remote

In 1901, a Spanish man had one of the ideas of the century: invent the remote control before television

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Televisions change, technologies change, but there are interactions that last despite the passage of years, decades and even centuries. An example of this is the remote controller, which has historically allowed us to interact with devices from a distance, although what we currently know is very different from the first concept of remote control. Although televisions did not become more common in the last decades of the 20th century, the concept of the remote controller appeared much earlier. Specifically, in 1901. And a fact that you may not know is that one of the pioneers of the remote control was a Spaniard, the engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo. The controller anticipated the televisions The history of the remote control dates back, as we said, to the first years of the last century. In 1903, the inventor, mathematician and engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo (1852-1936) conceived, built and patented the first remote control in history. He called it Telekino, and as one might thinkIt is far from the controls for televisionsand other devices we see now. Miniaturization was not a reality until much later and the Telekino took up an entire table. Telekino in Abra. Image: Torresquevedo.org Of course, the Telekino was not created with the idea of ​​controlling televisions remotely, which in reality did not become a reality almost until the incorporation of the cathode ray tube (withthe pushfrom Telefunken and other manufacturers). The idea was to control airships without anyone being in danger in the tests, but finally he tried it with boats as they recalled in the written edition ofThe Countryin 2007, when the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recognized the invention by including it in its official list of milestones in the history of engineering. It was the first time that a Spanish creation became part of this list, in which we find inventions by Benjamin Franklin, Alessandro Volta and Guglielmo Marconi among others. Telekino, as you may have deduced, comes fromTV(from ancient Greek, “far”, meaning “at a distance”, “remotely”) andkinein(also from the Greek, “movement”), by the way. IEEE Recognition Plaque. Image: YouTube We already talked about Telekino inXatakaprecisely because of this historical recognition, also to remember that at the time it was not highly praised. In fact, Torres Quevedo himself would abandon the project as he did not receive sufficient support. The valuable legacy of Torres Quevedo One of the prototypes of the Telekino is located in the Torres-Quevedo Museum, in the Higher Technical School of Civil, Canal and Port Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid. And thanks to a short (virtual) visit to that museum for the centenary of one of the Spanish engineer’s inventions we can discover more of them, also very relevant. Torres Quevedo is credited with nothing more and nothing less than the first Spanish airship, as well as the first ferry suitable for transporting people (or in other words, an open cable car for people). The invention was patented in 1887, and it would not be until 30 years later when it materialized, being launched on Mount Ulía in San Sebastián in 1907. Compensation also came in the form of international export, since the system reached neither more nor less thanto Niagara Falls. Thus, the callSpanish AerocarIt continues to operate today in the well-known region and celebrated its centenary in 2016, having completed more than 10 million transports without recording incidents. Torres Quevedo was also a precursor of modern computing with his Ajedrecista, considered the first chess computer game, and the electromechanical arithmometer, a calculator accompanied by a typewriter, a precursor to digital calculators. In Xataka | In 1925, procrastination was already a problem and someone found the definitive solution: the isolation helmet. In Xataka | We have been fascinated for years by the geniuses who come up with revolutionary innovations out of thin air. It’s always been smoke (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news In 1901, a Spanish man had one of the ideas of the century: invent the remote control before television was originally published in Xataka by Anna Marti .

A remote town in Soria attracted neighbors by offering them a house and bar. Two months later they left due to the cold

