secret

Hangzhou is the city of DeepSeek, Alibaba and Unitree without any of the typical Silicon Valley ingredients. His secret is another

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Hangzhou, a city of 12 million inhabitants 180 km south of Shanghai, is home to a striking number of powerful technology companies: Seven reference technologies (the six ‘little dragons’ plus the giant Alibaba) in a city that does not have any of the elements considered essential in Silicon Valley: Abundant venture capital. Leading universities. Links between university and industry. And a robust industrial structure. How could you then Hangzhou emerge well? The facts. Venture capital is plummeting in China. Funds in yuan have fallen from 88.42 billion dollars in 2022 to 5.38 billion in 2024. Funds in dollars, from 17.32 billion to 750 million. Hangzhou has not been a major recipient of investment until last year, when its province –Zheijang– stood out with 41 new corporate venture capital funds. But it was only after Unitree or Game Science had gained national attention. Missing. Hangzhou has only one elite university – Zhejiang – compared to 26 in Beijing, 11 in Jiangsu or 10 in Shanghai. The admission rate at Tsinghua and Beijing Universities for students from the capital (0.85%) is almost ten times that of students from Zhejiang (0.09%). None of the founders of “the six little dragons” or Alibaba created their company directly from university. Liang Wenfeng founded High-Flyer, the hedge fund after DeepSeekeight years after graduating. Jack Ma was rejected for 30 jobs after finishing his studies. Yes, but. The city has innovated by doing away with those ingredients. The explanation offered by Zilan Qian, a researcher at the Oxford China Policy Lab, points out ChinaTalk to “flexible governance”: a model where officials adopt “waiters” and “babysitters” mentality that facilitate rather than control. The context. Hangzhou does not have the political, financial or industrial importance of first-tier cities, which has given it greater local autonomy to shape its technology sector. Zhejiang province was a pioneer since the 1980s in promoting private enterprise during the early phases of Chinese economic reforms. Jack Ma He tried to establish Alibaba’s headquarters in Beijing or Shanghai, but failed due to the cost of rent and bureaucratic barriers. In 2015, Ma explained her decision: “Beijing favors state-owned enterprises, Shanghai favors foreign companies, and Alibaba was nothing in their eyes. If we return to Hangzhou, we become the local only child who receives all the attention and support.” Hangzhou is part of the sometimes called “chinese technology triangle“(sometimes also”golden triangle“) along with Shanghai and Shenzhen. More than a geometric reality, the functional metaphor describes the complementarity of three cities: Shenzhen provides industrial capacity and hardware. Shanghai concentrates finances and internationalization Hangzhou stands out in the internet, AI and an ecosystem favorable to private companies. Each vertex of the triangle has different strengths that, combined, generate an ecosystem where geographical proximity facilitates collaboration and flow of talent between the three poles. Between the lines. The model is described as “market-oriented” but maintains a level of centralized governance. The Hangzhou government sees quality of life as a strategy to attract businesses and talent, but positions itself as an enabler, not a controller. The absence of state-backed research institutes and a strong industrial base contributes to the government’s humble attitude. If Hangzhou were more strategic or more industrial, DeepSeek might not have had the creative space to emerge and provoke the earthquake that caused in January. The narrative of “self-made industry” and “entrepreneurial bureaucracy” admits conflicting readings. What some interpret as facilitation, others read as a euphemism for “dirigiste intervention by the State”, with a very defined plan of action and long-term objectives. “Flexible governance” can be both real local autonomy… and dirigisme disguised as pragmatism. At least it is no longer “a city south of Shanghai” but “Alibaba City” or “DeepSeek City”. In Xataka | China is selling us a future full of humanoid robots. We have (many) doubts Featured image | JinHui CHEN in Unsplash

The secret to continuing to accumulate LEGO sets is not to keep them. This rental service helps you with that.

