scale

The only photo you need to understand the scale of what Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, has just done

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In the absence of bananas, there is nothing like having five human operators in the photo to understand the scale of the New Glenn rocket, whose first stage is 57 meters high and seven meters in diameter. landed successfully on a barge in the Atlantic. SpaceX has company. So far, the club of companies capable of landing their orbital-class rockets so they can be reused had only one partner: SpaceX. For a decade now, Elon Musk’s company has single-handedly dominated the reuse game, landing and taking off again up to 500 times with the Falcon 9 thanks to a reliability that is now more than routine. What you see in this photo is the breaking of that monopoly. The first successful landing of the enormous New Glenn rocket, achieved on only its second flight, demonstrates that orbital reuse is no longer a matter of a single company. Although Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, is far behind SpaceX, it has just taken a giant leap that Bezos summarized with a Latin expression: Gradatim Ferociter (“step by step, fiercely”). As large as graceful. Unlike the Falcon 9, which measures 70 meters and can put about 22 tons of cargo into low orbit, the New Glenn stands out with 98 meters in height and a planned capacity of 45 tons. If we had not seen SpaceX catch the Super Heavy (the first stage of Starship) three times with the arms of the launch tower, it would seem more unlikely to us that a rocket like the New Glenn would be able to land gracefully in the center of a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. And without getting covered in soot. There is another fundamental detail in the photo: the rocket fuselage is clean. Unlike the Falcon 9 boosters, which return covered in the characteristic black soot caused by kerosene combustion, the New Glenn appears almost pristine. The reason is that its seven powerful BE-4 engines use methane and liquid oxygen (a combination of cryogenic propellants known as methalox). This fuel is not only more efficient and cheaper, but it burns much cleaner, facilitating inspection and reconditioning tasks for the next flight. With this landing, the New Glenn has become the first methalox rocket to successfully recover a first stage from an orbital flight, ahead of the Zhuque 3 from the Chinese company Landspace (and with permission from Starship, which also uses methalox, but has never reached orbit). Things are coming. Blue Origin’s sweet moment begins now. In an interview with Ars Technicathe company’s CEO, Dave Limp, has confirmed that the aggressive 2026 goal is to complete between 12 and 24 missions. The company has announced a launch price of about $70 million, a figure almost identical to what SpaceX charges for a Falcon 9. But the New Glenn not only competes with the Falcon 9, but also threatens to burst the market by competing directly in the league of the Falcon Heavy, but with the advantage of a unique and fully reusable first stage. As for the rocket that has landed, its next payload will not be a probe or a satellite, but the Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar module, which the company plans to launch in the first quarter of 2026 to demonstrate to NASA They are ready for the moon race. Image | Jeff BezosBlue Origin In Xataka | Blue Origin now has a golden opportunity to overtake SpaceX on trips to the Moon. And he is taking advantage of it

What is the Richter scale, how it works and why you should stop using it when talking about earthquakes

