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We always believed that the light guns fired invisible rays, but the reality is the opposite: it was the TV that shot

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Recognize it: if you are old enough to have played withA Light GunFor a while you thought that this gadget worked by firing rays of invisible light that television detected. Was it the position of the gun? The distance? Did the glass of the screen really knew when the goal was in front? Actually the solution was much simpler and ingenious. The light ray is in reverse: the gun is the receiver. Guns of what. First, let’s remember the history of the device: the light guns in video games began to appear in the thirties in mechanical arcades and evolved towards electronic video games in the 1970s and 1980s. Nintendo already experimented with early versions with its video shooting series for famicom in 1984, whose gun was not futuristic, but it seemed like a western revolver With the theme of the game. Nintendo arrives. The device of this most popular type was Nintendo Zapper for Nespossibly because he was accompanied by one of the most iconic games of the genre, ‘Duck hunt’. The Zapper was already tumbos since 1984 with the version for Famicom, but in 1985 it became the Zapper of NES and left in the United States with the science fiction design we know, automatically becoming a pop icon. In 1988 it was redesigned with bright colors to resemble even less to a real weapon and comply with the legislation. There were up to 17 official games for Zapper. In Xataka This genius has transformed the ZNA Zapper is an incredible laser ray gun But … how did it work? Actually the Zapper and the rest of the light guns of the time were not emitters, but light receptors. The process that followed to work was: when the player clenched a trigger, the screen turned black during a Frame. In the following, the objects to which they have to become white blocks, and the rest remains black. The human eye can barely distinguish this pair of Frames Inside the gun was a light sensor that detected if the area to which it was aimed had changed to Blanco. The game determined what objective had been “shot” according to the time in which this white block appeared, since each white objective was sequentially shown in a different frame. And of course, if the sensor detected the white light inside the expected interval, the shot was counted as a success. Only for old people. The ingenious method only worked on CRT screens, as technology depended completely on the speed and characteristics (on the shortcomings, let’s go) on the soda speed of the cathodic tube. On LCD screens, plasmas and other modernities, the delay changes, and so does the soda technology. What makes ancient games “rare” on modern televisions is also what prevents the gun sensor from correctly capturing the light and location of whites. {“Videid”: “X9HMC3A”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “Nes Mini, Review and Spanish analysis”, “Tag”: “”, “Duration”: “250”} More guns. Then, especially in the field of recreational, more sophisticated guns arrived, such as ‘Operation Wolf’, which was actually a command that determined where it pointed according to the position of the gun, fixed in the machine of the machine (a method as ingenious as that of the Zapper, playing with what the player who is happening is believed). And then they arrived, in fact they do in machines that remain in operation, increasingly sophisticated systems, and that use infrared sensors or cameras to determine where the player points out. But the adorable imagination and naivety of the Zapper give him a unique personality. In Xataka | The Nintendo PlayStation exists: this is the history of the hybrid console that never reached the market (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news We always believed that the light guns fired invisible rays, but the reality is the opposite: it was the TV that shot It was originally posted in Xataka by John Tones .

We sensed that Japan was very serious. The first shot at the JS Asuka with its electromagnetic cannon has confirmed it