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Any adult LEGO fan have run into a similar problem. It is enormously enjoyable to set up the sets, but once finished comes the drama: where do we place it? The lack of space in modern homes or the impossibility of collecting several sets due to the space they occupy has led to the creation of a business especially aimed at those who do not want to give up building new sets, but do not need to keep them. Brick Borrow rents LEGO sets… which are then returned. How it works. Brick Borrow offers users the possibility of renting iconic sets by paying a fixed fee, always for an unlimited time. The amount of the fee determines what can be rented as follows: Mystery Set (9.99 euros): Brick Borrow chooses which set to send. Only one set per month. Builder (14.99 euros): The customer chooses what they want from the Brick Borrow catalogue. Unlimited loans every month. Only one set at a time. There is an annual version with a small discount. Master (24.99 euros): Like Buider, but with two sets per month. There are dozens of available setsin a catalog that is constantly growing, and as expected, we can find some of the most iconic: Mario Kart, the Shire from ‘The Lord of the Rings’, the Temple of the Golden Idol from Indiana Jones, Snow White’s cabin, the Creeper from ‘Minecraft’, the house from ‘Up!’, the ship from ‘Jaws’, a Concorde, Hogwarts, the Infinity Gauntlet, a bonsai, Sonic’s first level, Darth Vader’s helmet and a long etcetera… The wonderful world of AFOLs. This is a service clearly aimed at adult LEGO fans (or AFOL: Adult Fans Of LEGO), a typology that ranges from rigorous collectors to creative builders who see LEGO as a form of artistic expression, and who often value the building experience as much or more than the result. Rental introduces an interesting dimension for them: it democratizes access to complex or expensive sets that are sometimes inaccessible to a large part of the community. Aspects that a child does not appreciate, such as completism or playing with rare sets, are thus more accessible to this type of adult fans. To ride. It is more than proven therapeutic value of play in adults. But in addition, services like Brick Borrow (there are others, especially in the US: NetBricks, Brick Library, Blockria, Brickdrop, Lend A Brick, Chorley Bricks and many more) allow us to focus on an aspect of LEGO that sometimes goes unnoticed: building rather than enjoying the finished set. The activity of assembling blocks works as a mental escape and relaxation, similar to meditative or creative practices. The concentration on small pieces and the satisfaction of seeing a structure take shape generates a binding pleasure that transcends simple fun. The economics of access. There is a global trendlinked to a market increasingly dominated by subscriptions and temporary access to goods, for people looking for andxexperiences without the burden of storage or constant spending. Brick Borrow is not a unique experiment: we have seen it before on platforms that rent luxury clothing either technology. It implies a more responsible use of the product, promoting the so-called economy of access and reuse, repair, recycling and waste reduction, unlike the traditional linear model of “use and throw away”. The products and materials thus maintain their value for as long as possible, minimizing the environmental impact and promoting sustainable consumption. In Xataka | I worked for eight years in a sex shop. This is how the sector has changed and this is how it has changed me

Six secret locations hide a 200 megawatt treasure

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The battle for The electricity supply It has become an essential component of The hybrid war Modern, one where the line between civil infrastructure and military objective is blurred. To the Attack thermal plants Or transmission lines, Russia not only seeks to disable the network, but also sow panic, break morality and destabilize economic life. Now Ukraine has materialized an unpublished plan to combat winter in the war: a 200MEGAVATIOS hide and seek. Light as an act of resistance. Ukraine goes into his fourth winter of war after have survived to three seasons of forced blackouts For Russian bombings, with engineers repairing under -fire substations and millions of citizens supporting cold and darkness. However, this time the country is committed to An unpublished resource: A network of huge American design batteries, distributed in six secret and conceived locations to offer an energy mattress when the network is attacked. Its joint capacity of 200 megawatts It is equivalent to illuminating for two hours about six hundred thousand homes, enough to maintain urban life while the technicians restore the service. The heart of a war system. The Six battery parkslocated around kyiv and the Dnipropetrovsk region, are integrated directly into the national electrical system. They do not replace centrals, but allow to cover the sudden fall of thermal plants or substations achieved by missiles and drones. Its modularity is key: each block can be isolated and replaced without compromising the whole, which reduces vulnerability to direct attacks. Ukraine protects these enclaves with anti -aircraft defenses and the secrecy of its location, aware that a single Russian impact could cause a chain blackout. Energy storage systems in Ukraine Moscow’s offensive. From the beginning of the invasion, more than half Of the Ukrainian generating capacity it has been useless by bombing against thermal plants, coal mines and gas networks. Even nuclear energy, which previously supported most of the system, has been diminished: the largest central is under Russian control and out of operation. The Kremlin strategy seeks to bend the population leaving it without light or heating in the middle of winter. Last year failure Thanks to Technicians ingenuitybut the Mass production Shahed drones predicts attacks more intense and prolongedcapable of saturating Ukrainian defenses. Energy as a weapon. kyiv has also brought the war to the energy field. His drones have Beef Russian refineries And they left tens of thousands of citizens without supply In Belgorodas retaliation for the devastation of your electricity grid. In negotiations sponsored by Washington, he was talking about A non -aggression pact about energy infrastructure, but the ATaques have resumed As the cold approaches. In this pulse, electricity is not only a vital resource, but a strategic weapon that both sides use to erode the moral of the adversary. West as a support. The battery network is part of a 140 million dollar program funded by the Private energy DTEK and Ukrainian banks, with teams supplied by the American Fluence. Washington and Berlin reinforce in turn The air shield With patriot systems, although kyiv insists that protection remains insufficient. He Renewable development As wind and solar add resilience: its dispersion prevents a single attack from demolishing the entire generation, and batteries balance the natural intermittency of these sources. History lessons. If we expand the frame, the use of energy as a battlefield is not, much less, exclusive to Ukraine. In World War II, Allied bombings On German Ruhr hydroelectric plants, they sought to paralyze the industrial production of the third Reich, and in Iraq, both in 1991 and 2003, the coalition headed by the United States Deliberately destroyed electric plants to disorganize Sadam Husein’s forces. Even in Kosovo, in 1999, NATO used graphite bombs that disabled transmission networks without destroying the structures, a reminder that light can be extinguished for military purposes without spilling direct blood. In all cases, cutting electricity meant hitting the heart of the resistance of a country, weakening its productive capacity and, above all, its morals. In Ukraine, possibly aware of history, they prepare to resist what in other wars were decisive. Light as a symbol. If you want also, electricity in Ukraine has become a resistance metaphor. Keeping the lamps on kyiv, járkov or leopolis means demonstrating that neither missiles nor blackouts will break everyday life. In a conflict where entire cities are tried to turn off, the Ukrainians have made light an act of challenge and faith. Image | Ministry of Defense of UkraineDTEK / Facebook In Xataka | The greatest attack of Ukraine on Russian soil discovered a new threat with drones. China has just multiply it In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is new. In front of the drones, Russia has taken out its “other” artillery: horses