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We still often hear about “an earthquake measuring so many degrees on the Richter scale” in the news or when reading about an earthquake. This is incorrect for one or more reasons.. To understand why, we must delve into what the Richter scale is, when it is used and, above all, when it is not. What is the Richter scale The Richter scale is a scale used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. According to defines the National Geological Institute (IGN), the magnitude of the earthquake is “a measure of the energy released by an earthquake and is determined from the signal recorded in a seismogram.” There are several magnitude scales for earthquakes, since earthquake waves can vary in their characteristics. Among them, the best known to the public is that of local Richter magnitudeor simply ML for “local magnitude.” Local, in this answer, refers to the fact that this scale is used to measure earthquakes that have been captured from close range. Specifically, it is used for those captured at less than 600 kilometers, according to the IGN. Who was Charles Francis Richter The name “Richter scale” refers to the American seismologist Charles Francis Richter. Born in 1900 in the state of Ohio, this American physicist and seismologist would leave as a legacy the first scale of its kind, a systematic way of measuring the strength of an earthquake. The seismographs They had been used for decades as a way to measure earthquakes, but it was in 1935 when Richter brought up the idea to establish a magnitude with which to measure these events. Starting from this idea, Richter would have the help of the German-American seismologist Beno Gutenberg to put it into practice. Charles F. Richter died in 1985 in the US state of California. The scale And how are the magnitudes calculated? The scale It is based on the logarithm of the amplitude of seismic waves. That is, the magnitude of an earthquake is proportional (logarithmically) to the height reached by the waves drawn by seismographs. The calculation must be “corrected” to, among other things, adjust it to a “type seismograph”. What we measure with the Richter scale, and what we don’t We pointed out before that the Richter scale, or ML, is used locally. And for seismologists, “local” refers to earthquakes originating no more than 600 kilometers of the seismograph that must measure it. But not all earthquakes that occur in “local” contexts are the same, so they are not all measured using this scale. The use of the ML scale is also limited with respect to the magnitude earthquake: it is only used to measure earthquakes of small or moderate magnitude (magnitudes between 2 and 6.5). The objective of measure the magnitude of an earthquake It is to get an idea of ​​its strength. To do this, scales such as the Richter scale use the waves generated by the earthquake, as captured by seismographs. The problem, as the experts realized, is that waves in large earthquakes do not always allow extrapolation of the magnitude using the Richter scale: sometimes the magnitude thus calculated overestimates the strength of the earthquake and sometimes the opposite occurs. Come on, although there are two earthquakes less than 600 kilometers from where they have been recorded with a seismograph, this scale is not always accurate for both. Sometimes this scale is fine, but other times the actual strength of the earthquake is higher or lower than what it measures. To compensate for the shortcomings of ML, geologists created different scalessuch as body wave magnitude (Mb) or surface wave magnitude (Ms). Each of these scales works in its own context, but the problem arises because none are universally applicable. To solve this, we then had to create the Mw scale, which we will talk about below. Magnitude and intensity To avoid confusion, we have to have clear concepts such as earthquake intensity. The intensity of an earthquake has its own scalebut it does not measure the strength of the earthquake but its impacts. The European Macroseismic Scale graduates in a scale from I to XII earthquakes based on the damage caused. The ML scale and the Mw scale As explained by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the limitations of the existing scales implied the need to create a new scale that would serve to cover these limitations. This is how the seismographic moment magnitude scale, or Mw, would have been born. This scale, although it is adjusted to “coincid” with the local magnitude scale where the latter is applicable, is based on a very different principle. Where the Richter scale converts recorded seismic waves into a magnitude, the Mw scale uses geological properties of tectonic movement. To do this, we start from the measurement of seismic momentthe product of the area traveled by the fault that has moved, the distance traveled in this displacement, and a measure of the stiffness of the rock that makes up the fault. This measurement is transformed through a logarithmic formula to obtain the magnitude of the moment (Mw) of the earthquake. Here, we can say that this scale is the closest thing to a universalsince it was created to be used in all earthquakes, even those with a magnitude greater than that supported by the Richter. Thus, it is currently the most used today to measure earthquakes, although in the news we will continue to hear about Richter’s. By saying degrees when they are magnitudes Other common mistake When talking about earthquakes and their scale, we talk about degrees, for example if we said “an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale.” The origin of this common error is not clear, but some attribute it to the fact that there are scales (such as the one used to study the intensity of earthquakes) in which degrees are used. In Xataka | 0.2 magnitude points and 70 years of disaster preparedness: what differentiates the deadly tsunami of 1952 from the one that occurred … Read more

When in 1907 a doctor tried to demonstrate the existence of the soul using a scale

