research

The US has cut programs for research and science. Europe and Spain are recruiting their scientists

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The Trump Administration has cut substantially the funds allocated to finance universities and, with them, the research projects that were being carried out, as as they point out from Nature. So American scientists have had no choice but to look for solutions to the draconian cuts in their country. Europe in general, and Spain in particular, they have become a magnet unexpected for all that talent, with programs that promise stability and million-dollar resources. Talent drain. According to information from the Ministry of Science, the call for the ATRAE program, aimed at incorporating researchers of international prestige with experience abroad in Spanish R&D centers, received 254 applications for the 2025 call. This implies an increase of 32% in applications, marking a historical record, because in 2023 no applications arrived from that country and in 2024 they only accounted for 16% of the total. 33.5% of them came from scientists from the US, which represents more than double that of previous editions. Finally, the scholarship program has selected 37 researchers in a program that allocates 38.9 million euros. Of the selected researchers, 56.7% come from American institutions and universities. Scientists who choose Spain. The Country collected the reasons why some of these researchers had decided to leave the US to continue their work in Spain. Vincenzo Calvanese, a 43-year-old Italian researcher who works at the Josep Carreras Institute in Barcelona after a decade in the United States, says that “many of my colleagues are having a very difficult time because of the political and economic events that affect science.” He encourages other colleagues to follow in his footsteps in Spain or other countries in Europesince the program represents “one of the few opportunities to ensure the future of research and some professional security.” ​Audrey Sawyer, a 43-year-old American hydrogeologist who has joined the research team at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, expresses a similar concern: “I have never seen a situation like this in the US. I feel very bad for the researchers and students, they are very talented and are facing serious challenges.” Although she applied before the most recent cuts, she clearly sees how federal funding affects areas like biomedicine and climate change. Europe: a troubled river gains fishermen. According to a survey made by Nature Among the US scientific community, 75% of researchers have seriously contemplated emigrating due to the cuts and layoffs promoted by Trump. In this scenario of uncertainty, Europe fights back taking out the nets to try to attract a good part of that talent dissatisfied with cuts in US research. The EU has doubled the funding of the European Research Council (ERC) with 500 million euros to provide it with more resources for these new researchers under the umbrella of the program Europe horizon. Spain distributes the incorporation of these new researchers in a balanced way: Catalonia receives 35.1% of the funding provided by these new scholarships, Madrid receives 29.7%, and entities such as the CSIC host 29.7% of the researchers. In this way, local research is reinforced with international talent, new students are trained and more funds are attracted from international competitions. The exodus is not only about science. The desire to leave the US does not only occur in the scientific field, some EU countries have doubled the number of residency applications and citizenship of US citizens. It is the case of Irelandwhich went from receiving 31,825 in all of 2024, to 3,692 applications during the month of February 2025 alone. Europe’s response to those requests has been different, tightening requirements to obtain residency or, as in the case of Spain, eliminating the “Golden Visa“which granted a residence permit in exchange of an economic investment. In Xataka | Of course digital nomads love Oviedo. It’s not because of the way of life: it’s because they charge 90,000 euros Image | Wikipedia, Unsplash (National Cancer Institute)

We have been telling ourselves for decades that we have the Internet thanks to military research. The problem is that it is false