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In July Japan advertisement Something that surprised the world: he had physically mounted his riel cannon on the JS Asuka ship. In other words, the nation was already navigating with a science fiction weapon that the United States developed in the past, but had abandoned. A clear message that they were going very seriously. A message that has now taken full form. The Japanese milestone. Japan has achieved historical advance when performing the First documented test of a naval electromagnetic cannon fired at a real ship, installing a prototype in the Experimental ship JS Asuka. The Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) He has just confirmed That between June and July 2025 this essay was carried out successfully, which marks a before and after in the global race for new generation weapons. As we said at the beginning, this achievement takes on greater relevance because the United States Navy, than He led the field between 2005 and 2022, He left the project Due to its technical difficulties, while Japan He has persevered in search of a capacity that could redefine the naval war in Asia-Pacific. Technology, remains and possibilities. The so -called Railgun, capable of launching projectiles at hypersonic speeds Up to Mach 6.5 With charges of five megajulaios, it offers decisive advantages: Broad ammunition than missile in front of hypersonic missiles. However, it continues to face great technical challenges: Huge electrical consumption, complex cooling systems, the need to reconfigure the internal spaces of the ships and the extreme wear of the cannons after tens of shooting, which compromises precision and safety. The use of Asuka as a test platform reflects the need for open space on deck, something difficult to replicate in operating ships without expensive modifications. From prototype to operational weapon. Japan has invested in this field since mid -decade of 2010shooting in land facilities and designing naval and land versions mounted on trucks. The Ministry of Defense has already shown more compact turret models, designed to integrate into futures 13DDX destroyers or even in the modern ships of the Mayan class. ATLA seeks to improve The useful life of cannons, reduce energy consumption and achieve a viable shooting cadence, objectives that will determine if Railgun goes from being an experimental prototype to a real weapon in the fleet. A weapon for the era of hypersonic threats. In a strategic scenario where China develops long -range missiles and Russia experiences with hypersonic projectilesJapan contemplates the Railgun in response to the saturation of aerial defenses. His speed of shooting, his low projectile cost and his ability to attack VeloS targets make him A possible alternative To interceptor missiles, whose replacement in the sea is almost impossible. This context explains Tokyo’s insistence on maintaining the project despite technical obstacles. Competition and cooperation. Plus: Japan is not alone in this effort. China has been experimenting with Railgunswith the appearance of a prototype on an EPL Navy ship In 2018although its current state is uncertain. Türkiye too He has shown advanceswhile the United States, despite closing its program, is Taking advantage of technology of ammunition developed for land applications. In parallel, Japan has sealed Agreements with France To collaborate in the development of this technology and maintain contacts with the US Navy, opening the door to future cooperation. Strategic reading If the Japanese Railgun exceeds its engineering injuries, it will emerge as the first operational case that converts a technological promise fleetrebalancing the cost-interceptor equation against saturations and rapid threats. The United States could be reached with less friction thanks to its inheritance and a possible cooperation with Tokyo. China would do the same if you see a clear advantage in area denial, and it is possible that Türkiye would capitalize on land and point defense applications. In terms of tendency, everything points to a coexistence: missiles for the long value, railguns for fire volume and shooting cost, and energy weapons directed for terminal/short range, each covering its niche in a multicapa defense architecture. Continuity of military ingenuity. In short, Railgun symbolizes both the attractiveness and difficulties of military innovation. As at other times in history, when gunpowder or guided missiles promised to transform war, the question is not only if technology works, but if can adapt to logistics, costs and strategy of each country. One thing is clear: Japan, with Your demonstration On board Asuka, it is placed at the forefront of a race that is not over, and that could define how naval wars are fought in the second half of the 21st century. Image | Maritime Self -Defense Force of JapanAtla In Xataka | The JS Asuka is already navigating with an electromagnetic cannon on deck. And that can only mean one thing: Japan is serious In Xataka | China is building an electromagnetic canyon of space airplanes, a project that NASA abandoned due to lack of funds

The abuses have shot in the United States and the main suspect is also an old acquaintance in Europe: the SUV

