will in the future allow European citizens to have deposits in central banks without intervention by private banks. That, of course, took power away from these entities, but with this European Bizum they reinforce their role. Another step towards European digital sovereignty. For decades Europe has delegated all its digital systems to companies, especially from the US, and this project confirms an increasingly strong trend: that of European digital sovereignty. When processing payments within a European banking network, citizens’ consumption data does not go to US servers (as happens when using Visa, Mastercard, Apple or Google). And you can use Bizum without a bank card. This agreement does not prevent the platforms from continuing to evolve and improve on their own. This is what Bizum intends to do, which will launch Bizum Pay this year to pay directly in stores with the current account and without the need for a bank card. This will allow us to avoid dependence on Google Pay or Apple Pay, for example, on our mobile phones. It will first offer this option in shops in Spain, and in 2027, in line with the objective of that interoperable European Bizum, in shops in the EU. In Xataka | The Treasury confirms it: payments for dinner and gifts to your friends through Bizum do not go to the Tax Agency

the reality of extra autonomy is a bucket of cold water

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One of those novelties that were seen in the past CES 2026 was the technology of solar panels integrated into the body of the vehicle by the hand of Solarstica startup emerged from Hyundai Motor Group. The idea of ​​using solar energy to charge batteries is not new, but its technology is innovative and above all, His promises are most promising. (pardon the redundancy). It is in the testing phase on real models such as the IONIQ 5 and the ST1, because it is not a mere concept: they are serious. In addition, he won the prize of Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility. Up to 80 extra kilometers per day. Solarstic affirms that integrates solar panels on the hood and roof so that, combined, they can generate up to 500 watts of power, which can extend the range of an electric vehicle up to 50 miles per day (80 km), a more than respectable figure to cover daily trips. They also explain that for long-distance trips you can “recharge around 30% of the battery while driving.” It’s not glass. Not even a sticker. The idea goes from forgetting the classic and heavy glass of traditional panels, which takes its toll on the vehicle’s center of gravity and its aerodynamics, in favor of lightweight polymers in encapsulated form. To integrate them into structural elements (they are not mere adhesives) such as the hood or roof, injection molding is used, which allows for more complex and curved shapes. It also has its advantages in passive safety: in the event of a collision or run over, a polymer hood would absorb energy compared to a glass one, which is rigid and at risk of breaking. It hasn’t been easy. To the technical challenge of manufacturing in the form of polymer encapsulation with high pressure and the risk of solar cells breaking (which have solved with a protective layer and lowering the injection pressure) durability and aesthetics come together. Polymers exposed to the sun tend to degrade, losing transparency in favor of a yellowish tone that reduces efficiency. In addition, a simple wash could also deteriorate them and not only aesthetically: if the polymer is scratched, the light is scattered and does not reach the cell. So they are testing with anti-scratch and anti-degradation coatings. Finally, they have opted for a more discreet black finish that hides the solar cells in plain sight. Your face sounds familiar to me. The concept of using solar energy: Lightyear One and its promise of 70 km of autonomy per day. The fine print: a prohibitive cost that ended up accelerating its end to focus on the Lightyear 2 and finally, bankruptcy of the Dutch company. Sono Motors also tried it with its Sono Sionbut financing was difficult for them and they ended up canceling the car to focus on selling their panel technology to buses and trucks. Aptera seems to be able to bring the adventure to a successful conclusion: have confirmed that 2026 is the year for the first deliveries of its ultra-efficient three-wheeled solar vehicle. It’s a niche model, not an SUV. However, more established brands such as Mercedes Benz (with its Vision EQXX with sunroof or with solar paint) either Toyota and its Prius They have also tried it. It’s time to talk about numbers. Theory and practice. We are going to take a car that we know well because we have tested: the Hyundai Ioniq 5which consumes about 17 kWh per 100 km. To achieve 80 kilometers of autonomy, it would therefore be necessary to generate about 13.6 kWh. With a 500 W system (note, peak power), it would take just under 28 hours of perfect sun per day. This figure seems more plausible in a week parked in full sun than for a single day, or in an extremely efficient model like the Aptera and not in a two-ton car. Or a calculation based on the savings of auxiliary systems. This point is very interesting. In fact, never charging it could happen in a specific scenario: living in a sunny place like Cartagena (the sunniest city in Spain according to the vacation rental website Holidu with data from ‘World Weather Online’) and do about 10 kilometers a day. In Pamplona for example, taking a summer day and assuming about 5 hours of peak sun, it would be 2.5 kWh, which is enough for just under 15 kilometers. The figures fit with what we have seen before and show a reality: the car will not be able to be powered only by solar charging as we know it. Where that extra comes in handy. When we try the Vision EQXX In a couple of journeys we are talking about an increase in autonomy of 13 and 43 kilometers respectively. The second took place on a sunny day in June. And when our colleagues from Motorpasion They tested the Toyota Prius Plug In In 2021 we are talking about an extension, in the best of cases and with its capacity at 100%, of 6.1 kilometers. Its theoretical charging power was 180 W (practical, 140W). There they came to a conclusion: the solar panels will never be able to recharge the main battery up to 100%. Although boosting autonomy sounds great, we have already seen that for most people who do not live in paradise and drive more kilometers, this can be a little push that can be used to power the air conditioning or maintain the battery when parked. Of course, Hyundai has the scaling capacity that Sonos or Lightyear lacked and if they manage to make that solar module last a decade, it will be a magnificent ace in the hole. Not so much to charge the car for free, but because that extra can be used to cool the cabin without using up the main battery. In Xataka | The electric car promises that maintenance will be zero. Now it also promises affordable battery changes In Xataka | Toyota’s weapon to … Read more