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It is difficult to imagine that something as impressive as the Internet could be summarized just over 40 years ago in a single page. The map of germ of the internet, ARPANETtook up no more than a DIN A4 sheet of paper and reflected the less than 50 computers that at the beginning of the Internet were connected to each other. But even more curious is the story of how ARPANET was born, which may not be as you have been told. It all happened almost midnight on October 29, 1969, in a small room at the University of California (UCLA), and with a message that only said “it“. The true origin Search the Internet about its history (from the Internet itself), and you will find that the most common thing is to talk about its military origin. Technically it is correct since ARPANET was developed by the ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency), an institution that depended on the US Department of Defense. But the reasons were not military even though One of the minds behind some of the ideas that helped create ARPANET, Paul Baran, worked precisely with the motivation that cold war between the US and the USSR would not end with a blockade and destruction of the communications and control structures of the US army in the event of a nuclear attack. You will indeed find many references to this idea, which results in a story that makes for an entertaining movie. hollywood but in reality it was not exactly with that motivation that ARPANET was born. In the 1960s, within ARPA there was the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO), at that time focused on taking full advantage of computers within the administration. Robert Taylor, one of the fathers of the Internet, began his career as director of the IPTO in 1966, and proposed to the then director of ARPA the possibility of connecting computers together to optimize their use. With this structure of networked computers (an idea that he took from the previous works of JCR Lickliderpioneer in 1962 by proposing the possibility of interconnecting equipment with each other) the ARPA could better manage your budget for computers and not distribute efforts uselessly but concentrate them on a few but very powerful computers connected to each other which would allow resources and results to be shared between researchers and centers. “lo”, first message between computers on the network Taylor was not limited to the resource of sharing computers and results between centers as an advantage of his ARPANET. If the idea worked, the agency was ensuring that it could use more computer models of different types without the compatibility or use of terminals to access them being a nightmare, while at the same time allowing the creation of protection against failures, so that with the non-centralized network structure proposed, if one computer failed, the others could continue working. Taylor’s initial proposal consisted of a test network with four nodes that they could expand if the results proved them right. ARPANET was born. The Internet was on the way. If you are passing through California, a recommended visit is in room 3420 Boelter Hall at the University (UCLA). Do not look for it as such because after being forgotten and until its use as a common room, it was recently restored and became part of the Kleinrock Center for Internet Studies (KCIS). Much of the history and documents are concentrated there (there is no waste of original presentation of ARPANET) and equipment that allowed the first node to be established between computers. But it’s actually a fantastic tribute to Leonard Kleinrocka professor who in 1969, right from that small room at the university, sent the first message on ARPANET. It was 10:30 at night on October 29, 1969 when, from the SDS Sigma 7 computer in said room, Professor Kleinrock sent the LOGIN message to the SDS 940 computer at the Stanford Research Institute, the computer with which he was connected in a basic way. The message remained a curious “lo” since there was a transmission failureand it was not until an hour later that the initial transmission could be completed. The first connection had occurred between the first two computers within the ARPANET. Two weeks later there were 4 interconnected teams, and in two years, almost seventy. And no one could stop this revolution. In Xataka | In 1995 ‘Toy Story’ forever changed the way animated films are made. He did it with rudimentary computers In Xataka | In 1969, humans set foot on the Moon for the first time. He did it thanks to a computer less powerful than your cell phone

China is building a megastructure for deep-sea research. For whatever reason, resist nuclear bombs