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25 years ago, cars were more insecure. It is undoubted. Modern vehicles have been filled with radars, sensors and cameras that have turned our cars into authentic technological machines that squeak, stop and even dodge before an obstacle. But mortal abuses have shot in the United States. Every day we see less. And no, they are not your eyes. The study. It has been done by the Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)an independent association that studies road safety on US roads. According to their data, mortal abuses to pedestrians in the United States have shot 37%. And in 42% if we talk about cyclists abuse. It is not a matter of cars being more insecure. On the contrary. Cars are safer than ever. At least for those who travel inside. Because the problem is that every time we see less what we have in front of us. And that, according to the IIHS, explains why this increase. Giant cars. The United States has always been a country of huge cars. In 2021, We already explained in Xataka that some of the best -selling cars in the country could have six children sitting in front and would not see them. One behind the other. Uploaded aboard a Cadillac Escalade, a driver would see only the head (and partially) of the sixth child sitting in the row. Just take a look at the best -selling cars in the United States To verify to what extent their drivers prefer large cars. The best-selling vehicle is the Ford-F Series, a pick-up with a multitude of versions. The second The Silverado Chevrolet (another pick-up) and the third classified is the most “restrained” Toyota Rav4. Of course, they are far from the Dacia Sandero, Renault Clio and Volkswagen Golf that take the first three positions on the list of best selling in Europe. However, little by we continue to go down, among the 10 best -selling cars on our continent we find up to four SUVs. We see less and less. The IIHS has studied What visibility has a driver less than 10 meters around your vehicle and if it has improved or worsened in the last 25 years with the launch of the new generations. And there are bad news: among the three best -selling SUVs in the United States, visibility has worsened considerably. According to his calculations, the driver of a Honda CR-V saw 68% of everything around a 10 meter radius. In your latest generation, you can only observe 28% of what surrounds you. A Ford F-150 does not get much better data. In a quarter of a century it has only lost 7% visibility. The problem is that 25 years ago it was so bad that the driver has gone from seeing 43% to 36%. In Azul, the blind points of one of the cars analyzed Huge blind spots. The problem is that cars have become machines with huge blind spots. The higher the nose, less visibility in short distances. The bigger the car front pillar, the less visibility we have diagonally. And even the rearview is a problem when the size is triggered. This has been measured in the IIHS with 360º cameras located at different heights to represent all the carvings of the drivers. Then, a software performs an average and calculates how far the driver begins to see or how much space is outside his viewing angle. In the upper image, the blue zone is the space that is covered to the driver. In Europe we also know them. Yes, in Europe we also know these cars well. If we take a look at SUV sales 25 years ago we will realize that Just 5% of the market share It was occupied by this type of cars. In 2025 More than half of the cars sold can be put within this category. For a five years, the SUV is the car that sells the most. But, in addition, cars have grown a barbarity in this quarter of a century. There are SUV versions that would seem more than unlikely 25 years ago, such as Toyota Yaris Cross. And the height of the cars has not grown much but their frontal ones have been muscular and are now larger. A BMW X3 measured 4,565 meters in 2004. Today measures 4,755 meters. A danger. Those who suffer the most the consequences of this excessive growth are pedestrians and cyclists. As we said, cars are safer in case of accident. And have a technological arsenal to avoid them, such as the rear camera to which forces the European Union. But lifting the front has very serious consequences in case of accident. In case of shockit is more likely that the pedestrian dies in the accident or that he receives serious injuries such as hip breakage. Also head injuries (if they bounce against the car) are more serious. The studies say That every 10 centimeters that the hood rises, the possibilities of receiving serious injuries increase by 27%. Photo | IIHS In Xataka | At night all pedestrians are brown: the abuse prevention system fails when it is most needed

The marriages of Japanese women with South Korean men have shot themselves. There is a word that explains it: Hallyu

