seas

The United States has found how to protect its most vulnerable ships on the high seas: with escort drones

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The planet’s oceans and seas are anything but a pond of oil, and not precisely because of the climate: the Black Sea with the war between Russia and Ukrainethe Baltic Sea with hybrid warfare and ghost fleets, Strait of Hormuz tensions through which 20% of the world’s oil passes or the Red Sea crisiswith Houthi drones and missiles. And those are just some of the hot spots that cause logistics and merchant vessels to face serious problems in carrying out their functions. The possibility of sending the navy as a companion for those routes where the atmosphere is heated is obviously not an option. So the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has contracted to a company to solve it with an autonomous escort system with drones. Context. If the Strait of Hormuz is a strategic point for international trade, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is not far behind: 12% of world maritime trade passes through it, according to the Middle East Research Center. But since 2023, passing through there is a minefield, which has led to thousands of boats (according to Wikipedia citing Pentagon sources) follow an alternative route that involves going around all of Africa passing through the Cape of Good Hope. That’s 20,000 extra kilometers, ten more days of travel and the consequent expense in fuel. This specific case is not a mere example: it is what has led DARPA to make the decision to count on Raytheon to unclog this bottleneck as soon as possible, as explains the company’s president of Advanced Technology, Colin Whelan. Why is it important. Because 80% of world trade circulates by sea and there are a series of straits that are critical and that, in the event of conflict, act as bottlenecks due to their vulnerability. And the effects are immediate in the form of delays in supplies and prices. The protection of merchant ships to date required a naval escort in a slow, expensive operation and for which there are not enough troops to allocate them to that mission. What Pulling Guard proposes is autonomous protection without requiring extra crew or structural modifications. What is Raytheon? That company is not any: Raytheon is the arms division of the RTX group, the largest aerospace and defense company in the world, with 180,000 workers and $88 billion in turnover in 2025. With more than a century behind it and headquartered in Virginia, it has missiles such as the Patriot or the Tomahawk on its resume. It is one of the Pentagon’s Big Five contractors and is a regular in DARPA contracting. What is Pulling Guard. Pulling Guard is the system developed by Raytheon, a semi-autonomous platform towed by the ship it protects. From this, a drone operates with electro-optical and infrared sensors to detect potential threats and transmit information in real time to remote operators on the ground or on board. The latter are in charge of making decisions without the crew exposing themselves. It has two phases: in the first it is an advanced surveillance system and in the second it integrates weapons. Pulling Guard is neither a passive shield nor a preventive warning system: it is, in short, a light autonomous combat unit attached to a civilian ship. What we still don’t know. Beyond technical unknowns such as the budget, the phase schedule or the type of integrated weapons, this proposal raises two tricky questions: international law and gray areas. Without going any further, from issues such as what rules of engagement apply to the remote operator from the ground authorizing fire, who is legally responsible for the attack or what happens if the system acts in the waters of a third state. Not to mention something more mundane like flag registrations or insurance companies. Or something even more basic: does the ship lose its civilian status by carrying this system? In Xataka | The US Navy already knows how to fool enemy radars: drones that create ghost fleets In Xataka | The US is preparing a new radar for Greenland with one objective: to monitor every movement of Russia and China in the Arctic Cover | Raytheo

Saudi Arabia has insisted on connecting its two seas by train. And to achieve this it has been placed in the hands of a Spanish company

