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FIFA has managed to distort football to the extreme and the proof is the disconcerting half-time show

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As a preamble to a soccer game, the truth is that it was all very strange. Hollywood’s most famous actor rambled on about sport in the abstract in front of thousands of spectators (or many millions, if we count the television broadcast) who essentially wanted to see the World Cup final that faced Argentina and Spainif possible without too many additives. And it was just the beginning: the anthem of Spain performed by a group of wind instruments, María Becerra singing that of Argentina… Just the appetizer. TheCruise. What did the protagonist of ‘Mission: Impossible’ talk about? He reviewed the “more than thirty days” of the tournament and stated that football is “a language that is spoken without words.” It was not his first foray into this type of staging: the actor had already starred in an acrobatic number at the closing of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The reaction on networks was immediate: many spectators They described the intervention as “shameful” and “ridiculous”; other international media spoke directly about the famous “cringe“. The anthems also had a great presence: Jennifer Hudson sang the United States anthem; the Spanish Brass band performed the Spanish anthem based on metals; and then María Becerra intoned the argentine anthem. Previously, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger had performed ‘Desire’, the official FIFA anthem, with Laura Pausini joining in for the Spanish part. Back to the intermission. FIFA had insisted in which the halftime show would not exceed eleven minutes. When the show ended, the complete break had been around 27 minutes, almost double the limit of fifteen minutes set by the regulations. The poster had generated skepticism even before anyone took the stage: Robert Smith, leader of The Cure, was once again the best of us all in summing up his opinion on the band’s official account with a laconic “Aaaaaaaaagh”, followed by hashtags such as “panycirco”, and the BBC confirmed in advance that would not broadcast the show, just as he had already done with the opening ceremony of Qatar 2022. What happened. Madonna opened the show from inside a giant ball and then climbed into a vehicle piloted by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, in a feverish version of the Mystery Machine. BTS performed ‘Dynamite’, Shakira the de rigueur anthem and The Electric Mayhem, the Muppet band in which Animal is a member, played ‘Seven Nation Army’. Justin Bieber sang an acoustic ballad that was very out of keeping with the general violent vibes of the final and The Muppets from Sesame Street returned with Coldplay and a Staten Island children’s choir to close the show. My sleep paralysis demons Why all this. The final is FIFA’s second attempt to introduce soccer in the United States, and as El País tellsthis time instead of “footballing” Americans, it has been the country’s cultural codes that have ended up imposing themselves on soccer. The highly criticized hydration breaks, unprecedented in sports and presented as a medical measure, are in practice advertising breaks similar to those of sports with roots in the United States. That cultural tension was staged on Fox Sports broadcasts, where former American soccer player Alexi Lalas and Frenchman Thierry Henry came into conflict with opinions about how the game should be understood. Things are clear. FIFA has never hidden its pecuniary intentions with this World Cup, no matter how much they dress it up with children’s choirs. Gianni Infantino, the president of the organization, has openly compared the tournament to the Super Bowl, bragging about an audience equivalent to “104 Super Bowls” in one month. Throughout the tournament, hydration breaks intended for medical reasons turned into more than six hundred minutes of additional advertising space, such as we already talked at the time. The extension of rest time, criticized for violating the IFAB limitalso adds a real medical risk for footballers: muscle cooling after such a long break. FIFA had been trying for three decades to get soccer into the American public without completely succeeding. Having seen the final, he has decided that football should be a little more similar to what that public already consumes. At the moment, Spain is the champion of the title without any doubt, but there are questions about the future of the tournament that will be resolved, precisely, in Spain in four years. Let us remember that for the 2030 and 2034 editions, Netflix, Disney and YouTube They are already negotiating retransmission rights. And many things can be blamed on FIFA, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t put its cards on the table. In Xataka | You don’t need an earthquake to move a seismic needle: a goal from Spain is enough

“Recording an eclipse with your cell phone is a mistake, we are going to miss the show”