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Last June Japan I had a lesson For the world after years of pro-nature policies, although a very little encouraging lesson: its fertility and the number of births continued to fall. All kinds of proposals had passed along the way, Even money and husband For women who opted for the countryside instead of the capital. However, what few could expect is that marriages are shooting, but those of Japanese with South Koreans, and not vice versa. An unexpected boom. Yeah, Nikkei had That, in recent years, marriages between Japanese women and South Korean men have experienced unpublished growth, with an increase of 40% only in the last year, reaching their highest point in a decade. Reasons? Apparently, the phenomenon is framed within a broader tendency of international marriages In South Korea, which represents about 10% of all unions, in contrast to the general drop of 30% in the total number of marriages in the country during the last decade. Although most of the international marriages In Korea they are with people from Vietnam or China, Japanese unions have grown up 13% between 2019 and 2024far exceeding the rhythm of other nationalities. This trend is driven not only by cultural and demographic factors, but also by a symbolic transformation into bilateral relations, in which romance becomes an unexpected route of approach between two peoples historically marked by tensions. Hallyu as a catalyst. The rise of these marriages has its origin, to a large extent, in the cultural phenomenon of the Hallyu U “Korean wave”, which since the early 2000s has radically transformed the perception that Japanese women have from South Korea. Here are phenomena such as Winter Sonata television dramaissued in Japan in 2003, starting point for a transgenerational fascination that is today manifested in passions by the K-Pophe Korean cinema and the Seoul fashion. For many Japanese, interest began In adolescence with school series and musical idols, and It has been transforming in an attraction for the South Korean lifestyle as a whole. This process has resulted in deep affective ties With Korean cultureto the point that moving to South Korea and marrying a national becomes for many a personal and cultural fulfillment, not just emotional. Cross perceptions. Plus: both Japanese women and South Korean men manifest favorable perceptions of the other. The means that the Japanese value that the Koreans express their affection with greater intensity, are more attentive and emotionally close, they maintain frequent contact by phone and surprise with details. South Korean men, meanwhile, see in Japanese women educated, dedicated, discreet and with a strong sense of family duty. Despite cultural differences, both parties seem to find in the other an idealized version of what they do not find in their own country. These opinions arise not only personal interviews, but According to Nikkei, Also of marriage advice and palpable samples on social networks, where testimonies and publications of happy couples that portray their joint life abound. New globalized romance. There is much more, since in the heat of this trend they have emerged specialized services that facilitate these unions. Applications to match Japanese with South Koreans, online games, social networks and marriage agencies have turned what was previously an occasional crossing into an increasingly common path. Hanny Marriagefor example, it is a company founded in 2024 by a married Japanese with a South Korean who met in language exchanges, and that detected a growing demand for South Korean men interested in marrying with Japanese women. The previous experience of religious agencies such as The Church of Unification In the 1980s and 1990s it has been replaced by more modern forms, mediated by technology and by business initiatives with cultural sensitivity. History with deep roots. He marriage exchange Between Japan and South Korea it has Historical history complexes, from Korean marriages with Japanese at the time of Japanese economic boom, to organized group weddings For religious sects. That said, what distinguishes the current phenomenon is its voluntary, individualized and mediated character For pop culture. What began as an admiration for idols and dramas has become a wave of human connections that demolish ancient barriers. The presence of reality shows as Premarital Lovewhere we see group quotes between Korean men and Japanese women, it is another sample of how this type of relationship is not only accepted, but celebrated and even commercially driven. In a context where demography and the fall of marriages They worry to both countriesthese unions represent a Unexpected ray of hope, both for those who are looking for a couple and for those who want history between Japan and Korea to advance in a more optimistic tone. Image | Cambodia In Xataka | In South Korea offered 14,000 euros to young people in exchange for them to get married. Young people did the same In Xataka | Seoul is so desperate to activate his birth rate that he has had an idea: give € 700 to those who marry

China promised them very happy with day 996. Until they realized that it was shot in the foot