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Beratón is a small municipality in Moncayo, province of Soria, which stands out for its high altitude (the largest in the province) and reduced census (38 inhabitants, according to the INE). However, in recent weeks it has left one of the clearest examples of how difficult it is to keep pace with the depopulation of the ’emptied Spain’. A few months ago, its City Council tried to attract residents by offering a “business + housing” combo that managed to awaken the interest of a young couple from Cuenca. They didn’t even last three months. The cold and the drop in activity have led them to pack their bags again. It could be just an anecdote, but it illustrates how complicated it is to reactivate rural Spain. Even when there is good disposition and ideas. What has happened? That Beratón (Soria) has left one of those stories that, although a priori may seem simple and anecdotal, reflect much more complex trends. In May, the municipality made the news because its City Council launched an unusual announcement: whoever agreed to manage the town’s tavern would have at their disposal a newly renovated house. Business and housing guaranteed. “All kinds of facilities will be provided,” the mayor insistedCarmen Lapeña, on the SER Soria network, who also recalled that Beratón was a popular point for hikers and groups who came to Moncayo to spend the day. And it worked? Yes. The offer attracted a familya young couple from Cuenca. His arrival was doubly good news: not only did he swell Beratón’s meager census, but in theory it would serve to reactivate the town’s main point of socialization. The joy, however, was short-lived. A few days ago our colleagues from Straight to the Palate revealedciting SER, that the new residents have not lasted even two months there. They packed their bags at the end of December, which does not prevent the mayor from continuing to think about attracting new blood for the town. Of course, starting in March, when temperatures begin to rise and the town regains activity little by little. Why are they gone? The couple’s decision is actually little surprising. To start Beratón it becomes a cold place in winter, with temperatures that often fall below zero. “The winter months are very hard,” acknowledges the councilor, who for that reason rules out trying to bring in new families during January and February, “bad times.” However, the weather is only part of the problem. After all, there are other icy locations (even more than Berathon) who have no difficulties in attracting hoteliers. Its other big problem is depopulation and especially the ups and downs of the census. Although the INE has registered there 38 inhabitantsactually that’s just a reference. Although during the summer months the town welcomes more than 300 residentsin the harshest months of winter it is left with a handful of inhabitants stable, just half a dozen. The figure is so low that it is difficult to maintain the profitability of a business, even if it is a bar. “The days are very short, very cold… sad. People come, but punctually.” Is it a unique case? The story of Beratón includes some of its own ingredients, but its underlying problem is not very different from that faced by other parts of ’emptied Spain’ that find it difficult to stop the population drain. If at the beginning of this century there were in Spain 934 municipalities With less than 100 inhabitants, in 2021 that figure had risen to 1,379. Of the slow emptying of ’emptied Spain’ echoed before the pandemic the Spanish Rural Development Network (REDR) and the problem does not seem to be subsiding. The latest data from the INE show that the club of localities with less than a hundred registered residents has added thirty municipalities in the last five years, remaining at over 1,400 as of 2025. Is it that complicated? It seems so. In Galicia we found other cases which, although again they may seem anecdotal, help to better understand the general trend. There are rural town councils there that are taking over businesses such as gas stations and stores to prevent them from closing, which would be equivalent to running out of services and further accelerating their decline. It may seem excessive, but a recent report from the Consello de Contas warns that in Galicia there are almost a hundred of towns in ‘danger of extinction’, many of them located in A Coruña and Lugo. In Spain, in fact, there are already ‘ghost towns’ for sale. Why’s that? Due to a combination of factors: rural exodus, poor communications, difficulties in finding employment or establishing a long-term life project… For a time the pandemic, reconnection with nature and teleworking seemed to clear the future of some towns, but that ‘renaissance’ it didn’t always stick. In the background there is another problem, much more complex: housing. It is one thing that when we visit rural areas of Spain we see empty houses and quite another that those same properties are available for people interested in taking advantage of them or are habitable. How to solve it? The big question. In rural areas there are also second residencetourism-oriented housing, constructions whose ownership has become blurred over the decades and others that do not directly meet the necessary conditions to welcome new tenants. “The legislation gives city councils weapons to act in case of ruin, but we are so small and with so few resources that we cannot execute the laws,” he lamented in 2024 Enrique Collada, mayor of Alcarria, a town of 71 inhabitants in Guadalajara. Similar message launches the Tierras Sorianas del Cid Association: “There is a lot of empty housing or housing with residual use that we should try to put on the market.” The objective: escape the effects of demographic winter. Another thing (as has happened in Beratón) is the rigors of the climatic winter. Images | Beratón Town Hall and Miguel Á. Garcia (Flickr) In Xataka … Read more

Thanks to Starlink, Papua New Guinea was able to access the Internet in its most remote areas. That dream is over

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Thousands of people in Papua New Guinea They have been left without an internet connection following the government’s order to suspend operations of starlink in the country. The decision has come amid a legal blockade that has lasted more than a year, and is affecting businesses, health centers and rural communities that depended on Elon Musk’s satellite service to stay connected. What exactly happened. In mid-December, the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (Nicta) ordered Starlink to cease all operations in Papua New Guinea because the company does not have a license to operate in the country. “Starlink is currently not licensed to operate in Papua New Guinea, and until the legal process is completed, services cannot be permitted,” account Lume Polume, CEO of Nicta, told The Guardian. The company has already completely withdrawn its services from the territory. Why was there so much hooking? Although there are no official figures on how many users Starlink had in the country, telecommunications analysts estimate that its terminals served thousands of people before the closure, including entire towns and districts in remote areas, according to the media. For many rural communities it was the only viable option since mobile networks are unreliable or non-existent, and other satellite services are much more expensive. Starlink offered fast, relatively inexpensive internet in places where connectivity had historically been a chronic problem. The real impact of going offline. The blackout has generated a series of important problems in daily life. Teachers like Simon Jack, who works at a remote secondary school in the Southern Highlands province, have explained to the British media that students need the internet to check their academic results and see where they have been admitted to study this year. “For many of them, Starlink was the only option that worked,” he says. In the health field, health worker Theresa Juni, from East Sepik province, counted that his clinic used Starlink to communicate with doctors in the city and send reports quickly. “Now we have to wait days or travel just to send information. For patients who need urgent care, these delays can be dangerous,” he warns. On the other hand, the medium assures that some farmers and merchants must now travel long distances to cities to access banking services and other transactions that they previously did online. The legal mess behind the blackout. The problem comes from afar. Starlink has been trying to get a license in Papua New Guinea since December 2023, but in March 2024 the Ombudsman Commission blocked its approval citing concerns about service reliability and regulatory compliance, according to inform RNZ. Nicta took the case to court months later seeking to overturn this directive, but the court decision is still pending. Meanwhile, the regulatory authority is “legally prevented” from issuing a license until the court rules. The Pacific is from Starlink. The irony is that Starlink has become a lauded service in other Pacific nations, especially after its deployment in Tonga after the 2022 volcanic eruption destroyed underwater internet cables. There the service was described as “transformational.” However, Papua New Guinea has been left out of this story for now. Just like account According to RNZ, last November, SpaceX’s director of global market access, Rebecca Slick Hunter, said at a conference in Port Moresby that the company was ready to activate services as soon as it received authorization, and that Starlink had already established a local entity in the country. Citizen reaction. About 200 people have signed an online petition asking that Starlink be allowed to operate legally, as confirmed by Nicta. Businessman and former MP John Simon has criticized harshly the situation: “This is really bad for this country. Internet and online services have been very expensive and slow for years, yet we cannot listen to ordinary people on the street and solve this,” he told The Guardian. “The Papua New Guinea government must do something for struggling small businesses. Ordinary people and small businesses depend on the cheapest and fastest option, and right now that is Starlink. This problem must be fixed.” Cover image | starlink In Xataka | Without making a noise, someone has eclipsed Elon Musk among the most influential millionaires in the US: Larry Ellison