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China is building a mega thing. It doesn’t matter when you read this: the Asian giant always has a mega dam underwayhe highest bridge in the world either an impossible road in the bag. However, one of the country’s latest projects is not a mega-construction, but a floating artificial “island,” which can navigate and designed to be self-sufficient. Oh, and most importantly: prepared for the end of the world. The “island”. Waiting for it to receive a somewhat more “commercial” name, in a report by South China Morning Post They refer to the facility as the “Deep-Sea All-Wather Resident Floating Research Facility.” It is a name that is equivalent to “what do you want this station to do” and the answer is “yes,” and it is basically a mix between a research center, command center and nuclear bunker. It will be a semi-submersible platform with a 78,000 ton twin hull design and considerable dimensions: 138 meters long. 85 meters wide. Main deck 45 meters from the waterline. Long duration missions. The project specifications show that the platform is projected to house almost 240 people for four months without the need for any replenishment. In addition, it can sail at a speed of up to 15 knots and something that gives us a clue to its colossal ambition is that the engines allow a displacement comparable to that of the Fujian, the brand new Chinese aircraft carrier of 80,000 tons. Bomb proof (nuclear). If you’re thinking about a fortress that could be worthy of a Marvel movie, here’s the shot. The structure will resist waves up to nine meters high and category 17 typhoons, the highest for this type of cyclone. But the most striking thing is that it will have special armor to resist nuclear explosions. Instead of conventional steel armorthe walls of the complex will be built with a design that converts the powerful shock waves of a nuclear explosion into ones that the structure can assimilate. As a “dissipator” of the power of the wave, wow. To do this, they have resorted to a metamaterial which, when subjected to pressure, compresses, creating a denser and stronger structure than much thicker steel panels. According to simulations, its walls resist more pressure than those of a submarine and four times more than those of a conventional ship, but with a plate thickness of only 60 mm. Back.To withstand these long periods at sea, and as describe from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in an article in which they talk about the superstructure, the installation contains critical compartments that guarantee emergency power, but also backup for communications and a navigation center equally protected against nuclear explosions. China is taking leaps and bounds in its fleet Strategy. The SJTU describes it as a research center and, although the project has been described as “civilian”, its specifications make it comply with the Chinese military standard GJB 1060.1-1991 against nuclear explosions. Therefore, although it can be used for deep-sea research, it could also operate in areas where warships could not be accessed (such as waters near diplomatically sensitive countries or territories). This is something that does not frighten a China that does not hesitate to deploy its ships in disputed territoriesand from SCMP they point out that the installation could function as a resilient command center, a logistics center or a surveillance station that, in addition, is less invasive than a fixed structure built on land. It’s not that far away. Although we now know of its existence, this station has been on the drawing board for a decade and is expected to reach operational status in 2028. Once completed, we will be able to see what it is capable of and, above all, what use it is given. Because therein lies its importance as a research center to support the “blue economy” (extraction of deep sea resources, renewable energies and marine research), but also its military component. The photo, by the way, is not of a real structure, but of an interpretation of the SJTU. Images | SJTU, 中国新闻社 In Xataka | China is immersed in a nuclear revolution and needs industrial quantities of uranium. His solution: “fish” it in the sea

China is matching the West in a lot of technologies, but has already overcome something more crucial: research

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Two years ago, in spring 2023, Springer Nature Editorial announced an expected Sorpasso. China had surpassed the United States in the Nature Indexan index created to measure the contribution to the scientific production of countries and institutions. It has been time for that and everything indicates that Chinese science, far from loosening the passage, has increased its distance from its main competitor. Solo leader. The last review of Nature Index Research Leadersthe “classification” based on the index prepared by the editorial responsible for the magazine Natureis A new test of the consolidation of Chinese institutions as a key piece in the global scientific research model. According to those responsible for the index, China achieved in 2024 an index of 32,122, a 17% increase Regarding the previous year, consolidating a first position that he achieved two years ago. From the company that elaborates the index it is also highlighted that the Asian country has eight institutions among the 10 most outstanding worldwide. Evaluating global science. After China and the United States, two European countries occupy the Third and fourth positionrespectively, Germany and the United Kingdom. Asian countries are also consolidated in the national “top 10”, with four countries represented (in addition to China, Japan, South Korea and India), matching the four Europeans in these head positions. The Chinese Academicia opens the List of institutions most outstanding scientists, followed by Harvard University and by the University of Science and Technology of China. The first Spanish institution that we can find in this ranking It is the Higher Council for Scientific Research, the CSIC. Nature Index. But what exactly is this index? He Nature Index It is an index Based on the contributions of scientists attached to various research institutions (whether public, private or companies). These contributions are measured through articles published in a sample of various high -impact scientific journals. Beyond Covid. In 2023 We pointed out That the leadership of Chinese science owed the work done by Chinese institutions in the fight against COVID, for example in the identification and sequencing of the virus some of its variants. However, we also pointed out that this advance also responded to a trend that had already been occurring since before the pandemic. After five years of the pandemic, the data seems to confirm the weight of this ascending trend beyond the situation of the pandemic. An ascent that is exclusive to this Asian giant but is also shared by other countries of the continent, such as South Korea and India, which saw increase in several percentage points (4.1% and 2% respectively) its contribution. This promotion of fact allowed South Korea to overcome Canada, standing in seventh position in this global classification of countries with the highest contribution to science. Tenth place. And what about Spain? The index of Nature Place Spain In thirteenth place in the global, sixth classification among the countries of Europe. Spanish science would be between Italian and Dutch, exactly the same as two years ago. The index in Spanish institutions. We pointed out at the beginning that the CSIC led the Spanish contribution to world science. The contribution of this public institution occupies a leading first place since its index (218) bends to the index of the second institution in the ranking National, the University of Barcelona (86), which is in position 245 in the ranking global. The third position at the national level is held by Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). In Xataka | European science becomes serious: Eurofusion and CERN will work together in nuclear fusion and new collider Image | Julia Koblitz