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You enter to work at 9 in the morning and leave at 9 at night. So Monday to Saturday, with a single rest day. 72 hours per week. It may seem crazy, but it is known as Day 996 They have followed many Chinese companies in the technological sector for years. The Chinese government ended up taking letters in the matter Upon realizing that the endless days were not only bad for workers, they were also bad for the country. Culture 996. A few years ago, working 12 hours a day was common in Chinese technological. Richard Liu, founder of JD.com He described these “blessing” and Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said that “if you don’t work from nine in the morning at nine o’clock at night when you are young, when are you going to do it?”. The term 996 was coined in 2019 following a protest against this work model to which they baptized 996-Icua word game that referred to that day would take workers to the ICU. This movement unleashed a wave of criticism at the national level and it is believed that it was the seed that The Government prohibited it. The change. In 2021, with the marathon days at the point of view of the government, there were many companies that turned back and brought back the weekend of two days. There were also companies like Tencent that cut the daily work hours from 10 to 6 in the afternoon, from 996 to 1065. Why this change? Fed up workers. Day 996 has been gasoline for the growth of the Chinese technological sector and its end responds to several reasons. The most obvious is that the workers were fed up in these exploitation conditions in which there were even cases of deaths due to exhaustion. The government said in its ruling that “workers are entitled to rest and take a vacation”, but we must not forget that it is the same government known for go against unions and imprison activists. National consumption. Inhuman working hours were a shot in the foot for the Government’s development objectives. In 2021, Xi Jinping promoted the idea of the “Common prosperity”an initiative that intended to grow the economy both outside and within its borders. However, promoting internal consumption was not compatible with 12 -hour working days. Technological workers charged more than in other sectors, but if they spent all their awake weather inside the office, they had no chance to spend it. Birth. Birth problems in China come from afar, but before the problem was that There were too muchnow it is Just the opposite And schedule 996 did not play in his favor. They counted in This articlethat in Chinese companies there is an entrenched idea that they call “ascend or out.” This is the belief that if a worker does not rise to a high position before having children, he runs the risk of replacing him with someone younger. In addition, men who have children and work with these schedules cannot take care of them or home, which in many cases expels women in the labor market. This makes many workers delay the time of having children, some even completely renounce. All happy? Ending 996 benefits workers, but also plays in favor of these objectives. The labor market expands because there is no age roof so low, birth rate and domestic consumption rises. All perfect, or almost. The end of 996 has not left many workers for free, when Bytedance announced that its employees would not work on weekends, He did it together with a 20%salary cut. In addition, for many workers the nightmare is not over. Last year, the head of Baidu media published a series of videos in which he denounced that he was forced to be available 24 hours a day. Culture 996 is still rooted above all in citiesmaking many young people choose to go to smaller nuclei where life is calmer. Image | Amparo Babyloni, Xataka In Xataka | Deepseek marked a turning point in the AI race. Now another Chinese company wants to imitate its success: Kimi K2 is born

If Europe is beating solar energy records this summer, why has the price of light shot?

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Summer is a paradox season for the energy sector. On the one hand, renewables are reaching historical figures. June marked the month of greater production of solar energy ever registered in the European Union: Friolera of 45 twh22% more than the previous year. On the other, many Europeans saw how their light of the light doubled or even tripled. The question is inevitable: if we swim in solar energy, why do we pay more for electricity? The demand is triggered. The heat waves that run Europe They have put the thermometers around 40 ºC in numerous points in Spain, France and Germany. With air conditioning systems, working at maximum power, the electrical demand has shot. According to him Last Ember reportdaily demand grew by 14% in Spain, 9% in France and 6% in Germany during the month of June. A greater electrical demand, alone, already presses the prices of upward light. But the heat brought with it a second problem, this time on the offer side. Thermal plants are suffocated. The same heat that drives the demand for air conditioning puts traditional energy plants, especially nuclear. These facilities need huge amounts of river water to refrigerate their reactors. When the water temperature rises too much, its refrigeration capacity decreases, forcing to reduce production and, in extreme cases, to stop it completely. France It has been the most affected country. Its fleet of nuclear centrals, one of the pillars of the European interconnected network, is suffering capacity reductions in almost all its facilities. But it is not an exclusively nuclear problem. In Poland, the cooling of coal centrals is being a constant concern, and in Italy, the overheating of the network cables was the most likely cause of the blackout of July 1. At the time of maximum need, a crucial part of the generation of traditional energy is not available. Missing storage for the solar. The saving of this crisis is photovoltaic solar energy. In Germany, the Solar came to generate 50 GW peaks, covering between 33% and 39% of the entire electricity of the country. With a marginal cost close to zero, solar panels are doing exactly what is expected of them: maintain the stability of the network during the day with abundant and cheap energy, despite their Performance problems under extreme heat. The night is another song. At sunset, solar production falls to zero, but the refrigeration demand remains high. When the high temperatures persist until well into the night, Insufficient storage capacity (either in batteries or With pumping hydroelectric) forces to resort to gas and other fossil sources to cover the hole, shooting prices. The damn “Spred”. This temporal mismatch caused by the abundance of variable energy and the lack of resources to store it is what causes madness in prices. A daily price differential (the “spred”) of up to € 400/MWh in Germany and € 470/MWh in Poland. This night peak, and not the average price, is what triggers the final bill and makes the light through the clouds when more cheap energy is producing. The lesson is clear: the challenge is not only to generate cheap renewable energy, but manage it. More storage is needed to buy energy at low prices at noon and sell it at high prices in the afternoon. But also More European interconnections. The heat wave did not affect all of Europe with the same intensity and the same day. The biggest June peaks arrived in Madrid on Domingo, Paris on Tuesday and Berlin on Wednesday. The reinforcement of the interconnections will allow to distribute the cheap energy more and better. Image | Agrisolar Clearinghouse (CC) In Xataka | Spain and Portugal are tired of promises: they ask France to leave the electric alley