In 1962, a remote village in Tanzania suffered an epidemic of laughter. To this day we still have not been able to cure it.

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If you are one of those who are easily infected by other people’s laughter, you probably would not have survived what happened to a town of Tanganyika on January 30, 1962. This is what two doctors say who compiled the facts: at a girls’ missionary school in the town of Kashasha, on the coast of what we currently know as Lake Victoria (Tanzania), three students began to joke. His laugh mutated from normal to nervous, ceasing to be both a manifestation of humor and something more disturbing. The girls couldn’t stop laughing hysterically. Laughter, that traditional escape valve, was now a terrifying reaction. Without knowing very well how, the rest of the school began to be infected with this effect, and within a few hours 95 of the 159 attendees at school were also laughing for hours, 16 hours in a row in the most serious cases. These were the facts that caught the attention of the doctors: on the one hand, the Kashasha school also operated as a residence. The girls slept in communal rooms, dividing themselves into rooms with girls of various ages. Those affected were not located in specific points of the residence, there were no rooms where everyone suffered from hysteria at the same time, but instead They were distributed throughout the center. None of the two Europeans and three Africans who worked as teachers suffered any uncontrollable panic attacks. Trying to put a stop to the phenomenon, the residence and school were closed for a month. The girls went home, but instead of stopping it, they extended it much further: after ten days, cases of uncontrollable laughter were observed 80 kilometers from the school. Five months later the final count in this area of ​​10,000 people was 217 people treated and around 1,000 affected. Boys and girls suffered from it indiscriminately, children but also some young people, and mostly illiterate kids with modest finances. Each patient’s attacks lasted an average of four to eight hours, with a known case of 16 consecutive daysand after the attack subsided they usually suffered one or two more. No one had more than four attacks. Although we imagine these abductions as something comical, comedy was the last of the predominant feelings during those episodes: to the laughter was added crying, respiratory problems, a general restlessness of the subject, manifestation of violence towards others and, in some specific cases, paranoia, with girls commenting that there were demonic subjects chasing them. Would the corn flour have been contaminated? Maybe a new virus? Maybe a supernatural curse? The blood samples that were sent to the laboratories came back with a NAD, “Nothing Abnormal Detected”. There are even those who suspected that everything could have been distorted or invented. This hypothesis lost strength over the years. For a very simple reason: because other outbreaks of sudden, very strange social epidemics were observed. The dance, the fainting, the dream In 1983in the area of ​​the West Bank occupied by the Israeli army, it was seen that at least 400 Arab girls and a teacher had spontaneously suffered nausea, nervousness and dizziness, ending in fainting and loss of consciousness. Over time, some Israeli female soldiers would also disappear. In Virginia, United States, some high school students suffered a mass hysteria of laughter equal to that of Tanganyika in the 60s. Any new drugs? Anyone put laughing gas through the vents? “The school is still safe”said the authorities, who at the end of the cycle attributed the circumstance to a “unusual stress” that students might be suffering. In 2017 a strange local Swedish phenomenon was published in the press for the first time that has been going on for decades. There have not been many cases between the 90s and 2010, but only between 2015 and 2016 there were almost 200 cases at once. Only the children of refugees who have requested asylum suffer from it. As soon as the parents know that permission has been denied, some of these children enter a kind of coma: they remain completely passive, do not speak, eat or drink, lose control of their sphincters and do not know how to react to pain. Swedish doctors say they do not know what to do, since the investigation of the event causes the epidemic to spread with new cases. They do not doubt the veracity of the phenomenon: although attempts at fraud have been discovered, with parents simulating the effect on their children to stay longer in the host country, most cases have been authenticated. Psychologists have named the ailment as Resignation Syndromealthough the hypothesis of studying it as another case of “epidemic hysteria” was considered. The academic term for epidemic hysteria is “mass psychogenic illness”or MPI, as it appears abbreviated in psychiatry manuals. To say that there are few certainties is to exceed the medical achievements achieved to determine what these attacks consist of. They are episodes so specific and so little controllable that, as they come, they go. Among the common aspects that have been seen are: a) that there is no plausible organic basis; b) that there is previously excessive anxiety in the affected group; and c) that spreads through sight, sound or oral communication. Although the effects are physical, it seems that it is a disease closely linked to the psychological. Although it has not been possible to study it correctly due to its lack of data, some historical cases of hysteria have subsequently been read as examples of the MPI. There they were dance epidemics in medieval Europein which the local population danced or held obscene orgies for hours or days, leading some to death. In search of answers The priests who were going to exorcise the novices of the cloistered convents Sometimes they noted that several of these newcomers suffered from it at the same time. Perhaps in response to the excessive discipline and poverty of the lives that awaited them, many of them began to meow, insult and seduce their companions. Although it … Read more