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When We are going to bedthe brain Beast begins to work. It is when we review the day, We can think of great ideas that we do not point and ask ourselves questions of all kinds that We do not usually remember the next morning. Duncan Macdougall did remember what may be asked just before sleeping: How much does the human soul weigh? The concept of soul It is complicated, since there are those who see it as an intrinsic element to the body, but also something that fades “when we die. Macdougall, a doctor from Haverhill, Massachusetts, had to say “science is not done alone” and got to work to test a hypothesis. What hypothesis? That, if the soul exists and is inside the body, it must have a weight. His theory was that, if at the time of death the soul escapes our body, it could measure its weight. And he got to the work of the most handmade work possible. Also of the least scientific. Science is not done alone, you have to do it He is romantic, almost tender, now think about his reasoning. But he had all the logic of the world to respond to something so complex: at the time of death, there should be a detectable loss of weight because the soul abandons the body. As if the soul were the “pilot” who jumps from the plane before crashing. To test his theory, Macdougall built a fairly special scale: a bed mounted on a weight capable of detecting differences of up to five grams. His plan was not very ethical, but all for the sake of science and to try something so important: place dying patients on top of the scale and monitor weight changes just before and after death. It took his thing. Between 1901 and 1907, Macdougall conducted this experiment with six terminal patients. Four of them had tuberculous, one was diabetic and the other had no specified causes. They were chosen conscientiously and should be people who had conditions that depleted them mentally. They had to move as little as possible when they died so that the measurement was more precise. Macdougall was pending at all times of those final moments of the patients and, when he detected that one was about to die, he placed the bed on the scale and made the measurements. And the results soon arrived. According to the doctor, the first patient lost, exactly, 21,26 grams just after exhalation. It is the most famous case and the one that gave name to the experiment. The second patient also lost weight, but the amount was not recorded correctly. And with the other four … Things were even more complicated: the technical problems when registering the weight appeared for two other records, another showed a gradual loss (he died with his mouth open and Macdougall said it could be air) and another showed no changes. For any scientific eye, the success of the experiment would have been very questionable, but the doctor clung to those 21 grams of the first death to affirm that this was what weighed the soul. In fact, he did not stay at Anecdote: he published a study in the magazine American Medicine with the title “Hypothesis Concering Soul Substance Together With Experimental Evidence of the Existence of Such Substance”, although before it had already appeared in the New York Times. With animals, MacDougall went from thread Although MacDougall ‘chained’ that data, in his internal jurisdiction he should know that he needed another control group. If it had taken six years to weigh six dying, I could not “waste” more time, so he tried to try his theory with animals. There was some red flag in all this. The New York Times article published before the scientific article To begin with, Macdougall was convinced that humans had a soul, something that animals lacked. He had already observed “problems” when measuring the weight of the human soul, so everything that was a scale without measurement changes in the case of animals, he would take it as confirmation that, indeed, animals had no soul. The experiment was already conditioned and Macdougall ended up measuring the weight of a fortnight of dogs. The researcher wanted to use sick or dying dogs to prove his thesis, but did not find enough and There are those who point that, directly, poisoned healthy dogs. Scientific community with the lifted eyebrow The doctor’s results were not long in causing a stir and there was another doctor who considered the experiment a hoax. Augustus P. Clarke argument That everything was easily refatible from the medical point of view: when we are in that situation, the lungs stop cooling the blood, the body temperature increases and the skin sweats. And in the case of animals, as they do not have sweat glands, because they do not lose weight after death. Macdougall did not convince and starred in a ‘Beef’ in medical magazines for a few months. Over time, other scientists joined the MacDougall Experiment Discrediting process, being a clear case of rejection by the scientific community both for the methods and for the “fraud” when obtaining the results. Apart from randomness, One of the criticism is that six cases do not represent a reliable sample. In fact, in A subsequent investigation With sheep, lambs and rams, it was observed that, indeed, the weight varied after death, but they did not lose it: they won it. Specifically, from 18 to 780 grams that they won at the time of death, but that over time lost to recover the initial weight. However, it is undeniable that Duncan went down in history. Not for what I would have liked, be that person who showed that the human soul had a weightbut as an example of Selective informationhow to use a vague fact to affirm a preconceived idea. Also by that scientific spirit that, although poorly applied, tried to use evidence to measure something as … Read more