NOAA detected metals in the atmosphere mainly associated with Spacex. The White House has liquidated its research

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The United States Government has just truncated One of the most intriguing research on spatial pollution. A decision that, according to some suspicious voices, is beneficial for the commercial interests of Elon Musk. The latest Trump. In the absence of budgets being approved in Congress, the White House seeks to eliminate the financing of two key research projects on contamination caused by rockets and satellites. The plan is part of the drastic cuts that, along with NASAhas suffered the scientific arm of the National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research of the United States: the NOAA. A striking finding. At the end of 2023, US atmospheric researchers discovered a growing accumulation of metals in the stratosphere. A team led by NOAA analyzed the sulfuric acid particles sampled by the NASA WB-57 plane on flights of great altitude over Alaska and the western media. He study He identified more than 20 different elements, including lithium, aluminum, copper and other more exotic metals, such as niobium and hafnium. These materials are not found naturally in the atmosphere. They are linked to the space industry, and therefore, they were associated with the increasingly frequent redeeme of rockets and satellites, which vaporize exorbiting. The scope of the problem is still unknown. It is feared, for example, that an exponential increase can damage the ozone layer, which acts as a shield against ultraviolet rays, further destabilizing the climate. Goodbye to research. NOAA’s efforts to solve these doubts were already underway. On the one hand, a continuity study to take new atmospheric samples. On the other, a workshop in which the private industry participated to explore possible solutions. Both remain without federal financing with the cuts, which will force them to cancel them if the budgets are approved. Although the White House has proposed all kinds of science cuts, the PUBLUEPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY Organization spokesman said The Guardian That in this case “there is a political motivation”, relating NOAA’s work with the commercial interests of Elon Musk. The Spacex factor. There had never been so many satellite releases because there had never been a rocket capable of landing on their legs. Elon Musk’s aerospace company puts more than 80% of the payload launched to space, in terms of mass. Almost all are satellites of the Starlink constellation, which has become a strategic asset for the United States. Spacex has launched about 8,400 Starlink satellitesof which 1,080 have already reentred. Although Starlink is the largest constellation, other companies have similar plans to launch tens of thousands of satellites to the low terrestrial orbit; Among them, several Chinese startup and the Amazon technological giant, with its satellite internet project Kuiper. In total, the number of satellites in orbit could grow up to 100,000 in the coming years. And with it, the number of atmospheric reentradas. And so every five years. Spacex satellites and the incipient Kuiper constellation orbit the land less than 600 km altitude. Due to the effect of atmospheric braking, they reduce their height and end up burning in the atmosphere five years after its launch. Also the rockets, including the upper stage of Falcon 9, exorbitita to disintegrate in the atmosphere. This is the desirable: that the Space garbage “recycle” in the shortest possible time. But the cadence of launches, headed by Starlink, is producing several resentments per day, that will soon become dozenand then in hundreds. The effect of these daily metal injections in the atmosphere is something that other countries will now have to investigate, at least with public funds. Image | Caribbean Astronomy Society In Xataka | Spacex rockets are opening red holes in the atmosphere. They call them “Spacex Auroras”