In Japan, the average trains delay is 96 seconds. It is not magic, his secret is called “Paka-Yoke”

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We are not going to discover anything if we tell you that the high Spanish speed has not lived its best summer. To get an idea, Four out of 10 Renfe trains They have suffered some type of delay. We have had breakdowns, Lost trains during the night and the final tip of the fires. But beyond summer, the truth is that the Spanish road network is giving important symptoms of fatigue. Only last June, The birds arrived with a medium delay of 19 minutes About the scheduled time. In April the figure was almost 21 minutes. According to the published report by the company, of the 9,607 trains that circulated last June, only one in three arrived in time Or they were delayed less than five minutes. We know this because Renfe herself has published it but the breakdowns have also affected the trains of Iryo and Ouigo that have to circulate on the same ways. The data point to two possible reasons. First, Spain begins to give symptoms of having an infradimensive infrastructure to host the arrival of new operators (OUIGO and IRYO) and a Growth sustained in the number of trips. Second, the data warn that not enough has been invested in maintenance and modernization of the roads. It is very likely that the situation we are living is a mixture of both reasons. But a question overwhelm: if in Spain we have problems with three trains companies … how do they work in Japan where six different companies operate? 96 seconds Move by Japan, especially for Honshu (his main island in which cities like Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka are found) is very simple if you decide on the high -speed train. The frequencies are so bulky and the delays so exceptional that the reliability in the system is absolute. The known as Japan Rail It can, also, be chaos for those who visit the country for the first time, taking into account that even Six companies operate on their lines. However, each of them has its own reserved space so they do not compete on the same roads as it happens in Spain where Renfe has to deal with Iro and Ouigo. Despite this, four of those Six companies (JR East, JR Central, JR West and JR Kyushu) are completely privatized and only two (JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku) are state -owned. There is, however, a fundamental difference. In Spain, following European orders, the management of the roads falls exclusively on Adif (which was public and also had to be privatized) that charges some canons to companies that want to operate in their railway framework. AND The roads are shared partly between medium distance and high speed trains. In Japan, however, companies manage infrastructure and maintenance of the roads in which they operate but the network of Shinkansenthe famous bullet trains, have a completely separated infrastructure from the rest of the trains and is managed by the Railway Construction, Transportation and Technology Agency of Japan (JRTT). This physical separation allows to reduce the risks (a fault of a slower train does not impact bullet trains) and install systems specifically designed for this type of trains. That has allowed them to evolve the acquaintance concept of Paka-Yoke which can be translated as “failure proof”, referring to the fact that all human decisions are supervised by an exahustive system monitoring system, which shields the network of those possible human errors. This has allowed Japan to be a reference in world high speed. Until Spain and China surpassed the country in railway kilometers of this type of trains, the Japanese country was a leader but it still is in punctuality. In 2024, The average delay in the Tokaid line was 96 seconds. However, systems are designed for trains to enter a margin of 15 seconds at the station. Most of them stop in the first 6 seconds scheduled. Japanese punctuality is an extremely valued quality. Culture forces to ask for public forgiveness when schedules are not fulfilled, sometimes reaching surreal extremes. Like the day that a railway company had to make its face because one of its trains He left the station 20 seconds earlier than expected. Photo | Henry Perks In Xataka | Japan asked its citizens what bothers them most about tourists on the train. The responses betrayed the nation