Whenever there has been war in the Middle East the price of oil has shot. Now something different is happening

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A truce between Iran and Israel announced by President Donald Trump had an immediate impact on energy markets. According to Financial TimesBrent’s crude oil fell up to 5.6 % on the morning of Tuesday, June 24 – having $ 67.50 per barrel – after the news of the high to fire. However, market volatility has not ceased during the day. Prices have partially rebound after Israel accused Iran of raping the truce and threatened with a “blunt response.” At the end of the day, According to Oilprice dataBrent’s price remains around 67 dollars. This sway reflects how the oil market is still extremely sensitive to geopolitical holders. Hadn’t they shot each other? Less than two months ago, A perfect sinking storm The price of oil below $ 60, for tariffs, refinery closure and overproduction. With the outbreak of the conflict between Iran and Israel, oil prices They had shot. As He explained Bloomberg, the military offensive revived one of the greatest fears of the oil market: an interruption of the supply from Iran, the third largest producer in the region. However, that climb lasted little, exceeding the breeze price of $ 80 per barrel only for a few hours. Operators did not detect concrete damage to critical infrastructures or interruptions in crude oil flow, which quickly cooled expectations. A persistent threat. Despite the initial containment, the Ormuz Strait remains the great friction point. For this narrow one – just 9 kilometers at its closest point – circulates around 20 % of the world crude. Iran has repeatedly threatened to close it if the scale scale, which would activate one of the worst scenarios for global markets. The tension has generated concrete reactions. Several Chinese oil ships They have received instructions to avoid the area. This gesture suggests that, although there is still no open conflict, navigation risks are real and affect logistic decisions of key actors such as China. There is a superlative difference. Despite tensions, prices have not climbed as in past crises. This is due to several structural factors such as high production and sufficient reserves. Thanks to the rise of Shale Oil in the US and the increase in production in Canada, Guyana and Brazil, the global market has a wide mattress. Even if Iranian exports were stopped – about 2 million barrels per day – OPEC+ could supply the void without great shocks, According to Bloomberg. On the other hand, in the same medium, they have stressed that even China, the largest oil consumer in the last decades, shows signs of having reached a roof in its demand, added to its own national production. A fragile balance. The immediate future of the oil market will depend on three major factors. The first, and more critical, is the Ormuz Strait: if Iran decides to close – or threats credible with doing it – this strategic route, prices could be shot. Second, there is the response from the United States and Israel. If the truce is officially broken or military reprisals intensify, a new cycle of uncertainty and volatility in markets would open. Finally, China’s position, the main Iranian crude buyer. Any decision of Beijing – is a tactical withdrawal, greater caution in transport or diplomatic pressure – could alter the current balance. For now, operators seem to assume that the situation will remain contained, without a real interruption of the supply. But with the atmosphere so loaded, a single spark could return to oil to the center of the hurricane. Image | Pexels Xataka | Geography has given Iran its best weapon against the US: a red button to shoot the world oil price