No one in the world knows what the hell do with mobile phones in classrooms. Not even scientific research

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Imagine two students of a similar level doing exactly the same attention and memory test. Imagine, in fact, there is only one difference between them: one has the mobile in sight. It is silent, in a corner of the table, with the sound off; But it is in sight. The other student, before starting the test, had left it in the next room. I would ask you to imagine who would get better results, but it doesn’t make too much sense. A team from the University of Chicago and He studied it in detail. There is nothing surprising in this mental experiment, the results coincide with our prejudices: The student who sees the mobile will get worse results. It is something, also that connect directly to our experience real, with Our Fomowith Our “dependence” to mobile. How are we not going to worry about the damage made by these technologies in the classroom? How will the smartphone not become a first -order educational problem? And that is precisely the problem: that if we stay on the surface of the problem, in the social and political debate, we find a Spectacular political consensus (with several Autonomous communities prohibiting them from hype and saucer); But if we deepen the scientific fund, the problems begin. Life is not summarized in an experiment from the University of Chicago. So, we have wondered what really happens in a school when we prohibit mobile phones? What experiences have other countries and colleges that have already taken measures? Why is there no clear consensus about what to do? What does the experience say? Verkeorg The scenes are almost a cliché: kids looking at the mobile phone, notifications that interrupt classes, parallel chats commenting on what happens in the classroom, bullying, anonymous messages, worried families, decentralized students … With all this in mind, it is not surprising that dozens of experts, activists and parents warn of the negative consequences for learning associated with mobile use. In fact, with all this in mind, it is not strange that Many countries have begun to take letters In the matter: one in four countries It has regulated the use of mobiles in school. The list is very long. If we only focus on our geographical, cultural or development environment: they have done so places like France, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Canada or Australia. The first country to do so, in fact, was Italy. In late 2006 and early 2007, several incidents impacted fully on the country’s public opinion: from a group of students who recorded bulling another student with disabilities to another in which several students were recorded sexually harassing a teacher. That led the government to prohibit mobile in class. Unfortunately, its implementation was complex and there are not many data on its impact. What we do know is that in 2022 the Ministry of Education announced its prohibition againRecoding that (although no one paid attention to him) the measure had been in force for 15 years. We also know that by then, many more Páisses had regulated the matter. France approved its prohibition In 2018. In a similar situation are Luxembourg, Portugal and Sweden. In addition to Bavaria, the Swiss vaud canton, Ontario, Various states of Australia and dozens of school districts in the United States They have done the same. In 2023, Holland and the United Kingdom They said that it would also implement prohibitions From the following year. How have they done it? As we will see, this is the central question. First because, as Maria del Mar Sánchez pointed outProfessor of Educational Technology at the University of Murcia, none of these regulations has managed to homogenize the situation. If we approach what really happens in schools, “We will find great diversity“ Sánchez says. And this makes it difficult to apply, measure and study the consequences. The best example of this is Norway. In 2024, a report He explained That the prohibition of mobiles in classes had achieved a 60% reduction in consultations by psychological symptoms in adolescents, the decrease in cases of bulling and a significant improvement in the academic results of the girls. In addition, the effects it shows are much more intense on the low -income population. The curious thing, however, is that Norway I was not doing anything nationally with mobile phones. What was doing something was with bullying. Just coinciding with the period studied, the Nordic country was underway A series of changes To reduce bulling. The result is that, little by we are realistic, we will have to recognize that confusion is enormous. And is Spain? Being an autonomous competition, until recently each autonomous community and each educational center has decided on its own. As it seems, Galicia was a pioneer: In 2015 he published a decree prohibiting phones in class and, at the end of 2023, he also took a more vet during recess, dining room and entries or outputs of the center. Behind her (and in recent years) almost all communities have gone behind. But, again“one thing is the political and the holder and another the reality that he reaches the centers.” To the point that while Autonomic decrees were reformed To accommodate more hard disciplinary approaches, in others pilot projects to use mobiles were introduced as didactic tools. In short, Spain has been one more. Of course, it is important to note, however, that as Jose César Perales, professor at the University of Granada, explained in practice “the prohibition of mobile phones for non -educational use during school hours It was already the usual In most centers “that is, the most important change in recent years is that this prohibition is being made in a generalized way. In experts like Laura Canois part of a political response to the ‘state of opinion’ on the impact of technology rather than a clear will to intervene educationally in the huge list of problems That has contemporary youth. What does science say about all this? Let’s talk about academic performance Pabak … Read more