The Line and Trojana were the jewels of the new Saudi Arabia. They will also be the first to face reality: they are very expensive

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Saudi Arabia imagined an almost dystopian future based on futuristic ski resorts, 170 km linear skyscrapers and paradise islands for millionaires. Reality has forced the Saudi authorities to wake up from their reverie and face serious cost overruns in the construction of their pharaonic projects and lack of budget to cover them. He Financial Times uncover in an article that an internal report in which auditors propose cutting the NEOM project in half, reusing what has already been built, but reorienting its objectives and, above all, its budgets. However, this cut is conditioned by the commitments that Riyadh has already adopted, organizing the 2030 World Expo and the 2034 World Cup. Oil gives no respite: we must cut back. According to Financial Times sources, the audit of the project that is about to conclude leaves no room for maneuver and forces Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to rethink the NEOM project. applying new cuts and changes in construction plans to a “much smaller” project. The reason for the cut is found in oil priceswho have not recovered from their downward trendseriously damaging the solvency of the nearly $1 trillion Saudi Public Investment Fund that finances NEOM. With a fund that does not grow at the rate it used to and huge investmentsPrince Mohammed has been forced to lower expectations and achieve short-term profitability from what has already been built. Put your feet on the ground. The NEOM project was born in 2017 as the flagship to transform the Saudi economy, moving from a model focused on the exploitation of natural gas and oil resources to one based on attracting investments, tourism and renewable energy. NEOM consisted of different big-budget projects to build infrastructure in a territory the size of Belgium on the Red Sea coast. The Line, the crown jewelpromised a linear city 170 kilometers long flanked by two 500-meter-high buildings, without cars or streets, and powered 100% by renewable energy. It was estimated that by 2030 this project would house 1.5 million people, at an approximate cost of 500 billion dollars. In 2024, the first phase of The Line has already suffered an important snip reducing its length 2.4 kilometers away. The Line was going to be a city, now your data will live. FT sources point out that Riyadh finally admits the initial design flaws, prioritizing what has already been built. Thus, The Line would go from being a futuristic megalopolis to reusing its foundations to become a data center hub to put Saudi Arabia in the AI ​​race. This shift reflects a change in strategy aimed at achieving more specific goals that provide a short-term return on invested capital, leaving behind the vision of infinite skyscrapers in the desert. Other cuts already announced include $8 billion less from the Public Investment Fund for the five main megaprojects, representing 12.4% of their total valuation. A ski resort in the desert. The cuts also seriously affect the construction of Trojena, the ski resort futuristic project that was to serve as the venue for the 2029 Asian Winter Games. However, the Asian Olympic Council that organizes this sporting event has announced in a statement “confirming the postponement of the 2029 edition to a later date that will be announced in due course”, and that experts link directly to cuts in its budget. According to published Bloombergthe project was initially budgeted at around 19 billion dollars and was going to offer 30 km of ski slopes that ran on the roof of the resort itself and different luxury hotels, in a desert area with little snowfall during the year, which added an added challenge to keep the artificial snow necessary for the operation of the station in good condition. This first postponement sows uncertainty about the future of other competitions to which it has already committed, such as the football stadium that was going to be built. on the roof of The Line. In Xataka | Siranna: the new luxury destination for the super-rich is a spa that looks like Minas Tirith and only ships arrive Image | NEOM