In 2001, a yacht took refuge on a remote island in the Atlantic. Days later its inhabitants breaded fish with coca

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To the island of Sao Miguelthe largest and most populated of the Azores archipelago, is known as the ‘Green Island’ for its lush meadows. In 2001, however, the most appropriate thing was to refer to it as the white island. In one of those pirouettes of destiny that usually inspire Netflix scriptwriters (and in this case that’s how it was) began to arrive on the coasts of São Miguel, more specifically on those of the freguesia of Fish Taildozens and dozens of uncut bales of cocaine of extraordinary purity. The Atlantic brought them by surprise and without anyone in Rabo de Peixe being able to explain very well why or where they came from. What there is little doubt about more than 20 years later is that that episode changed history of the island. Not only because Rabo de Peixe was forever associated with surrealist images (it is counted that on the island there were families who they breaded mackerel with cocaine instead of flour), but for the mark it has left on a population of humble fishermen in which until then white powder was a luxury available to an elitist minority. Twenty-four years later, his story is back in the news thanks to streaming. Netflix has just released a new documentary about that episode, ‘White Tide: The surreal story of Rabo de Peixe’a launch that coincides with the premiere of the second season of a series inspired by the same event, the successful ‘Rabo de Peixe’. A drifting sailboat The Azores are a paradise on earth, but even the greatest of paradises can turn into hell. Antonino Quinzi saw this for himself at the beginning of June 2001, while steering a yacht of 12 meters across the Atlantic towards Spain. Although he was an experienced sailor and had recently completed the Canary Islands-Venezuela route, near the Azores he was surprised by a strong storm that damaged his ship’s rudder and threatened to set him adrift. Faced with such a panorama, Quinzi decided to postpone his original plan, which was to sail back from Venezuela to Spain, and seek refuge in some discreet cove of São Miguel. The word ‘discreet’ is not a minor nuance. To the residents of the parish of Pilar da Bretanha who saw how his yacht appeared on the horizon and sought shelter among the cliffs, Quinzi it seemed to them one more amateur sailor. One of the many sailboat owners who set out to sail the ocean without enough boards and end up finding themselves in trouble. In this case they were wrong. Quinzi was a hard-working Sicilian navigator and if he seemed to be stumbling along the coast of São Miguel it was because he was actually looking for a secluded place in which to hide the cargo he was transporting. On board his yacht, in addition to food and everything necessary for his long voyage, he hid hundreds and hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Venezuela. How many? Officially there is talk of half tonalthough there are those who remember that the ship could carry up to 3,000 kg and it would be strange for the Sicilian to embark on its ocean voyage without taking advantage of that cargo capacity. The fact is that Quinzi needed to reach a port where he could repair his yacht, but for obvious reasons he could not do so with the holds full of bales. To get out of trouble he decided to get rid of drugs. Some versions they count who used a boat to take part of the load to a cave, but had to abort the mission when he was surprised by some fishermen. Whether or not it is true, the fact is that to get rid of a large part of his cargo, Quinzi chose to another more radical solution. A wave of bundles Which? After ensuring that the bales would not be damaged by water, he placed them in fishing nets and then lowered them off the coast with the help of heavy chains and an anchor. Once he finished the task, he set sail towards the port of Rabo de Peixea humble and discreet fishing town located just over 20 kilometers from where he had hidden the shipment. The plan seemed perfect, if it weren’t for the fact that the same waves that had forced Quinzi to seek shelter ended up destroying the net that hid the coca bales. The result: dozens and dozens of packages began to emerge and the waves dragged them towards the coast. Guardian account how the first official notice was recorded on June 7, 2001, just one day after Quinzi’s yacht was seen lurking around the cliffs. While walking through a cove, a local came across a large black plastic sheet that hid what looked like dozens of packed bricks. He notified the police, who soon found that there were 270 bales that weighed nearly 300 kilos. Over the next few days, the authorities received similar notices from people who found bundles while walking along the coast. It is said that in just two weeks the agents seized more than 400 kg of drugs, which is not a bad balance if you take into account that the police estimated that the total shipment It was around 500 kg. But… And the rest? And above all, was the yacht actually transporting more drugs, as one of the Portuguese journalists who covered the event suspects? “The ship could carry up to 3,000 kg and no one would cross the Atlantic with only a small part of what it can carry,” argues Nuno Mendes, a reporter who traveled from Lisbon to cover the news. There was more or less drug, almost a hundred kilos or many more, what seems evident is that most of that unseized cocaine ended up in the hands of the inhabitants of São Miguel, where they barely live. 140,000 people. The focus is placed above all on the population of Rabo de Peixe, one … Read more