The price of banana has shot and has taken many by surprise

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The banana is one of the favorite fruits of the Spaniards if we pay attention to Consumption data. This can explain the concern about the pricing climbing of the Planteanera fruit. Explaining the situation. A concern that recently led the association that encompasses the Canary Islands banana producers to explain why inflationary pressure. He did Through your account of Twitter (X) and in response to a user who He highlighted The fact that bananas of Costa Rican origin are remarkably cheaper than the island banana. In his response, banana from the Canary Islands spoke of “A very complicated situation”Heiress of the passage through the Canarian archipelago of The Dorothea Borrasca. This storm affected the Canary Islands in mid -December 2024, causing damages of different types of producers. The winds of the storm started banana trees and had a direct impact on production, but the storm and their storms also indirectly affected, for example with interruptions in the electrical system. Supply and demand. The result: lower production and with it a rise in prices. “It is not usual, but a reality that is affecting us all, from those who cultivate to those who buy the banana,” indicate In their social networks. The offer has fallen what in principle should lead to higher and lower sales prices. The problem is that the demand for this appreciated fruit is relatively inelastic, which implies that a shockIn the offer it has a greater effect on the prices than on sales: people are willing to pay more for the product. To this we must add another factor, that of exports. According to explained in The newspaper Paco Déniz, former deputy in the Parliament of the Canary Islands by Podemos, the large part of the Canarian production is exported (including the one exported to the Peninsula). 131%. Before the arrival of Dorothea the perspective was another: the expected production was around 450 million tons, a greater figure of the productive thresholds marked by the European Union but lower than the figure achieved in the previous harvest, of 467 million tons. All this, we pointed out, has implied an important escalation in banana prices, especially striking in the fruit of Canarian origin. According to data From the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, between January 27 and the beginning of June, the average price of bananas as a whole has grown by 131%, that is, it is now more than double than in January. A most volatile market. A few months ago we talked about a very different situation. Before the arrival of Borrasca, the problem was in the fact that banana prices did not allow a profitable product. “From January 2023 to October 2024, only in three months of the 22 the banana has had a price that we could call profitable,” We pointed then. In Xataka | Scientifically solving one of the great dilemmas of banana: if it is good to eat it daily or not Image | Cesar Gonzalez

Its productivity shot 40%

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Japan is a country known for its demanding work culture and its endless working days. Loyalty to the company and the commitment to the results led employees to put at risk your life With extreme trends. However, the division of Microsoft in Japan decided to break those rigid schemes and Implement a summer With the work week four days for its entire template. The experiment exceeded all expectations on productivity and labor well -being. Microsoft challenges Japanese work culture Despite Japan’s reputation for his “culture of presentism” and the custom of working long hours, Microsoft dared to launch A pioneer initiative In 2019. In August of that year, the company gave its 2,300 employees five consecutive free Fridays, maintaining the full salary and without demanding time compensation. According to the companyThe objective was to “experiment how they can achieve the same results with 20% less work time,” said Takuya Hirano, then president and executive director of Microsoft Japan. The measure adopted by Microsoft was especially innovative because it advanced To the global trend to explore work models more flexiblelong before the pandemic accelerated the debate on the Working Day and Teleworking. The experimentknown as “Work-Life Choice Challenge 2019 Summer”, sought to improve productivity and creativity by changing the way time was used in the company. In other words, he sought to optimize his processes by eliminating those more unproductive tasks of the day. An unexpected leap in productivity and efficiency The big surprise came when reviewing the data collected during the test: productivity, measured in this case by sales per employee, increased by almost 40% with respect to the same period of the previous year. The key to this increase was in the OPTIMIZATION OF WORK TIMEespecially in which employees dedicated to meetings. During the experiment, a New standard for meetingssetting them by default in 30 minutes, instead of 60 minutes as usual. This cut was a 46% increase in short meetings. In addition, many of them were performed in remote format instead of face -to -face, which further expedited processes. The company itself acknowledged that “the time of its meetings and the number of participants in Japan were well above the global average”, so that cut was decisive for the success of the test. According to the 4 Day Work Week organization, which has supervised most pilot tests carried out in the world, including that of Valencia“The substantial increase in productivity observed in the study underlines the effectiveness of a condensed work schedule to optimize employee performance.” Cost reduction for the company The experiment not only Productivity improved of Microsoft, but also registered a savings in your operational costs of the company’s offices. During the trial period, paper printing was reduced by 58.7% and energy consumption fell 23.1% compared to the same month in three previous years. One of the keys to this success was the intensive use of digital platforms such as Microsoft Teamsthat the company had launched in 2017, and that allowed to centralize communication and meetings in a single virtual space. Microsoft took the opportunity to demonstrate to its corporate clients that efficiency goes through adopting alternative digital tools and models. “Microsoft has been a pioneer in Asia in its intention to offer alternative work models that attract talent to their ranks and also to retain it,” They stood out In its official statement. In Xataka | Three Spanish companies tell us how it has gone after implementing a job utopia: the four -day week In Xataka | The myth says that Germans work more than the Spaniards. The data tell a different thing Image | Flickr (Qso4you.com)