The latest Stranger Things deepfake is so amazing that it shows that reality is beginning to be optional

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This week, a Brazilian content creator named ederxavier3d published an amazing video on his Instagram account. In it they appeared several of the protagonists of the series ‘Stranger Things’ making just the gestures and expressions that he made in the lower window. He explained that he had achieved it in a simple way and thanks to the new Kling 2.6 and its characteristic Motion Control. This option allows the movements we make in a video to be transferred to any real or fictitious person, regardless of the style in which they are represented (it can be a comic book character) with an amazing result. And in the case of the Brazilian creator’s video it can be clearly seen: these videos could perfectly pass for real in almost all cases. It is true that if you look closely you can sense that something is wrong, but only because the video has been shared making it clear that it was created with AI. This video has once again awakened a debate that has been linked to this type of deepfakes for some time. Justine Moore, partner at investment firm a16z, explained that “we are not prepared for how quickly (video) production flows are going to change with AI. Some of the latest video models have immediate implications for Hollywood. Endless character swaps at negligible costs.” How the story has changed. In April 2023 we proposed a little game to all of you who read us: Would you be able to distinguish a real image from one generated by AI? At that time, AI was already achieving remarkable results—the image of the Pope with the coat proved it—but the feeling was that we could still tell whether an image had been created with an AI or not. With the video things were even clearer.because at that time AI video generation I was in diapers. Three years later things are very different, and there are several AI platforms (I see 3, Sora 2Kling, Runway) that generate videos that anyone could easily confuse without problems. Tell Will Smith. ederxavier3d’s video also demonstrates this, and in fact something unique happened with it: there were rumors that the Stranger Things characters had actually recorded those appearances and the creator had imitated their movements, and then rumors appeared that denied that this was true and that suggested that from the beginning the videos were nothing more than what they seemed: deepfakes created with AI. A priori everything would suggest that this is the case: the Kling 2.6 feature is not at all new and other platforms allow our movements and gestures – and even our voice – to be transferred to a character generated by AI. The problem is that At this point it is almost impossible to distinguish whether that person who appears on the screen is real or not. This technology is extraordinarily striking and causes that “wow effect” that AI companies so seek, but despite the creative options it offers, the risks here seem especially notable. The identity theft It is now easier to achieve than ever, and that will probably mean that we will see many more dangerous cases. It is enough to remind the employee that transferred 25 million dollars believing that the person who told him via videoconference was his real boss. It is not clear how, for example, Hollywood studios will react to this technology, but for now some are already taking action on the matter to try to protect themselves. The best example is Matthew McConaughey, who these days has “patented himself” to have one more legal resource (which we are not sure is necessary) to protect yourself against possible videos impersonating you. The implications are enormous, and we are entering an era in which something disturbing is going to happen: We will not be able to trust what we see on a screen. In Xataka | “Hello, I’m your grandson and I need $3,000”: there are already scams on the elderly with voices generated by AI

The director of the DGT says that in the future cars will not enter cities. It’s more of a wish than a reality