70 years ago the United Kingdom took the most remote islet in the world to frustrate the USSR. Today is a huge headache

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Rockall is a sharp stone in the middle of the Atlantic. Literally. Small, inhospitable, isolated, The islet It seems molded on purpose to repel any human presence. No one lives there and the few adventurers who have challenged the island, tried to spend as long as possible on their surface, have endured as much a month and a half. However and despite all that, Rockall stars in an exciting story that Even today It is marked by the controversy. After all, it has gone from being an important piece for the national defense of Great Britain (and the whole of NATO) to an important economic asset. In a (remote) place of the Atlantic … Throughout the Atlantic there are countless islands, archipelagos and rocks, but few are as inhospitable as Rockalla small rocky promontory of the North Atlantic. He arrives with reviewing a few data to get an idea of ​​to what extent he is isolated and is the last place on the planet in which one would want to spend his vacation. Rockall is among the coasts of Scotland, Ireland and Iceland, hundreds of kilometers from anywhere inhabited. To find houses and population you have to look at 370 kilometers From there, a NORT UISTin the Exterior hebrids (Scotland). “The most isolated rock”. It is not just that Rockall is far from everything. It is directly thought to repel the presence of humans. The islet measures only 25 meters wide and rises 17 m above sea level, which explains that its slope is often shaken by the waves of the Atlantic. There is no one to live there, but the few people who have tried to try their luck have encountered an inclined and rocky surface, a granite block in which there is hardly any space of 3.5 x 1.3 m level enough to stand. In the middle of the last century the British naturalist James Fisher described Rockall as “the little most isolated rock of the oceans of the world.” Even more graphic was a few years ago Lord Kennet, torque and exmarinero than He referred to the islet as the “most desolate, most despair and more horrible” place on the planet. The person who has spent more time on his sharp rocks was the surveyor Nick Hancock, who endured 45 days on its surface. A few years ago a teacher and veteran of the British army wanted ‘Solo’ a month. A rock with an intense story. Given its characteristics, one might think that Rockall is a rocky point without any interest in the middle of the North Atlantic, an islet away from political debate or territorial disputes. Not at all. Its history can go back several centuries agobut he became especially intense in the mid -XX. It was then, at the end of the summer of 1955, to be more precise, when Queen Elizabeth II authorized the annexation of the islet and ordered the British Royal Navy to “take possession of the island.” That same year, Remember the BBC chaina commander reported the successful “conquest” of Rockall. An indomitable island. That episode has already demonstrated how indomitable the rock islet is. The HMS Vidal, a recognition ship by the British Royal Navy, arrived in the area on September 15, 1955, but the sailors It took several days to be able to raise your flag. The reason: the very strong and violent wind gusts. The BBC Slide which was the last territory claimed by the British Empire. Years later, In 1972Parliament voted in favor of incorporating (already formally) Rockall into the United Kingdom, integrating it into the Western Islands of Scotland. But … why? 70 years ago Rockall was the same inhospitable, uninhabited and isolated rock that is today, so why the hell was Great Britain interested in his possession? What was lost there? To understand it you have to keep in mind the complicated geopolitical map of the 50s, In full cold warwhich conferred to Rockall a special value. With the NATO submarines and the USSR patrolling the North Atlantic, its possession became a festive issue. Not just that. Rockall may be isolated from everything, but less than 400 kilometers from there, in the exterior hebrids, London had its first Test field For American guided nuclear missiles. The islet may be hell on Earth, an sharp rock in which it was impossible to live more than a few weeks, but … what if “hostile agents”, as spies at the service of Kremlin, managed to settle in the area to monitor British tests? Beyond the Cold War. The USSR collapsed in the early 90s and London’s priorities in defense became others, but Rockall did not lose interest. Of course: this went from the military strategy to the field of economy and resource management. On the island the geologists identified a special type of granite, but if for something he stood out it was the potential of their marine bed and its waters. They interested their possible oil reserves. And interest (and much) the fishing richness that hid their waters, where rappes are captured, North Gallo, haddock or squid, among other species of high value. The problem is that this wealth not only interested London. He also did Islandia or Ireland. A headache. In 1982 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convent) established that rocks without population or economic fabric, as was the case of Rockall, could not be used as a basis for territorial claims. In other words, the islet could no longer be used as ‘key’ to argue the theoretical legitimacy of the United Kingdom over the surrounding waters. However, a Google search arrives to verify that in recent years law and fishing in the area have been a reason for friction With Ireland, Iceland or even Denmarkas representative of the Faroe Islands. The ‘Roces’ of 2019. One of the most tense episodes was lived before the pandemic, in 2019, when Scotland warned the Irish ships on the “illegal” drag fishing that … Read more