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Saudi Arabia has launched one of the most ambitious railway projects in the Middle East: the “Landbridge” or “Land Bridge”, a $7 billion high-speed network that will connect the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. The infrastructure will link Jeddah to Dammam via Riyadh, covering nearly 1,500 kilometers with the aim of completely transforming transport and commerce in the Arabian Peninsula. A strategic corridor for goods and passengers. The project will reduce travel time between Riyadh and Jeddah from around 12 hours by car to less than 4 hours by train. But the goal is for the project to go beyond just transporting passengers, as it is also designed to turn the kingdom into a key logistics hub in the region, connecting large industrial ports such as King Abdullah Port and Yanbu with urban centers and airports. According to Saudi authoritiesthe Landbridge could generate savings of $4.2 billion annually in transportation costs and create up to 200,000 jobs in related sectors. Vision 2030. This megaproject is a centerpiece of Vision 2030the strategic plan with which Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil. The Saudi Railways (SAR) company intends to expand the country’s railway network from the current 5,300 kilometers up to more than 8,000. As part of this modernization, SAR has ordered 15 new trains capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour and even hydrogen-powered models. Spanish participation in the project. The Landbridge is being developed by the Saudi China Landbridge Consortium, a partnership between Saudi Arabia Railways and China Civil Engineering Construction Company, with local support from Al-Ayuni Contracting. Between the international companies involved The Spanish company Sener stands out, which was selected in December 2023 along with Hill International (USA) and Italferr (Italy) to provide project management services. Firms such as Systra, Thales, WSP and other specialized consulting firms also participate. A project with a long history and new Chinese momentum. Although the Landbridge It was initially announced in 2004 and paused in 2010, gained new momentum after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2022, when both countries committed to accelerate its execution. Chinese investment in Saudi Arabia has grown significantly: in 2024, the stock of direct investment reached 8.2 billion dollarsup 29% from 2023. China has become the largest source of greenfield investment in the kingdom, with commitments worth $16.8 billion in energy, manufacturing and logistics. Railway enthusiasm. Only in the second quarter of 2025, more than 2.6 million passengers They used Saudi trains, according to Okaz media. After the completion of the Landbridge, Saudi Arabia will have made a qualitative leap in its railway network and logistics capacity, so it remains to be seen how the process ends up developing and if it really ends up being a ‘miracle of the desert’. Cover image | Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa), Railway Supply In Xataka | In 2018 it was a countryside on the outskirts of Chongqing. In 2025 it will be the largest train station in the world

China has converted salmon breeding into a high seas into an engineering feat. This latest generation ship shows it

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Half of the fish we eat is no longer fishing in an open sea. Is raised in controlled facilitiesmany times away from the coast. It is the aquaculturean industry in full expansion that today produces more Fish for human consumption that traditional fishing, According to FAO data. Spain leads this activity in the European Union, with more than 5,000 centers in operation and a diversity of species that goes from rainbow trout to the Galician mussel. And yet, the most ambitious development of this industry does not seem to be on land or close to the coast. The state agency CGTN says that China has just bounced the First intelligent aquaculture ship in the world. A floating structure that sails, breeds and processes salmon without returning to port. A floating mega -structure that reproduces the complete cycle of a fish farm The Suhai-1 is the first smart and self-sufficient aquaculture ship in the world. Its construction marks, according to its developers, the beginning of a new stage in the salmon breeding in the open sea. It measures almost 250 meters long, displaces 132,000 tons and has 15 breeding compartments capable of hosting a volume of water equivalent to 33 Olympic swimming pools. Everything is automated: From food to oxygen control, through the simulation of natural light and waste management. The project has been built by the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding company. But the most surprising thing is your ability to navigate. Unlike traditional sea farms, many of them anchored to coastal areas or fixed structures on the high seas, this ship can move to areas with optimal conditions for salmon growth, such as the mass of cold water of the yellow sea (Yellow Sea). Sinas details that Suhai-1 does not need to be anchored in a fixed place. Can navigate to a maximum speed of 18 km/h and move hundreds of kilometers if the conditions of the environment require it. In case of storm, red tide or any other phenomenon, the ship can quickly move to safer areas. It also has an autonomy of 20,000 nautical miles and can operate self -sufficiently for 90 days. Interior of the Suhai-1 His first mission, in fact, will be heading towards the cold waters of the Yellow Sea, where temperatures They range between 10 and 18 degrees: The ideal range for salmon growth. The objective is clear: keep fish in their optimal surroundings since they are fry until they reach maturity. Once ready, it will not be necessary to take them to the ground for transformation: the ship itself has processing systems that allow you to file, package and preserve the fish on board, ready to be landed and distributed. According to the operating company, the product can reach Chinese markets in less than 24 hours after capture. To guarantee a controlled environment, the Suhai-1 integrates intelligent systems that They regulate five key factors: Water, oxygen, food, lighting and waste management. Everything is monitored in real time and coordinated from a centralized control center on board. Interior of the Suhai-1 The automated feeding system is responsible for storing, transporting, opening and distributing the feed (food), guided by algorithmic decisions that adjust the amount according to the growth of the fish. The constant water renewal is carried out by means of a circuit that exchanges the fluid inside with fresh marine water, adapting the pressure and flow rate. In addition, the ship has environmental sensors, underwater surveillance cameras, filtering systems and a Industrial Processing Plant capable of operating in two modalities: rapid cooling and freezing. In optimal conditions, fish can reach port and be marketed in a matter of hours. Suhai-1 is not born only as a technological flavor, but in response to increasing domestic demand. China has become in the salmon market that grows faster in the world. Only in 2024, consumption reached 1,760 million dollars, with an increase of 21% compared to the previous year. However, national production is not yet to meet that demand. Fish farms on land or fixed networks produce less than 50,000 tons per yearwhile imports remain high. Suhai-1 aspires to reduce that dependence. According to CGTN, their drivers plan to release the first fry this fall and bring the first harvest to the market around the dragon boat festival next year. China has been betting on the scale and engineering for years as a way of projecting power. There they are The three throats damits high -speed trains network –The most extensive in the world– o The trains that compete for being the fastest on the planet. Projects that respond to the same logic: overcome limits in technology, transport or energy. Suhai-1 fits that line. In Europe, aquaculture has centuries of history. The Romans already raised fish in artificial ponds. Spain adopted these practices early and consolidated an aquaculture culture that is still alive: from the Galician bats for the mussel to the southern estuaries for the lubina or the gold. Images | Jiangsu LianShen Marine Technology | Caroline Attwood In Xataka | “Lobster plague”: in the crusade of European cities against cruise ships, Cannes is now the spearhead