Scale AI investment has put the two ‘goals’ at war

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In June, he invested 14.3 billion dollars in Scale AI and for the walked signed his CEO, Alexandr Wang. He made him an owner and lord of his brand new Superintelligence Division, in addition to surrounding him with a team of engineers With salaries of elite athletes. The movements have been so exaggerated and convulsive that they are having important side effects. The 100 million club. Mark Zuckerberg He shook the foundations of the AI ​​industry in early June, when he began to rob their rivals the best AI engineers. He offered them Salaries of hundreds of millions of dollars And soon companies like OpenAi confirmed that Someone had “cast at home”. The signings of high -level managers, such as Nat Friedman (Exceo de Github) or Daniel Gross (co -founder of Safe Superintelligence with Ilya Sutskever) confirmed that series of unusual movements. Sudden resignations. Among the signings was Ruben Mayer, who had already worked with Wang in Scale AI. Two months later Mayer has left the company, According to nearby sources. The executive worked five years in Scale AI, but soon discovered that he was going to work in an area outside the development unit of the Superintelligence Model. He has claimed that he was “very happy” with his experience in goal, but has decided to leave the company “for a personal matter.” He has not been the only one to take that step. The two “Goals”. That resignation is joined by others that occurred in recent weeks. According to Wiredat least three researchers have abandoned the company. Two of them returned to Openai, where they had previously worked, while the third, Rishabh Agawal, has not made clear Your destiny. The huge changes that the team has undergone has made adaptation to the new situation difficult. The two “goals” – before the signings and the one now – are having problems to get perfectly. But there is even more. Scale Ai Flaquea. The team that is working on the development of the superintelligence, called TBD Labs, is in turn collaborating with data labeling companies such as Mercor and arises, which are in turn competing of Scale AI. It is something strange considering that goal had already invested billions of dollars in it – although there was no talk In that agreement of exclusivities—, but sources close to the company indicate In TechCrunch That the quality of Scale AI labeling is low and prefer to work with these two firms. The situation of the company co -founded by Wang has changed. After the agreement with Meta, both Openai and Google indicated that they would stop working with her. Shortly after Scale ai He said goodbye 200 of its employees, although the new CEO, Jason Droge said they would compensate with hiring in other areas of the company. Much mess and a restructuring. Having signed all that talent has its good part, but it also has can complicate the goal organization chart. It is what seems to have happened according to all these data, and in fact target announced internally A restructuring of all that division. Four different subdivisions have been created, which will be led by Wang. Other senior managers will report to it, but those movements also caused some finishing employees before the “galactic signings” have ended up leaving the company to go to firms such as OpenAi, Cohere or Figma. Of the open to a closed model. The arrival of Wang has coincided with an apparent change of approach, they pointed out In nyt. Although goal was a pioneer to bet on ia open source models as callthe company seems to be exploring now other possibilities. For example, those of using third -party AI models on their platforms —Chatgpt in WhatsApp? – or even license “closed” models of other companies. But beyond that, the company is valuing to work In a closed model as their main rivals are doing in the AI ​​segment in the US. OpenAi, Google or Anthropic precisely adopted that strategy from the beginning, and it seems that in the finish line they want to have their own alternative. Image | World Economic Forum | Anthony Quintero In Xataka | Nvidia has become the most important company in the world. His problem is that he has all the eggs in the same basket