The US opted to veto the advanced chips of AI in China. The shot has come absolutely for the cylinder head

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In September 2022 the United States intensified its commercial war with China with a singular measure: prohibited export of advanced chips from AI to the Asian giant. That decision was aimed at protecting the innovation capacity of the United States and incidentally Zancadilla to China. Or try, because the truth is that the play has been a real pifia. Nvidia is suffering the consequences. The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, gave a talk in Computex in which critical strongly that measure and all that followed it. “Four years ago, Nvidia had 95% market share in China. Today is only 50%. The rest is Chinese technology. They have a lot of local technology they would use if they did not have Nvidia.” The veto has caused the opposite effect. Huang continued to say that those measures They have caused just the opposite that was intended. Instead of leaving China back in the field of technological innovation, they have awakened it. “Export controls have provided them with the spirit (to innovate), and government support has accelerated its development. Our competition is intense in China. “ The H20 chip has been a ruin for Nvidia. The last of the examples of this disaster we have In the H20 chipa “trimmed” and less capable version of its most advanced chips that was developed precisely for the Chinese market. Although During all 2024 Nvidia was allowed to export that chip to China, in April the US government prohibited these sales. That caused some losses of 5.5 billion dollars In Nvidia, a hard blow from which they now try to recover with A new version that Not even It will be based on Hopper architecture. USA should back. For Huang, the strategy is the wrong one: “If the US wants to stay ahead, we need to maximize and accelerate the diffusion (of our technology), not limit it.” The Government prepares the review of the “AI DIFFUSION RULE” issued by Biden in January 2025. This regulation further restricted exports to China of Hardware and AI software. CUDA, also threatened. The hardware is no longer the problem, but there is an important one with CUDA, the NVIDIA ecosystem that is absolute reference for solutions of IA software solutions. Huawei has an alternative called Cann, but there are several Western companies that also want to get rid of the domain of CUDA. Among them are Intel, Openai and of course, AMD, that in fact It has technically higher chips to those of Nvidia but that actually behave worse for having lower software. But China goes to yours. The striking thing about all this is that the US strategy has caused a spectacular effect in China, where the development of “very socialist” models It is now overwhelming – Deepseek R1 is the clear example. But they are also making surprising chips Like Huawei’s Ascend 910ccomparable to the almost mythical Nvidia H100. The thing does not end there: they are already preparing the deployment of The new ascend 910dwhich is supposed to even go further. Image | Nvidia | Dominic Kurniawan In Xataka | There is a great threat to the US if you send thousands of advanced chips from AI to the Middle East. That end in China

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