Kim Jong-un’s health has become a state secret. So on your trips something is never missing: your personal toilet

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When one travels normal, it is that a suitcase full of clothes, perhaps a camera, a laptop, a few books or a tablet to watch a couple of movies during the flight. In the case of Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of North Korea, things are somewhat different. His luggage incorporates something that the common of mortals does not usually carry with us: A trusted wader ‘. Sounds weird, but it has its logic. Visit to China. The visit a few days ago Kim Jong-un made China to participate in the ceremony of the 80th anniversary From the surrender of Japan, he left a good handful of photos and the occasional headline for the story. After all, he agreed with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, among others world leaders. The appointment allowed Beijing to make a blunt military power and (equally important) diplomatic influencebut it will be remembered for something else: the zeal with which Kim Jong-un assistants cleaned the chair in which their leader had sat down while chatting with Putin. In A video Disseminated by CNN and allegedly taxed by an accredited reporter in the Kremlin, an operator is seen passing a cloth to the table and the armchair that had used Kim shortly before. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Cleaning … and something else. The news about the zeal of Kim Jong-un to erase any trace of its passage (literally) by China coincided with another that goes in the same line. A few days ago Nikkei He revealed something curious: North Korean travels with personal toilet. One has one in Taeyangchothe luxurious train that usually uses to move and to which He has resorted too During his visit to Beijing, but it is not strange that when Kim must travel far, he does it with a ‘trusted’ bath. Beyond what happened in China, where Kim had the bathroom of his train-fortress, Nikkei assures that there are precedents. According to its sourceswhen the supreme leader visits factories or even military bases in North Korea, a personal toilet usually has available. Something similar happens on your trips abroad. When in 2018 he participated in A summit On the South Korean side of the border, his team took a toilet. And something similar happened that same year in The meeting With the US held in Singapore. A toilet for Kim was also mobilized. And why do you do it? The big question. Why does Kim Jong-un demand that wherever there is a toilet for his trust? Are you related to the zeal of your employees for meticulously cleaning the chairs in which you feel or the tables on which you support? The key was given It makes popco Reuters: where we see fingers, hairs, grooves and dust (also feces) North Korean power sees a valuable source of information that is not willing to leave available to intelligence services of other nations, no matter if friends or enemies. Is it something exceptional? No. such security measures (applied with greater or lesser rigor) are not exclusive to Kim. Reuters remember That the protocol dates back to his father’s times and in recent days have not lacked media that ensure that there are other leaders who share the same zeal. Financial Express assures That Putin moves with a team whose mission is to recover and eliminate his waste while abroad. And he is not the only one who has echoed that rumor, widely collected by means of everyone. The Latest news On the alleged team responsible for watching Putin’s detritus start from the summit he had recently maintained with Trump. The power of feces. Maybe it sounds crazy or eccentricity, but it has its logic. A button, a cup of dirty coffee or a hez are waste, but also a potential source of information that could reveal data on the physiology of its ‘owner’. Perhaps unknown diabetes, hypertension or perhaps a hobby not revealed by alcohol. And that, in cases like Kim’s, on whose health they have run ink rivers (and speculation), is something to take into account. “The special toilet and the garbage bags necessary for waste, waste and butts serve for a foreign intelligence agency, even a friend, cannot obtain a sample and analyze it” Explain A Reuters Michael Madden, expert in North Korea of ​​the Stimson Centerbased in the US. “It would provide information on any medical condition that affects Kim Jong-un.” “He worries especially”. North Korea seems to have taken that effort to erase traces (for small or more inconsequential that seems) to a new level. In 2019 it went viral A brief video in which Kim is seen smoking while the train on which he was traveling in Nanning, to the south of China. The reason? It shows how her sister holds an ashtray to allegedly prevent the ‘DNA) from the’ beloved leader ‘to end up in unwanted hands. During the summits It is not strange either See how your staff disinfects furniture or North Korean uses your own pen to sign agreements. “The health and biometric information of the supreme leader are a very well -stored secret and are associated with their safety,” Confirm to South China Morning Post (SCMP) Peter Ward, a researcher at the Sejong Institute specialized in North Korea, who is not surprised at the image that was seen a few days ago in China. “Probably what they were cleaning were sweat skin cells, in addition to other possible biomarkers that could reveal health problems.” Images | Trong Khiem Nguyen (Flickr) 1 and 2 In Xataka | We knew that North Korea has been infiltrating workers in companies in the West. Now we know how they do

There is a ‘good’ fat that hides a secret to aging better and being fit. It only remains to get the pill