Coinbase is going from being “Remote First” to harden teleworking. The reason: North Korean hackers

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Coinbase, who was born as a digital native company and an defender of the work in a remote work, has reversed in the labor policy that he assumed mostly from the pandemic. Now require that all new employees travel to the United States for your face -to -face orientation. Those who access sensitive information must be American citizens and undergo fingerprints. Reason does not have so much to do with Teleworking setbacks that we have seen in other companies. It is rather a matter of survival: they have detected North Korean technological workers trying to systematically infiltrate the company To steal information and cryptocurrencies. The threat. The CEO, Brian Armstrong, explained that they have detected a constant flow of highly qualified North Korean candidates. “It’s as if 500 new each quarter graduated,” he said. And they are not simple amateur hackers: the FBI has confirmed that They operate with accomplices in US territory That they forward portable companies, attend virtual interviews posing as candidates and set up screen companies. It also occurs in Europe. For the Pyongyang regime, cryptocurrency theft is a more income source of financing whose income They also help the nuclear weapons program. Only this year they would have stolen $ 1.4 billion Exchange Bybit Between bambalins. Infiltrates are not the only problem. Coinbase has discovered bribes of hundreds of thousands of dollars to customer service workers to obtain account information. Some came to introduce mobiles in supposedly safe facilities to photograph screens with sensitive data. The company has responded with drastic measures: employees work in armored facilities with Chromebooks safe and limited access to information. “When we catch someone, we do not accompany him to the door; he goes to jail,” Armstrong said. Turning point. This security crisis marks a before and after in the debate on remote work. Coinbase has had to choose between what was its business culture and its survival. And he has done the second. In fact he has opened a new office in North Carolina to concentrate critical operations in US territory. The interviews now require keeping the camera on to verify that the candidate is the one who claims to be and is not being supplanted or directed. And now what. The Coinbase case can be just the tip of the iceberg. If a leading technology company with security as one of its pillars cannot keep remote work safe, what can others expect? Pandemia normalized teleworking, but security threats can reverse that trend. Especially in sensitive sectors such as finance, technology and defense. In Xataka | In 2011 a group of investors bought 80,000 bitcoins. They have been sold by 17,000,000% more expensive Outstanding image | Xataka

Archaeologists have been wondering how the drought affected the Mayan collapse. The answer was in a remote cave

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The sayinger says that the devil is hidden in the details. Often, when we talk about archeology, key clues too. Archaeologists who investigate the collapse of The Mayan civilization. For years experts wonder if that decline was motivated by changes in commercial routes, wars or climatic factors, such as droughts, a theory that has gained weight over the last years. What historians did not know is to what extent the Maya endured the shortage of rain between the ninth and 10th centuries. Now we finally know. And all thanks to A stalagmit Lost in a remote cave of Yucatan. What happened? That archaeologists have just achieved a valuable clue to better know the history of Mayan civilization. And not any period. What they have discovered is a fact that sheds light on one of their most fascinating chapters, The collapse of the classical period, a phase that extended Between the IX and X Centuries From our era and that he saw how the flourishing Mayan civilization fell into decline and the twilight of large cities arrived. During that stage the southern limestone settlements were abandoned and civilization moved northlosing part of its influence at a political and economic level. What have you found out? That this stage was marked by droughts. To be more precise, archaeologists have found out that between 871 and 1021 of our era they happened Eight long droughts In the Yucatan Peninsula, periods of water shortage that with all probability influenced the population. Not all of them lasted the same, but experts estimate that each of those episodes of agostation lasted at least three years, although there was one in particular that extended 13. Let us talk about extreme droughts It does not mean that it did not rain. With that term archaeologists refer to periods of at least three consecutive years during which the dry station lasted more months than usual or even in which one cannot talk about wet season as such. The experts They recognize That 13 years under these conditions, even with the water management techniques developed by the Maya, leads to “a great impact for society.” Why is it important? Because as the authors of the investigation recognize in An article Posted a few days ago in the magazine Science Advancesthat prolonged drought chain could play a key role in the history of the Maya, “contributing to the collapse of classical civilization.” “This period of Mayan history has fascinated us for centuries”, Recognize Dr. Daniel H. James, author of the study. “Multiple theories have emerged about the cause of collapse, such as changes in commercial routes, wars or severe droughts, based on the archaeological evidence left by the Maya. But in recent decades we have begun to learn a lot about what happened to the Maya and why, mixing archaeological data with quantifiable climate evidence.” Is it something new? Yes. And no. It is not the first time that archaeologists explore the impact that droughts had on the decline of classical Mayan civilization. Over the last years they have already reached more or less similar conclusions thanks to sediment study collected at the bottom of the Chichankanab lagoon or of Stalactite samples Obtained in a cave in southern Belize, clues that pointed to the role played by climate oscillations in The Mayan collapse. The new data obtained by James and their colleagues also fit other signals, as with the dates left by the Maya themselves in their monuments or records in the popular Chinchén Itzá. There, in one of the great settlement of the Yucatan, the inscriptions of dates are mysteriously faded just during the periods in which we now know that there were severe droughts. “It does not mean that the Maya left Chichen Itzá these periods, but it is likely that they had more urgent things than to worry about building monuments, as if the crops on which they depended would be successful or not.” So … why is it important? Although It is not the first time that archaeologists point to the effect of droughts in the Mayan collapse the new study published in Science It is important for several reasons. First, for your approach. Second, for its precision. In this case, researchers have departed from an especially valuable track: the stalagmites located in a Yucatan cave. Thanks to the dating and analysis of the oxygen isotope layers that contain these calcareous rocks, formed on the ground with the water that drips in the cave, experts have been able to obtain “very detailed information” on the climate of the terminal classic period. “Previous studies have measured the isotopes contained in lake sediments to determine the severity of drought, but do not contain enough detail to accurately find out the climatic conditions in a specific year and location,” They clarify From Cambridge. Unlike what happens with the sediments collected from the bottom of the lakes, “excellent to obtain a global vision,” says James, the stalagmites offer a variety of concise data. “They allow us to access more precise details that we were missing,” Write down the expertwho now acts as a researcher at the University College in London. According to the team, this has been the first time that archaeologists have been able to isolate information about the rains of humid and dry stations individually, obtaining the details of each one. How precise are they? Its authors say so. So far the stalagmites had provided data on rainfall annual measures during the classical terminal periodbut that information did not allow scholars to go down to detail. How much did it rain exactly in humid stations and dry? Thanks to the Yucatan stalagmite analyzed by the experts, which contains relatively thick annual layers, of about a millimeter, the experts have been able to analyze oxygen isotopes of each stage, an indicator of the drought. “Knowing the average annual rainfall does not reveal as much as knowing how every rainy season was”, Dr. James points out. “Isolate the rainy season … Read more