Their companies lack the scale of their rivals

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The Japan government needs its semiconductor industry to be great again. The biggest. In fact, it was in the past. In 1988 NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Matsushita and other Japanese companies hoarded nothing less than 50% of the chips industry. However, Today none of these companies It is positioned among the leaders of A sector dominated with iron fist by Taiwanese, American, Dutch, South Korean and German companies. Japan is currently investing more money in its sector of integrated circuits than the US, Germany, France or the United Kingdom. Not in terms of net value, but its effort is greater if we weigh the investment of these countries on their gross domestic product (GDP). The US dedicates 0.21% of its GDP to its semiconductor industry, and Germany 0.41%. France, according to Nikkei Asia0.2%, and, finally, the United Kingdom 0.04%. The difference is very significant and puts on the table the effort that Japan is making with 0.71% of its GDP. However, this country will not be easy to compete from you to you with Taiwan or South Korea in the integrated circuit industry. Toshikazu Maeda, the general director of the company specialized in the manufacture of equipment to produce Marumae chips, holds that many Japanese companies lack the necessary scale to compete effectively and increase their income. In fact, he regrets that most of the Japanese companies are not growing in full rise of the artificial intelligence (AI). To remedy it, it proposes a solution: smaller companies should merge to grow and be ready to react to the next great opportunity. Rapidus is Japan’s best option to compete with South Korea and Taiwan Japan currently has dozens of very specialized small businesses that manufacture components for ASML either Tokyo Electronwhich are two of the largest manufacturers of photolithography and wafering processing equipment. As Maeda defendsits production capacity is too modest to compete with giants from other countries, such as South Korean companies Samsung or SK Hynix, which produce some of their integrated circuit manufacturing equipment, or the American applied materials, among many others. However, if we stick to the manufacture of Japan Chips already has a company that aspires to compete with TSMC, Intel or Samsung. Rapidus corporation It has been expressly created to replace Japan at the forefront of integrated circuits. Interestingly, it is a very young company. It was founded on August 10, 2022 By the Japanese government With an initial capital of 7,346 million yen (just under 46 million euros) contributed by, and here comes the interesting, Sony, Toyota, Nec, Softbank, Kioxia, Denso, Nippon Telegraph and Mufg Bank. The initial capital invested in the constitution of this company is not very bulky, but there is no doubt that the companies that participate in it have an indisputable relevance in the sectors of technology, automotive and telecommunications. Japan currently has dozens of very specialized small businesses that manufacture components for ASML or Tokyo Electron Rapidus is currently putting a circuit manufacturing plant integrated in northern Japan, in the city of Chitose (Hokkaido), in which it plans to produce semiconductors of 2 Nm. The first prototypes of these chips They are already readybut large -scale manufacturing will not arrive at best until 2027. So far there is nothing really surprising because presumably at that time TSMC, Samsung and Intel will already be manufacturing integrated circuits with comparable lithographs. What is causing the new Rapidus factory to monopolize the looks of the semiconductor sector is that, according to Atsuyoshi Koike, which is the president of the company, it will be completely automated. Its purpose is resort to robots and AI To set up an automated production line that will be specialized in the manufacture of 2 Nm chips for AI applications. Its plan consists, in short, to produce integrated circuits faster, with a lower and more quality cost. To manufacture these semiconductors, equipment of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE) produced by the Dutch company ASML, and practically all manufacturing processes are automatic. However, the tests of test and validation, interconnection and packaging of the chips are still largely carried out manually in most manufacturing plants. According to Rapidus, its automation technology of all these processes will allow you to reduce the delivery time of your chips by 66% compared to the times they usually offer TSMC and Samsung. If this Japanese company finally achieves its purpose and its competitors do not improve its efficiency will be able to deliver its semiconductors In a third of the time spent by their rivals. A priori is a stinging enough asset for Rapidus to grow in a perceptible way, although for the moment it is just a conjecture. Whatever this company seems to have everything well tied. More information | SCMP In Xataka | Japan takes the initiative with nuclear fusion and sets an extremely ambitious date: the 2030s In Xataka | Japan has taken the carrier to dominate the chips industry. Prepare a 325,000 million dollar plan