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Aging is inevitable, and with it it comes A progressive loss of physical capacity that causes it to be more difficult to walk or stand up. This makes Stay fit It becomes much more difficult and therefore the resistance begins to decline. But … what if this decline can be slow down? This is precisely what science is focused on. Fat as anti -aging. Researchers at the Rigers New Jersey Medical School They have discovered That a special type of adipose tissue, known as brown fat, could be the key not only for healthier old age, but also Improve physical performance. A study of great relevance, since it can open a new route in the anti -aging field. The team that has led this research has been able to identify an unusually powerful form of this ‘good fat’ in mice, which not only Increased his life expectancybut improved its exercise capacity by an impressive 30%. Now, the race has begun to be able to replicate these same effects in humans through a drug. Not all fat is bad. When we think of fat, the White fat or white adipose tissue. Its main function is to store excess calories in the form of triglycerides and is the one that can bother us aesthetically throughout our lives. Although in essence it is a large energy deposit. But, nevertheless, there is another type of fat that is much more interesting: brown fat or Brown adipose tissue. Unlike white, brown fat is specialized in burning calories to generate heat in a process called thermogenesis. This is possible thanks to the fact that their cells are full of mitochondria, which are the organelles that act as cellular power plants and that give it its characteristic brown color. In our life where we have more fatty fat in our body is when we are babies, since here it is crucial for Keep body temperature. But when we grow, the brown fat is lost until some cracks are around the neck and shoulders. But here the white fat is the one that dominates our body completely. One step further. Knowledge about brown fat already has a long journey in scientific literature. But it is now when this study goes further to point that it is linked to having a healthier longevity and with a much more appropriate physical exercise. How they knew it. To get to this conclusion, the researchers worked with a genetically modified mouse model to lack a protein called RGS14. The mice without this protein lived approximately 20% than their normal partners, and curiously the females lived more than the males in a pattern similar to that followed by humans. Even at the advanced ages, these mice avoided the typical signs of aging such as body atrophy, hair loss or the graying of the fur. But it does not stay here, since when submitting them to physical tests, the modified mice showed a 30% higher performance, both in distance traveled and in resistance. And all this because mice without RGS14 developed a dense and powerful brown fat than who expressed the protein correctly. The definitive test. To confirm that it was brown fat, and not another effect of genetic modification, scientists conducted a crucial experiment: transplanting the brown ‘supergras’ of mice without RGS14 to normal and healthy mice. The results were overwhelming. The mice that received this transplant improved their ability to exercise in just three days. On the other hand, when brown fat was transplanted from a normal mouse to another, an improvement was also observed, but much more and with eight weeks ahead to manifest its effects. Something that showed that the fat of the genetically modified mice was exceptionally powerful. Because? The mechanism seems to reside in an improvement in blood circulation. The indications suggest that brown fat promotes the creation of new blood cases in the muscles that improves the flow of blood and oxygen during exercise. The goal. Research suggests that this brown fat not only improves physical performance, but also protects against a series of ailments associated with age, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and even cancer and Alzheimer’s. Vatner’s team is already working with collaborators to develop a drug that imitates the effects of this powerful brown fat, hoping to have a compound ready to be tested in approximately one year. But the idea is not only to increase life expectancy, but “healthy life expectancy.” That is, even if you live longer, these ‘extra’ years enjoy good physical and mental health. While we expect that future pill, there are techniques such as deliberate exposure to cold (the famous ice baths) that can naturally increase our brown fat levels. However, as Vatner points out, most people would prefer to take a pill to take an ice cream bath. Images | Tatiana Zanon In Xataka | Our brain has its own backup. It is already known how to create copies in parallel of each memory

Protect Trump is a headache, so the secret service has bought a armored golf car: the Golf Force One