We have centuries contaminating the seas with mercury. We did not expect the solution to be genetic engineering

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There is something that have volcanic eruptions, oil combustion, waste incineration, chemical substances or gold extraction: they release mercury in the environment. A mercury that ends up deposited in the waters, transformed into methylmercury for millions of microorganisms, stored in fish and, finally, served in our houses at lunchtime. We have a problem with methylmercury. That is obvious. The problem is that it is very difficult to solve. And that is not forcing ideas in another place. What exactly is methylmercury? Mercury is already a global concern due to its persistence in the environment, its ability to bioaccumulation in ecosystems and their important adverse effects on human health. But methylmercury, the most frequent organic form in the marine environment takes the palm. None of this would be a problem if it were not because, in addition, methylmercury is the form “more toxic and the most easily absorbable For living organisms, since it is highly liposoluble and has a great capacity to fix proteins and also shows a high degree of bioaccumulation. “ Is it dangerous? Well yes. High doses of this compound They are very toxic to the central nervous system and especially “for the brain in development of the fetus and in early childhood.” It can cause “mild behavioral problems, language disorders, memory losses, vision and auditory, learning difficulties and development delays.” And we do nothing to avoid it? Yes, we have tried several approaches. In 2013, governments around the world adopted the Minamata Agreement to try to control the “anthropogenic liberations of mercury and other compounds” derivatives. In fact, in the last decade the European Food Security Authority (and its national equivalents) They have been establishing increasingly strict criteria for food with risk of exposure to these compounds. The problem is that it is not easy to control that release and, for now, we cannot do much more than reduce risks. A solution … original. Now, some Australian scientists say they have discovered a new effective way to clean the methylmercury. The Macquarie University Research Team and the Australian Csiro has managed genetically fruit flies and zebra fish to transform methylmercury into a much less harmful gas that is dispersed in the air. The team has modified the DNA of these two animals to insert variants of bacteria genes that make them create two enzymes that can convert the methylmercury into elementary mercury. In general terms, we could say that they inactivate it. It does not become harmless, but its toxicity and bioaccumulation falls very significantly. Oh really? “It still seems to me that we can use synthetic biology to convert the most harmful form of mercury and evaporate it,” Kate Tepper explainedsynthetic biologist and main author of the article. And, indeed, almost science fiction sounds. It must be said that, obviously, we talk about an investigation in the early development phases and much remains to be checked. However, it is a very interesting result. Very dangerous and very loaded with ethical issues, but very interesting for the development of the genetic engineering of the future. Another thing is that we dare to get so far. Image | John Cameron In Xataka | This researcher has been poisoning a lake with mercury for 15 years to see what happens to the fish living inside: now, he finally has an answer

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