Europe wants to lead chips research of less than 2 nm. ASML is the cornerstone of your plan

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None of The main semiconductor manufacturers The planet is European. TSMC, the company that leads this industry, is from Taiwan. Samsung and Sk Hynix are South Korean. Intel and Micron Technology are Americans. AND SMIC is China. This panorama invites us to accept that Europe has lost the train of the production of integrated circuits, but, in reality, it is not so. At least not at all. And it is that the old continent has ASMLthe Dutch company that leads the design and manufacture of photolithography equipment that is necessary to produce avant -garde semiconductors. And it also has IMEC, an integrated circuit research center founded in 1984 and housed in Leuven (Belgium). It is the most experienced laboratory in the tuning of new integration technologies that we have in Europe. IMEC and ASML work side by side to go beyond the 2 nm Europe does not have the expertise of the US, China, Japan or South Korea when it comes to the industry that develops in its laboratories. In what remains a global power is in border investigation. If we look beyond the semiconductors and look, for example, in Quantum computerswe will verify that the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics housed in Garching (Germany) and the Quantum Computing Center of Delft (Netherlands) are two leading institutions in the research in quantum computing. Europe seeks to develop the necessary integration technologies to produce semiconductors beyond the 2 Nm barrier IMEC has that same prestige, but in the field of innovation in integrated circuits. This is the reason why in May 2024 The European Union decided deliver a subsidy 2.5 billion euros To put a pilot line that will allow the manufacture of avant -garde semiconductors. This subsidy will be part of the ‘Chips Act’ program and has a very specific purpose: to develop integration technologies that are necessary to produce semiconductors Beyond the 2 Nm barrier. This is, in short, the European plan. And it is that IMEC intends to put its technology in the hands of European companies that are dedicated to automotive, telecommunications or the manufacture of medical devices, among other sectors. Diversification can play in your favor because it will contribute to developing the European technological ecosystem on a large scale. However, this research center is not addressing this project alone; He is working side by side with ASML. In fact, this company of the Netherlands has a crucial role in this plan. And he has it because he will deliver to IMEC the photolithography teams that his researchers need to bring to fruition the production of integrated circuits of less than 2 nm. ASML will install in this laboratory even your machine extreme ultraviolet (UVE) and haute openingwhich is the most advanced semiconductor production team it currently has. In fact, the technology of this machine is the only one that is capable of take us beyond the 2 nm. One more note to conclude: the collaboration of IMEC and ASML also seeks to develop integration technologies for DRAM chips, the Fotonic silicon and advanced packaging techniques of integrated circuits. Image | IMEC More information | IMEC In Xataka | China prepares the mate to the US: it will have its own UVE lithography team to make chips in 2025

Deep Research is not just a new AI function. It is the beginning of the end of intellectual work as we know it