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That Donald Trump likes golf is not a secret. It spends many hours in some of the fields that its organization continues to manage and, in fact, this sport was A throwing weapon in one of the presidential debates against Biden. It is not uncommon to see the current president driving his golf car, but recently he has seen him with something … strange: a golf car that It looks like the Batmobo And that he has already been nicknamed as ‘golf force one’ in allusion to the imposing Air Force One, the presidential plane. And, contrary to what we can think of first, it is not an eccentricity. The ‘Golf Force One’. A few days ago you could see a curious stamp in the Trump Turnberry field in Scotland, owned by … Trump. The tycoon was about to throw some holes with his son Eric when an army of the typical golf cars was seen accompanying another much more peculiar. It is the one you can see in the following image and that the press soon called ‘Golf Force One’. The minibesty that accompanied Trump In the field a security team formed by controllers for all who wanted to access, as well as different snipers stationed in strategic sites was deployed. Trump was in a conventional car, but this vehicle was followed closely that, as different police sources, affirmed the environment The TelegraphIt was a armored golf buggy. The minibesty. Part of the president of a country is the armored car. In the displacements, the authorities use them as a security component, and if you are Putin, Kim Yong Un (Apart from the car, has a armored train) or the president of the United States, it is evident that you need a armored car. The beast is the presidential armored cara mole that has all types of shields, but also active defensive systems that seem taken from a spy tape. And, obviously, comparisons with Buggy have recently seen there. The vehicle has been identified as a Polaris Ranger xa UTV (‘Utility Task Vehicle’, for its acronym in English), which is basically a robust buggy designed to transport loads on difficult terrain, with traction that is usually 4×4 and with safety systems such as antivuelco cages. Now, this ‘Golf Force One’ is not a Ranger X as it comes out of the factory, but one modified with equipment that is kept secret, but that includes a closed cabin and, at least on the front, a armored windshield. There are no more details, although a White House spokesman confirmed The War Zone that it is a new addition to the presidential fleet of special vehicles. Priorities. Polaris Ranger are not new in US authorities. The base version is sold for $ 20,000 (although Trump’s must cost a lot, much more due to that armor pack) and have been seen in border patrol tasks. Returning to the golf course, he saw the president driving his ‘cart’, but the ‘Golf Force One’ followed him closely. And it is something that is not only logical, but also necessary. In the golf courses there is a very strict regulation on vehicles that can circulate on the grass, since too much weight can ruin it. A armored glass is not particularly light, but a reinforced UTV is still weighing less than the beast and its nine tons. Follow it closely while Trump moves in his conventional car makes sense for a rapid extraction maneuver for any danger, and it is a safety measure more in an environment than It is a headache For your entourage of bodyguards. Polaris models to patrol the border It makes … meaning. A golf course, however private it is, is a huge open space, turning the players into very simple whites. In July 2024, the attempted murder during a rally held in Pennsylvania He went down in history For the powerful photographs that were captured and what resonated worldwide, but although it did not make so much noise, in September of that same year there was a second attempt. While the future president played at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida, another of his fields, an agent of the Secret service He saw something suspicious near the fence of one of the holes: a overshadowed face and the barrel of a rifle. The alleged shooter was caught And he is in prison waiting for trial, evidencing what we comment: a golf course makes you an easy target … and a armored buggy can be a good way to protect the president. In the end, beyond that it is a vehicle with all the meaning, Trump’s picture driving his car while the ‘golf Force One’ and a retahla of conventional buggys follow it is … curious. Images | Polaris, Macgyver Solutions In Xataka | Everything that wanted to be the Tesla Cybertruck without success is the impressive Lamborghini Rezvani Knight

We have been intrigued by the “blue areas” in which longevity shoots. His secret may be in Finland