Europe is preparing for a large -scale war

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That the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 activated all alerts in the rest of Europe is beyond doubt. First there was a warm way “Rearme”then they began to appear Ideas from the past and the first initiatives (special mention to the Automobile industry) where it was perceived that something was brewing. Then it was confirmed that it would start on the roadswith Italy giving the exit gun with An impossible architecture For war propaganda. However, nothing like satellites to betray the real state of things. Unprecedented reindustrialization. I told it in exclusive the Financial Times. The European arms industry has entered an accelerated expansion phase, multiplying by three the usual growth rate in peacetime and adding more than 7 million square meters In new facilities. A analysis From the medium based on radar data from Sentinel-1 satellites of the European Space Agency, which covered 150 facilities of 37 companies, reveals that a third of the locations dedicated to ammunition and missiles shows clear signs of extension or construction. It is a generational change that is displacing the production model “just in time” towards an industrial base capable of sustaining a foot of prolonged warwith deep implications for the defensive capacity of the continent and the sustainability of the supply to Ukraine. The role of the ASAP program. Much of this expansion is linked to European program Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), endowed with 500 million euros To solve bottlenecks in the manufacture of ammunition and missiles. Of the 88 sites associated with ASAP, 20 show substantial extensionsincluding new factories and roads, while 14 record minor improvements such as parking. The plants dedicated to projectiles (especially 155 mm artillery) concentrate the bulk of the works, reflecting their strategic priority. Thanks to these investments, the annual ammunition production capacity in Europe will go from 300,000 units before the war about 2 million At the end of this year, with companies Like Rheinmetall increasing its production of 155 mm projectiles of 70,000 in 2022 to 1.1 million planned by 2027. Outstanding expansions. In Várpalota, Hungary, Rheinmetall and the state -owned N7 Holding They have opened A 30 mm ammunition plant for the combat vehicle KF41 LYNXwhich in the future will manufacture artillery projectiles, ammunition for Leopard 2 and Panther, and will have its own explosive plant. In Germany, MBDA expands its headquarters in Schrobesen with support of 10 million euros from the ASAP and a NATO contract for 5.6 billion dollars to produce up to 1,000 missiles Patriot Gem-T in European land. Norway has opened a Kongsberg plant, financed with 62 million dollarswhile Bae Systems invests More than 150 million of pounds in the United Kingdom, including multiplication for 16 of its 155 mm projectile production capacity in its Glascoed plant, Wales. Economic impact. Although potential production increases, industrial and governmental responsible They warn that the real volume will still be below the installed capacity, and that certain areas remain vulnerable. Experts like Fabian Hoffmann They point out thatTo sustain deterrence against Russia, NATO must reinforce its ability to long -range missileswhose manufacturing is limited by the low production of miniature reaction engines and explosive loads. These elements, together with aerial defense systems and drones, appear as possible objectives of a new European program of 1.5 billion euros that would replicate The ASAP model and would encourage joint purchase. The delicate balance. The current growth is result both European funds and national orders, reflecting a political convergence around the need to increase industrial mass. However, this impulse faces the budget pressure from which We have already spokentogether with the complexity of supply chains and global technological competition. In Baiba Braže wordsLastonia Foreign Minister, it is a “very positive and necessary” advance, but whose effectiveness will depend on the industry being ready to respond to The growing demand of NATO and that public resources are used effectively. If you want also, the challenge for Europe does not seem only to increase productive capacity, but to maintain it In the long termguaranteeing that the effort to rearma that is promoted so much is not diluted if the political or economic context changes. Image | Rawpixel In Xataka | Europe has realized that the rearme must begin on the roads: a Russian invasion would unleash a fatal congestion In Xataka | If Europe rearma we will find a problem that will affect us all: cars and trains

Figure creates a system to make large -scale humanoid robots. And of course, there will be robots manufacturing robots

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We had something forgotten to robots, but for A few months We don’t stop to return to hear about them. There are important efforts from companies such as Nvidia – who just put All meat on the grill-, Boston Dynamics or Teslabut there is another company that is pushing strong in this sector. It is called Figure, and has just announced a promising project. Botq. This is the name of the mass manufacturing platform of humanoid robots Announced by Figure. The idea is simple: to create a totally oriented infrastructure to that production of high volumes of robots that end up being used in all types of scenarios. 12,000 humanoid robots per year. The first generation of Botq will be able to produce 12,000 humanoid robots a year, but the company highlights that this is only the beginning “and we will climb considerably from there.” Manufacture with vertical integration. The company will control the construction process and its quality to ensure that the robots that end in the market have according to them the highest quality. They have also been working on software solutions for months to attend these high volume manufacturing processes. Robots building robots. The Humanoid Robots of Figure They already caught our attention last summer, and now these robots will participate in the manufacture of other humanoid robots. That, they say, will happen this year, but in addition “the number of humanoid robots involved (in manufacturing) will grow substantially over time to increase the automation of production lines.” By the way: Elon Musk has an identical idea. Figure 03 on the way. Its current humanoid robot was complex both in necessary elements and in manufacturing processes, but with it they have learned how they can reduce the number of components and how to improve production. And more efficient processes. Thus, instead of CNC machines they will use techniques such as injection molding or pressure foundry that allow “thousands of hours of manufacturing.” In fact, in some components that needed a week to be manufactured with CNC machines, times have gone from only 20 seconds. Image | Figure In Xataka | China’s robots represent an existential threat to the US, according to semi -health experts

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