David Reber Jr., CSO of Nvidia, on the remote off buttons in AI chips

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What if an artificial intelligence chip could not come on if it is in the wrong place? That is the idea that begins to circulate strongly in Washington: demand that last generation GPUs include mechanisms that prevent its initialization If they have been diverted from their authorized destiny. The logic behind this proposal is simple – at least on paper -: If a chip cannot start, it cannot be used. But the involvement is much deeper. It is no secret that the United States wants to avoid at all costs that this technology ends up promoting Chinese arms development, and some legislators believe that control must be integrated directly into hardware. In that context, Nvidia, one of the main global manufacturers, has raised the voice. “They don’t have it. They won’t have it”: Nvidia’s official position The answer was swift. David reber Jr., Security Director of Nvidia, published a blunt message: “Our GPU does not have safety switches. And they should not have them. ”Reber defends that integrating such mechanisms into the hardware would be a strategic error, a risk of self -security and a direct threat to global confidence in American technology. “Permanently integrating a ‘Kill Switch’ into a chip is something completely different: a structural failure outside the user control and an invitation open to disaster. It is like buying a car and that the concessionaire is left with the remote control of the hand brake, in case one day you decide that you should not drive. That is not a sensible policy. It is an overreaction that would irreversibly damage the national interests and national security of the United States. It is not an improvised position. For Nvidia, opening the door to remote control functions is equivalent to creating permanent vulnerability, a weak point that could be exploited by hostile actors. The context is key to understanding the movement of Nvidia. During the last fiscal year, China represented 13% of company’s income, about 17,000 million dollars. However, those numbers are at stake. The successive US administrations have hardening chips export restrictions such as H100 either A100alleging national security motifs. Even so, Those chips continue to arrive in Chinamany times through unauthorized channels. And before that scenario, there are those who believe that the only way to cut the root problem is to introduce control at the silicon level. One of the proper names behind the most radical proposal is Bill FosterDemocratic congressman by Illinois and former particle. He is not a newcomer to the hardware world: he designed chips during his scientific stage and now leads a legislative proposal that I am looking formpon new technical requirements for manufacturers. Last May 6, Foster declared that his intention was Require US regulators the implementation of systems that allow tracking chips and avoiding their implementation if they do not have the corresponding export license. The bill was formally presented on May 15. Although remote deactivation does not explicitly mention, it raises the “implementation of chips safety mechanisms” as a way to detect cases of smuggling or improper use of advanced circuits. A law that does not say everything, but it hints almost everything THE PROJECT TEXT It does not come into technical details about how each mechanism should work, but it does mark a clear direction. It states that the chips covered by law – that is, those subject to export licenses— They must include “security mechanisms” able to help detect cases of smuggling or improper use. In addition, it requires that these systems cannot be deactivated or easily altered. The ambiguity of the text opens margin for interpretations, but makes clear an intention: that the control stops depending only on customs and begins to be integrated into the silicon itself. In any case, Nvidia’s position is not simple. On the one hand, it must comply with the restrictions imposed by the United States. On the other, he knows that losing the Chinese market would be a huge blow. Recently, H20 export was approved as part of a commercial agreement. However, its arrival to the Chinese market It has not materialized as expected: There are delays associated with obtaining licenses and the bureaucratic authorization process. While in the US it is discussed how to control the fate of the chips, China continues to advance in the opposite direction: develop their own. The objective is clear and not new: reduce the technological dependence of the West, especially in critical components such as GPUs. But one thing is the long -term strategy and another the current reality. And the reality is that China, for the moment, continues to need Nvidia chips, especially in full global career for artificial intelligence. Images | Nvidia (1, 2, 3) | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 Flash In Xataka | Ten Chinese companies in Chips and IA have allied with a common goal: to put an end to the domain of Nvidia