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Scientists have observed for year “Blue Areas” With a mixture of fascination, suspicion And a pressing question: are there places that people usually enjoy longer and healthier lives? Is it easier to meet centenary people in certain regions From the planet, like Okinawa (Japan), Ikara (Greece) or Sardinia? And if so, why? A group of Finnish researchers believe they have found A new candidate To “Blue Zone” to the west of your country, a finding that can help us better understand these mysterious areas. For now, they have already managed to generate expectation. What happened? Some time ago a group of researchers from the Åbo Akademia University based in Turku (Finland), a peculiar objective was proposed: finding out if a part of its country fits the characteristics of what is usually known as ‘blue areas’geographical areas that stand out for the high longevity and healthy life habits of its inhabitants, two realities that experts believe they are directly related. To be more precise Nordic scientists focused on a handful of territories of the old Western Finland: The Swedish majority region of Ostrobotnia, South Ostrobotnia and the Åland islands. As explained in The article In which they have reflected their conclusions, their idea was to analyze the longevity indicators and then find out if the best results corresponded to the cities in which people enjoy a healthier lifestyle. But … What is “blue zone”? Regions in which people (apparently) enjoy longer and more healthy lives than normal. It is not a new concept. Its origins can be traced At least until 2004when the magazine Experimental Gerontology public A broad study on the centenary population of Sardinia, Italy. In it the authors marked with that color (blue) the regions of the map in which the longevity data were higher. In addition to identifying them geographically, researchers speculated that these indicators could be explained by factors such as nutrition, lifestyle or the proliferation of genetic characteristics that favored the locals. The fact is that the ‘blue areas’ liked and shortly after, in 2005, a journalist from National Geographic He used it in Another article in which he talked about three regions of the planet where on average the population enjoyed longer and healthy lives: Okinawa, in Japan, Loma Linda, in California, and Sardinia. The text was affected in the same idea: the phenomenon connects with certain healthy habits in these territories, such as nutritional diets, physical activity, stress control and moderate alcohol consumption, among others. And what did they find out in Finland? Åbo researchers identified a series of curious phenomena who, in summary, have taken them to conclude That the Swedish region of Ostrobotnia “could be a blue zone”, with a population characterized by its high life expectancy, health and positive life habits. However, that’s just one of your conclusions. And maybe not the most interesting. To understand it it is necessary to know Your study and the figures on which it supports. What figures? The most interesting are longevity. According to The data collected in Journal of Aging Research In the åland islands life expectancy among babies who came to the world between 2020 and 2022 was 83.5 years, in ostrobotnia of 83.1 and in southern ostrobotnia of 81.8. Any of these data exceeds both the mean of Finland (81.6) and EU’swhich is around 81.5. Worldwide, life expectancy at birth in 2022 was 72.6 years and, According to statistathat global average will not approach that of Ostrobotnia until the end of the century. Of course, it is a global average. In Spain the data is already Very simulate. And what does that tell us? The Åbo team did not limit himself to studying longevity records. After all, the blue areas have not been analyzed only according to demographic data. Experts also take into account factors such as “lifestyle and health”, which includes social relationships, diet, physical activity or even vital purposes. By taking into account these parameters, experts reached a conclusion: the relationship between them (longevity and the characteristics of blue areas) are not as evident as one would expect. What does it mean? That the greatest longevity data are not necessarily in the regions that best fit the ideal characteristics of a “blue zone”. It sounds confusing, but it is better understood with an example. The longest study of the study was Åland, an area that effectively presents good health data, but is “diverted from several principles” of what could be considered the ideal lifestyle. In part of Ostrobotnia something different happens: the healthy lifestyle is well implanted and yet its life expectancy is less than in other areas. What is the conclusion? There are several. To begin the researchers concluded that, if the age, health and implementation of the lifestyle of the blue areas, the Swedish Obstrobotnia are taken into account It could be considered Perfectly one of those redoubts that stand out for their longevity. Just like Other regions of the planet, such as Okinawa, Ikara or Oglybasra. However, research throws another more interesting reading, especially in the face of future studies on blue areas: when analyzing them it is important to take into account the context. “The possible coherence between longevity, health and lifestyle I could vary in different cultural, political, social and economic contexts,” indicates the articlewhich acknowledges that their data shows that “the Nordic regions with greater longevity are not necessarily adhere to the lifestyle of blue areas.” In other words, they insist: “The important lifestyle principles for longevity can vary in different regions.” Why is it interesting? Because beyond the implications it may have for Western Finland, its authorities, doctors and demographers, research throws new data and keys to the study of blue areas, a concept that in recent years has aroused two feelings: fascination … and skepticism. Since National Geographic public Your article The concept has generated debate and suspicion of those who warn that their scientific base results Little solid. In 2019 Dr. Saul J. Newman launched An article in which … Read more