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Today is January 14, 2026 but, really, it doesn’t matter when you read this: Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, is once again in the news for some controversial statements. We could have titled this article that way, in fact, because the truth is that every time the Director of Traffic speaks at an event broadcast by the media there is something to scratch. This time it was at an event organized by Europa Press where Navarro showed off this particular superpower. There, he has assured the following: “We are all day with emissions, yes emissions, no such and such. Don’t look, you don’t go to the city center with electric, diesel or gasoline. Let’s not make a mistake. You go with public transportation and if you’re in a hurry, taxi, Uber or Cabify” They are literal words. There is no possible misinterpretation or audio cuts to take the message out of context. You can check it yourself in the tweet that accompanies this article. Click on the image to go to the original tweet The words clearly point to an ambition: to get the car out of the city center. It doesn’t matter if it’s gasoline, diesel or electric. There is a goal and that goal is vehicle sharing and public transportation. We could put our hands on our heads. We could say that they want to prohibit us from moving where the elites want. Of course, there will be those who relate this to 15 minute cities. However, we have been hearing similar messages for so long and the measures to be taken have been so lukewarm that, without fear of being wrong, I say: calm down. Once again, the same old thing This is not the first time, far from it, that we have heard this type of message from the director of the DGT. For two years, news and articles have been recurring that point to supposed prohibitions on using our cars if they are only occupied by one person. One of the most repeated formulas is found in these words from Navarro himself at an event called Global Mobility Call held in Madrid in 2024: “The future of traffic will be shared or it will not be (…) we must make a collective change in mentality that allows us to encourage high vehicle occupancy, because we cannot afford to move 1,500 kg every day to move a single person. Increasing vehicle occupancy is a challenge and a necessity” Navarro too has come to be described as “luxury” moving a single person in a vehicle. And in November he insisted again in that it doesn’t matter if the car is electric or not because the future of cities depends on public transport. However, the DGT has not taken any action that points in this direction nor is there anything on the table to debate it. The closest thing is the creation of a Bus-HOV lane at the entrance to Madrid where cars with two or more people traveling inside are rewarded. And that in 2019 it was also advocated from the DGT magazine for a city “with more pedestrians and fewer cars.” The statements have also been used to fill the network with articles pointing out that we will not be able to enter the center of our cities by car, linking them with the creation of low-emission zones. But the truth is that these low-emission zones have a very limited scope. In some of them, such as Madrid or Barcelonavehicles without a label are prevented from entering, but either there are exceptions or they allow all cars with a label to enter the very center of the city. It is true that sometimes you are forced to park in a parking lot but the passage, if our car has at least label Bit is open. Despite many statements by the DGT, the truth is that the efforts to reduce or not reduce traffic in cities go through the municipal corporations of each place. A context that has led to turning the issue of urban mobility into a political weapon. To the point of defending that traffic jams can be “a hallmark” of a city. The comparison between Madrid and Barcelona are two good examples. In the capital, the Popular Party won an election by ensuring that it was going to lift all circulation restrictions, something he didn’t do and that, in fact, he maintained to eliminate all unmarked cars (regardless of whether the driver lives in Madrid or not) from the city. Barcelona en Comú promoted a completely different way of understanding the city in Barcelona, ​​betting on pedestrianization, reduction of lanes in the city center and the creation of what are known as Superilles. It has also been promoted to be more aggressive and fence off the entrance to the city from the most polluting vehicles. Two different approaches that, however, have given a very similar result. And the measures against the car have been very lukewarm. In both cities, if the vehicle has an environmental label it can circulate inside, just taking into account a series of obligations that, in practice, barely change our daily lives. In Madrid, the idea of ​​preventing unlabeled cars from being banned was finally scrapped (as long as they are registered in Madrid). And prohibiting entry to city centers with cars is not something that is catching on in Europe either. Yes, the main cities have restrictions and barriers that discourage its use, but in all of them you can continue to travel to the city center by car. In London you want reduce traffic with tollsin Paris punishing street parking and in Berlin you are also forced to drive with certain modern vehicles. Be that as it may, the only certainty is that total prohibitions do not come and if citizens end up leaving their cars aside in the cities it is because they have been transversal jobs in different areas and sustained over timewith investments … Read more

While half the world looks for an alternative to Taiwan, Jensen Huang is very clear about the harsh reality: there is no