The good news for Russia is that the earthquake occurred in a remote area. The bad is that he concentrated his nuclear submarines

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Yesterday we woke up with the news of A historical earthquake In an area of the planet that you had not heard in life. Makes sense, Kamchatka It is located at the easiest end of the Russian Eastern Eastern region, such an inhospitable place that has a “good” side of history: we had to tell human casualties in Russia. However, and due precisely to its geographical situation, that is where Moscow keeps part of Its nuclear arsenal. The epicenter of Russian underwater power. Yes, the Magnitude 8.8 earthquake who shook Kamchatka’s peninsula, one of the more powerful registered In modern history, he has put one of Russia’s most sensitive military facilities under the international focus: the naval bases of Avacha Bay. The movement, which generated tsunami waves in the Pacific and coincided with the eruption of the klyuchevskaya sopka volcanothere was only 100 kilometers from the heart of Russian nuclear deterrent power in the Far East. Although the Moscow authorities assure that There are no fatalities No serious damage, doubts revolve around the real state of Rybachiy, the main base of Russian strategic submarinesand from the Naval Complex of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Rybachiy: the bastion of nuclear deterrence. The Rybachiy base It houses the backbone of the underwater strategic fleet of Russia in the Pacific Ocean: The SSBN of the Borei and Borei-A classsuccessors of Ancient Deltacapable of carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear heads. This installation, complemented by shipyards and missile load springs, represents a Central Piece of the Triad Russian nuclear, designed to guarantee the ability to retaliate in case of global conflict. In the area they also operate advanced attack submarines, like Yasen-M (indicated by the United States as one of the main threats under water), in addition to Oscar units and other submersibles of nuclear or conventional propulsion. The vulnerability of these assets in the face of extreme natural phenomena now generates serious unknowns. The Belgorod factor and the possesson weapon. To uncertainty is added the fact that Russia plans to move to Mysterious K-329 Belgorod To this same base. This submarine, the longest in the world, is a deep version Modified of the Oscar II class conceived to transport intercontinental nuclear torpedoes Poseidona strategic system also baptized as Status-6, designed to mock defenses and generate radioactive tsunamis. In addition, Belgorod is designed for underwater intelligence missions and undercover operations. The mere possibility that it would be in Avacha Bay during the earthquake The strategic interest of the natural catastrophe. Immediate technical risks and facilities. At the moment there is no clear evidence of damage to infrastructure or docked units. Bay’s own geography could have acted As a natural shield against the impact of the waves. However, they pointed out the Twz analysts that even minor variations of the sea level can cause critical problems: from submarines, violently hitting their ties (incidents known as Allision) until the entry of water in open gates or in ships subjected to maintenance. The robustness of the facilities, built with the hypothesis of an attack Nuclear in mind, reinforces the thesis that the damage has been limited, but does not completely eliminate uncertainty. The problem of concentrating a point. Beyond the punctual situation, the earthquake It exposes a structural dilemma: the risk of concentrating a substantial part of the Russian nuclear deterrence in a confined geographical enclave. The Avacha Baywith its shipyards, arsenals and strategic units, it constitutes a critical objective both from the military and natural point of view. The threat of an enemy attack was planned in design of the bases, but not that of a seismic phenomenon of historical magnitudescapable of questioning the safety of a key piece of the Russian nuclear triad. Strategic implications. In the background, the episode demonstrates how the stability of the world nuclear arsenal can depend on unpredictable natural factors. A single earthquake, in Second issueyou can compromise operability of strategic submarines whose function is to ensure the balance of nuclear terror. The fact that Kamchatka combines geological vulnerabilities With military assets In addition, the fragility inherent in global deterrence systems reveals. The international community, and especially the rival nuclear powers, will carefully observe the reports that emerge from Moscow, aware that nature, unlike strategic calculations, is impossible to deter. Image | Russian Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Iceland has a key Atlantic corridor for Russia. So the US has sent its first nuclear submarine In Xataka | A British nuclear submarine has discovered a Russian ship in front of its submarine cables. The second time in three months

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