The OIEA finds evidence of the secret nuclear reactor of Syria

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In September 2007, Israeli combat aircraft reduced a complex in the Syrian desert of Deir Ezzor to debris. Israel said that there was a nuclear reactor there with the help of North Korea. The Bashar al Asad government replied that it was nothing more than a military base. For years, both versions met in the field of suspicion. Now, eighteen years later, the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) provides evidence that incline the balance: in that place there was processed uranium. A few particles. According to a confidential report quoted by APNewsthe agency’s inspectors found “a significant amount of natural uranium particles” in one of the three sites examined in the last two years. As Reuters has pointed outit is not a rich uranium, but of anthropogenic origin: it had gone through a chemical process. “The analysis indicated that uranium occurred as a result of chemical processing,” the document said. According to Apnewssome of these particles coincide with the conversion of mineral concentrate into uranium oxide, a usual step in fuel production for reactors. A nuclear plan never recognized. The history of this “ghost reactor” begins in 2011. The OIEA had already estimated that the building destroyed by Israel was “most likely a nuclear reactor that should have been declared” by Syria. According to Apnewsthe installation would have been built with the support of North Korean engineers, which would explain the secrecy of the Bashar al Asad regime. Rafael Grossi, current director of the OIEA, acknowledged in statements collected by the news agency that some of the Syrian activities “were probably related to nuclear weapons.” However, Damascus always denied it. After the Israeli bombing, he leveled the land of Deir Ezzor to erase traces and refused to fully answer the questions of the international organism. The fall of Al-ásad. The turn came with the end of the Bashar al Asad regime, overthrown last year After almost three lustra of civil war. The new interim government, led by Ahmed al Sharaa, agreed to cooperate with the UN Nuclear Agency. Besides, As Reuters has had accessin June the authorities allowed for the second time the taking of environmental samples. It was not a linear process. According to The IndependentAsad’s departure temporarily interrupted the investigation: “We are still evaluating what we find there and we have a large questioning sign, because we do not have an interlocutor,” Grossi admitted in December 2024. With the restoration of contacts this year, the OIEA is optimistic: “Once the results are evaluated, it will be possible to resolve the pending issues related to the past nuclear activities of Syria.” A region marked by proliferation. Beyond the Syrian case, the findings are registered in a region marked by the shadow of nuclear proliferation. As we have pointed out in XatakaIsrael has bombarded on different occasions facilities in Iraq, Iran and Syria under the argument of preventing their enemies Develop atomic weapons. Grossi himself warned Bloomberg statements that the power vacuum in Syria opens the risk of looting nuclear materials in research centers. A civil nuclear future for Syria? Paradoxically, the new Syrian leadership has expressed interest in exploring a civil nuclear program. According to Al Jazeerathe interim president Al Sharaa discussed with the OIEA the possibility of resorting to small modular reactors to generate energy and asked for help to rebuild nuclear medical infrastructure, devastated by more than a decade of war. The OIEA has expressed willingness to collaborate in these areas, always under a transparent framework of safeguards. A file to close. The history of Deir Ezzor reactor seems to reach its final chapter. What began as a bombing wrapped in controversy and denials is now corroborated with scientific evidence. The OIEA insists that the new samples will allow the case to close, but the questions persist: How far did the Syrian clandestine nuclear program really arrive? What external actors fed him? And can a country devastated by war reorient its relationship with nuclear energy towards peaceful uses? Eighteen years after the Israeli attack, the ghost reactor is no longer a rumor: it is the proof of a secret that Damascus tried to bury in the desert sand. Image | IAEA IMEBANK and Unspash Xataka | Natural gas has become essential in the AI ​​era, and this chart exposes countries with the largest reserves

Microsoft had a saved secret. His new AI model for Copilot is the clearest statement against Openai’s domain

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Since the fever broke out by generative AI, Microsoft has opted for OpenAi models to give life to key functions in some of its most important products. It is not strange if we remember that those of Redmond They invested more than 10,000 million dollars in the startup directed by Sam Altman. However, this alliance of convenience It has been showing fissures for months And, as time goes by, The rivalry between both parties becomes more evident. It was Microsoft itself that, a year ago, included OpenAI in his list of competitorstogether with Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta. And it is OpenAi who, According to The Informationinsists on not wanting to share its avant -garde technology when it arrives, if it arrives, the AGI. Even if you try to make up, the link is no longer as solid as in its first days. And now there is another chapter underway. Microsoft AI begins to show their own letters Mustafa SuleymanCEO of Microsoft AI, who assumed the position when the association with Openai had been consolidated for years, It has just presented two internally developed models. They are advanced proposals that users can already prove and reflect the company’s ambition: “Create AI applied as a platform for products.” One is a real novelty and another we already knew. Let’s look at the details. Mai-1-Preview. It is the great novelty. It is a Mixure-OF-Experts model, in the style of GPT-4O or GPT-5, designed to offer great capabilities in resolution of instructions and useful responses for daily consultations. According to Suleyman, it is the first model trained from beginning to end in Microsoft AI’s own laboratories. The most striking thing is that it can already be tested. Just enter LMARENAselect Direct Chat and choose Mai-1-Preview. In the coming weeks it will also arrive in Copilot, although only “for certain cases of text use.” It is paradoxical: the text functions of the Microsoft Chatbot work thanks to OpenAi, but now it will begin to live with its own technology. Developers can also request anticipated access to API. MAI-VOICE-1. It is a voice generation model that stands out for its expressiveness and naturalness. For some time now it promotes functions such as Copilot Daily (news summaries) and Copilot Podcasts, although only in English. It is also available in COPILOT LABSwhere you can try different voices, styles and narration tones. One of its strengths is efficiency: it can generate a complete minute of audio in less than a second using a single GPU. With this, it is one of the fastest and most effective voice systems that exist today. Microsoft defends that the voice will be the interface of future assistants of AI. And he wants to advance with a high fidelity solution capable of responding in different scenarios. Could I have resorted to Openai and your GPT-4o in audio version? Yes. Do you want to do it? Everything indicates not. “Much more to come. We have great ambitions for what comes next: advances in the models, an exciting roadmap in computation capacity and the opportunity to reach billions of people through Microsoft products. We are building an AI for all,” said Suleyman in X. It remains to see what course the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAi will take. What is clear to users is that there will be more variety and more tools to experiment. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | Goal wants us to use AI when we don’t know what to say at WhatsApp: This is how your new option for writing assistance works

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