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Solar eclipses have gone through many phases throughout history. First they became objects of worship or spreaders of panic, depending on the civilization we are talking about. Later, once their origin was better understood, they became a very specific but extremely useful tool for astronomers, as it was the only way they could study the solar corona. Nowadays, no one (or almost no one) fears eclipses and scientists have tools that can replace them when studying the corona. However, they have not stopped being special. Now we have entered a new phase. A stage in which society enjoys them Instead of fearing them, scientists witness from the outside how the love of heaven that one day led them to choose their profession arises in other people. I have talked about this and much more with David Galadiastronomer, professor at the University of Córdoba and member of the Scientific and Advisory Commission of the Trio of Eclipses. The end of an era For a long time, solar eclipses have been used to study qualities of the Sun or Moon that are not normally measurable or visible. A solar eclipse was even used to prove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. However, possibly those that stand out the most are the studies on the solar crown. That is, the outermost layer of the solar atmosphere. It is composed mostly of plasma, an ionized gas, whose atoms have gained or lost electrons, acquiring an electrical charge. This moving gas is what makes up the solar winds. It is also in the corona that coronal mass ejections are formed, which serve as the origin of geomagnetic storms. For all this, studying the solar corona is essential for scientists. However, there is a problem. The center of the Sun is so bright and it has such a dim glow that normally cannot be seen with conventional observation instruments. There is only one exception: a total solar eclipse. When the Moon completely covers the Sun, its brightness can no longer hide the solar corona from us and it suddenly appears in the sky. For decades, scientists had a few minutes with each eclipse to study it. Nowadays, fortunately, it is no longer necessary, since there are coronagraphsinstruments that have the ability to artificially “eclipse” both the Sun and other stars, revealing what we normally cannot see. However, there are still a few qualities that can only be studied in eclipses. “Coronographs cover not only the solar disk, but must also cover, due to unavoidable design needs, the chromosphere and the lowest part of the solar corona,” explains Galadí. “However, these regions can be observed well during a total solar eclipse.” On the other hand, “the coronagraph removes light from the solar photosphere, but does not reduce the brightness of the overall sky, so the outermost and faintest parts of the corona are also lost using these instruments.” Therefore, today we know the Sun and the Moon much better. The theory of general relativity continues to be constantly tested with new discoveries in the field of astronomy. And yes, you can study the solar corona without having to see a solar eclipse. However, these instruments prevent us from seeing it with the same clarity that we see it when the Moon completely eclipses the Sun. “Here we have the only two residues of heliophysics for which eclipses are still useful: the study of the link between the solar photosphere and the middle corona through the chromosphere and the lower corona, and to analyze the outermost coronal regions”. Now, in the future solar eclipses will not be necessary even for that; Well, there are already two missions underway aimed at solving the problem. “The observation of the external corona from space, with coronagraphs on artificial satellites, such as the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) of the European Space Agency in collaboration with NASA, avoids all the disadvantages due to the Earth’s atmosphere and its brightness,” says the astronomer from the University of Córdoba. “In addition, we have great technological innovations such as those of the mission Proba-3 (also from ESA), which are already allowing us to study the chromosphere and the lower corona from space, precisely by creating artificial eclipses.” Does all this mean that scientists will no longer have anything to study during a solar eclipse? Perhaps for astronomers there will come a time when they can focus only on looking at the sky and enjoying themselves. For other scientistssuch as those specialized in animal behavioralthough some studies had already been published previously, the real party begins now. “In animal ethology it is interesting study behavior when a sudden night occurs, uncoupled from other circadian rhythms,” says Galadí. “The behaviors of species when ‘turning off’ the Sun suddenly can only be due to the change in ambient light and temperature, but not to other external or internal factors.” The solar eclipse is now for society This August 12, 2026, there will be thousands or even millions of people who will travel or look for the best places near their homes to view the solar eclipse. These astronomical phenomena have become milestones that transcend far beyond science. It is time for society to enjoy them. David Galadí is clear about it: “Total solar eclipses are no longer science, or have almost ceased to be science, but they continue to constitute great natural spectacles with enormous potential to surprise people.” This can occur at many levels. “They have power as a source of artistic inspiration, tourist resourcean inexhaustible source of didactic or informative applications, and the ability to awaken vocations.” In fact, the latter is something in which he himself sees himself reflected. “Great astronomical events mark people, I myself am a product of the astronomical fever of Halley’s comet in the eighties.” In Spain we have a great opportunity, because It is not a single eclipse. Next year we will have another total solar eclipse and in 2028 an annular eclipse, which will provide new opportunities to enjoy them … Read more

Don Benito and Villanueva wanted to show Spain the advantages of merging town councils. They have ended up doing the opposite