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In the technological world, the United States AIthe China’s semiconductor breakthroughs and the robotics explosion They were protagonists during the last months. But if there is something essential for these industries to function, it is Taiwan. In semiconductors, Taiwan is the one who splits the cod, and its technological diamond is TSMC. And the CEO of NVIDIA is clear that it is not worth burning money looking for the new TSMC immediately. Because it’s something that will take decades to replicate. Resilience. TSMC is about to turn 40 years old and is the company that manufactures for the elephants of the semiconductor sector such as AMD, Apple, ARM, MediaTek, Qualcomm or NVIDIA itself, among many others. They are the ones that have the most advanced machines of the European ASMLthose that have refined their processes to the extreme and are used even by manufacturers that have their own factories, such as Intel or Texas Instruments. It is something that affects the user directly, proof of this is that a mobile chip manufactured by TSMC is not the same as almost the same one made by Samsung. And to these processes is added a brutal manufacturing capacity that has dominated the industry. And, of course, looking to bite into that pie, different countries have tried to find their own TSMC. However, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has commented that efforts to diversify production must be made from the angle of resilience, not replacement. You don’t have to burn money like crazy. In recent months, Europe and the United States have begun to add manufacturing capacity in the semiconductor segment. The problem is that you cannot build a competitive industry in a short time: experience is needed and failure is not allowed. That, in an industry that is evolving at a very rapid pace due to the needs for chips for feed the artificial intelligenceis not contemplated. That is why Huang believes that the market is becoming selective and if guarantees are needed to manufacture chips, the one who gives those guarantees is turned to. Huang has been giving interviews for a few days and touching on key topics. For example, pointing out that The breakup between the US and China makes no sense because China is a very powerful trading partner, but also ensuring that Taiwan, as much as certain countries may not like it, will be the axis in the development of advanced computing in the coming years. China and the US investing millions. SIA is the acronym for Semiconductor Industry Association. It is the organization that seeks to advance policies that help the growth of the manufacturing industry in the United States. In your report Last year, they targeted 100 projects in 28 states totaling more than half a trillion dollars of private investment to triple the capacity of American industry by 2032. amd wants to be one of the protagonists of this operationbut also an Intel that seeks to position itself as a key factory on American soil and that has received strong government support. China is not far behind. With the explosion of robotics and AI, companies like SMIC or Huawei are developing alternatives to American technology to fuel their computing needs. They are looking for something else: industrial autonomy, and for that the Government has been releasing a series of funds to become one of the biggest names in the sector. If a subsidy package was launched in 2024 $47.5 billiona few weeks ago, other of up to 70,000 million to support that industry. Rvalidates directly with the US CHIPS of 52,000 million and 43,000 European million. The objective in both cases is the same: allocate obscene amounts of money to areas such as design, equipment, manufacturing and materials, as well as energy solutions that allow chips to be manufactured, but also to feed the companies in each country’s ecosystem. In the case of China, furthermore, there is an urgency to achieve these objectives as it is not able to have the advanced ASML machines and NVIDIA chips, something that the United States, Europe and Taiwan do have. India more of the same. But this is not a question of two great poles. South Korea also seeks become one of the great players of semiconductors, and another country that is designing an ambitious strategy to attract investment in semiconductors is India. Over the last few months they have been approving a series of aid packages (the last in January of this year, of 4.6 billion dollars) to boost the manufacturing of electronic components in the country. Apart from investing in their first state-of-the-art semiconductor factory (an investment of 11 billion dollars is estimated to achieve this), they are launching other aid and tax advantages to attract companies such as Samsung, Foxconn (also Taiwanese) or Apple to their territory. The goal is not to be a country that assembles the final product, but rather to manufacture critical components and move up the industrial value chain. Taiwanese expansion. The “problem” for these countries, and a great advantage for TSMC, is that they all seem to be very far away. India wants to achieve a chip made in 28 nanometer lithography, which is something that TSMC surpassed generations ago. AND China is fighting over 7 and 5 nm. Meanwhile, TSMC has refined its 3nm process and, as we say, TSMC’s great asset is not only that they have the experience and technology, but the ability to manufacture the best chips for customers who need those terribly refined chips. But there’s more: if China, Europe, the United States and India are moving, TSMC itself is diversifying. Yes Europe aspires to manufacture 20% of the planet’s semiconductorsit will be thanks to the TSMC plant planned in Germany. And although the US hates that it is a foreign company the one who has the upper hand in this great technological – and monetary – adventure of AI, TSMC has already settled on US soil. In the end, each territory seeks its … Read more

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