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Elon Musk’s new AI, Grok 3it is already official. Among its promoted capabilities is a function called ‘Deep Search’, suspiciously similar to the Deep Research that Google coined and copied Openai. It is normal: in recent weeks we have seen almost all IA giants announcing similar capabilities. It is a new trend in AI that goes beyond incremental improvements. These systems can navigate the web, analyze multiple sources, synthesize information and produce detailed reports on an issue. And with a level of sophistication that is dangerously approaching the work of many human analysts. In any field. The difference with traditional applications is great. Instead of returning some Tokens In seconds, they return information pages in minutes. And neither does it have anything to do with searches: it does not return a list of semantically related links, but can understand complex questions, decompose them in parts, investigate each aspect by consulting dozens of sources and assemble a coherent analysis citing their references. In less than ten minutes. The results are impressive. OpenAI said – and we are verifying that it is basically true – that Your Deep Research can do in half an hour what would take days to professional analysts. And although it makes occasional mistakes (such as a factual skate, or the appointment of a source that does not exist), the general quality of the result is good enough for many practical purposes. This supposes A shot to the flotation line of much of the current intellectual work. The analysts junior of consultants, the researchers who review literature, the lawyers who prepare preliminary reports or the financial advisors doing business analysis. A great portion of your work is to collect, synthesize and present information that you drink from many sources. Like any Deep Research. It is not that these systems will completely replace intellectual workers. They still have important limitations: They cannot access private or not published information. From time to time they confuse sources or draw erroneous conclusions. They lack the expert criteria for certain analysis. Nevertheless, They can already automate much of the repetitive work and “low level” that occupies many professionals today. This also leads us to A paradox: Deep Research systems will surely increase the productivity of the most qualified workers, who can take advantage of them to enhance their ability; But the jobs that used to serve as entry, training field to end up being one of those experts are put at risk. The Deep Research have potential to alter the professional trajectories of any knowledge -based industry. It is another example of how AI not only automates manual work, but also It goes into territories that we believed reserved for the human intellect. The question is no longer whether IA can do that intellectual work, but how much of that work will continue to make economic meaning if it is made pro human. There will be companies that due to ignorance, for cynicism or pride will prefer to ignore these capacities. They are the most exposed will be at the risk of being left behind. For the rest of us, We have as a pending task to think about how to manage this transition: The one that can make obsolete many functions that we believed automation. In Xataka | With Grok 3, Elon Musk presume Outstanding image | OpenAI

50 years of research on depression psychotherapy leave a surprising fact: we have not improved anything

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Since the 70s, hundreds of studies have examined the effects of psychotherapies against the depression. They have done it with many different experimental approaches and designs. They have done it insistently and, as if that were not enough, in an increasing number. That has allowed us to know two things: the first is that psychotherapies They are effective. The second is that this effectiveness has not moved an apex in 50 years. How can we know? To begin with, thanks to Pim Cuijpers, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology at Amsterdam University. He and a team of researchers They gathered 562 randomized controlled trials that had been published in the last 50 years. These essays are the highest methodological quality that are currently (although, as the authors point out, average Caldiad is not as high as it should). In total, the researchers gathered information of 66,361 patients. Most American adults, but with a significant number of people from other countries. From there, they only had to weigh the interventions, the results and see what happened. What did they find? To begin with, they found that psychotherapies work. In fact, his conclusions were that, as the years go by (and studies), the “evidence that psychotherapies are effective is solid and grows over the years.” The surprise was not that, of course. The surprise was that, for many studies that have been added over the years, “they found no sign that the effects of therapies (psychological against depression) have improved.” None. The effectiveness of these treatments has remained surprisingly stable throughout all these years. And how does all this leave psychotherapy? In a strange situation. In a context in which the consumption of benzodiazepines does not stop growing (and, remember, Spain is World Ansiolithic Consumption Leader With more than 91 daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants), psychotherapies appear as an effective solution; But we are not improving. That is, we have a tool, but we cannot climb it. If the problem continues to grow (and is doing it), we will need more and more resources. Resources that, from the financial crisis and despite the concern of recent years, do not seem to be arriving. The question is no longer “What are we failing“,” Why we can’t improve more “,” where is what limits us to go further “, which also: the question is how we do it better. And it is urgent to find an answer. Image | Cuijpers et Atls | Nik Shuliahin In Xataka | Work stress as germ of depression: work pressure enhances mental disorders

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