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He February 20, 2022 It promised to be a historic day in Extremadura. In Spain, in general. After months of debate, arguments and growing media interest, that Sunday the residents of Don Benito and Villanueva (Badajoz) cast the ballot to decide something crucial for the future of both municipalities: whether they would merge into one. The ‘yes’ vote won, although with such a narrow margin and, above all, such a low level of participation that the union did not come together. Four years later, just jump into the air. February 20, 2022. To understand what just happened in Extremadura you have to go back at least four years, to February 20, 2022when the residents of Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena held a referendum to decide whether to unite into a single town. Both town halls are located in Badajoz, they are separated by a few kilometers almost completely urbanized and share services like a hospital complex. Furthermore, in 2022 both were governed by PSOE mayors and they were in favor of their respective consistories embracing each other as one. A muted ‘yes’. The referendum backed the merger, which for a time seemed to clear the future of ‘Vegas-Altas’, the name under which he wanted to be baptized the new village. The problem is that that support was not strong enough to close the debate. To begin with, participation in the 2022 vote was modest for a decision of such significance: in Villanueva (25,873 neighbors) 58.94% of the census participated; in Don Benito (37,310) 50.42%. In the first location, 90.49% of the votes supported the alliance; but in Don Benito only 66.27% did so. It may seem like a high percentage, but the town councils had agreed that to move forward the support had to be at least 66%. That is to say, in Don Benito the procedure was passed by a few votes. As if that were not enough, there is another fundamental factor: the referendum was actually a popular consultation with advisory naturenon-binding. The merger was never ratified in a plenary session nor did the Board approve any constitutive decree. Only a protocol was signed in 2023 that remained a dead letter. Buried and buried well. That was almost five years ago. If the failed merger between Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena is news again Now it is because, after more than four years without real progress, the first town (the most populated) has decided to definitively bury the union. Although the project has been stalled for some time, the Dombeniense Government, now led by the PP and Always Don Benitohas definitively shelved the idea. On Monday the municipal plenary session unanimously approved a motion declaring its definitive stoppage. What’s more, for “reasons of transparency, legal certainty and political clarity”, the Don Benito City Council has decided Formally communicate your decision to all the parties involved: the Ministry, the Government of Extremadura, the Provincial Council of Badajoz and of course the Villanueva City Council. Their approach is simple: they want to continue “collaborating” with their neighbor, but without ‘going through the altar’, limiting their agreements to the Comprehensive Services Association that already exists. “It’s not the time”. Don Benito’s decision is not important just because of what he says. Equally or even more relevant is who says it. The motion has passed with the unanimity of the plenarywhich means that all groups are in favor of putting it in the box. Including the PSOE, the party that promoted it in 2022. Each party (PP, Siempre Don Benito and PSOE) puts forward its own arguments and places emphasis on one issue or another, but the reading seems clear: the merger has it very complicated even if there is a change of government in 2027. “This is not the time to talk about the merger now,” assume in the PSOE, which advocates “recovering the economy and exciting the neighbors again.” Crossover of arguments. The case of Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena is interesting beyond the province of Badajoz or Extremadura because it shows how difficult it is (on a political and social level) to unite two town councils. And in this case the neighbors had a good handful of arguments in favor. Beyond the economic and service cohesion that already exists, in 2021 the University of Extremadura published a report which concluded that the new urban area would be the second economic center of Badajoz and the first at the regional level in agriculture and livestock. According to their calculations, ‘marriage’ would increase household income by 2.75% and employment by 5%. Together they would add up today to a population of around 64,000 registeredmore than Merida. Opponents of the merger they put the accent at another point. They argue that the project is nothing more than “the result of a political decision driven in haste, without the necessary social consensus and without rigorous technical planning.” In fact, they regret that in February 2022, “the legal complexity” of the link was not clearly explained to the neighbors, nor were its “risks” and “real costs.” Broadening the focus. Except for a very strange surprise, everything indicates that the dream of Vegas Altas It will remain just that: a dream. In Spain, however, there are other examples of local mergers that have gone ahead. Two of the most recent are those of Oza dos Ríos-Cesuras and Cerdedo-Cotobadeboth in Galicia. The first It was forged in 2013setting a milestone that has not been experienced since 1981, and the second in 2016. Although in Galicia the processes advanced more agilely than in Extremadura, they have not been free of challenges. In 2022 The Country still warned of the challenges that Oza Cesuras had ahead of him a decade after his marriage, with unfulfilled investments and timid changes. In Galicia there has continued to be talk about some other unionalthough without landing them. Why does it cost so much? The million dollar question. In Spain there are almost 1,400 municipalities … Read more

Satellites show where Russia is heading in Europe after Ukraine

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In the midst of the Cold War, Norway was the only NATO country with a direct border with the Soviet Union in the Arctic, and for decades the alliance rehearsed there how stop a Soviet invasion in extreme snow and ice conditions. That old frozen border seemed like a relic of the 20th century. Today it is once again one of the most guarded areas in Europe. Russia fights while preparing the north. They counted the TWZ analysts that, while Russia remains bogged down in the Ukrainian war, wasting men, armor and resources in a conflict that has already transformed its entire economy, at the same time it is building something much further north. The new satellite images together with intelligence analysis show that Moscow has been expanding bases, building barracks and creating new logistical warehouses next to the border with Finland and Norway for months. The most disturbing fact is the scale: facilities prepared to house up to 80,000 soldiers. The reading is clear. Although Ukraine continues to absorb a good part of its military force, the Kremlin is already designing the next scenario of tension with the West. “New satellite images show that Russia is increasing its weapons in the area,” the report states. “SVT, together with media partners in several countries, has analyzed how Russia is preparing for the deployment of 80,000 troops… It is a threat we must take seriously,” declares Thomas Nilsson, head of the Swedish military intelligence service (MUST). Russia is expanding its military infrastructure near the borders of NATO countries. Satellite images show numerous new barracks capable of housing thousands of troops, as well as ammunition depots and equipment storage areas From a discrete border to a reinforced one. For years, the border between Russia and Finland was one of the most stable areas in northern Europe. There was a military presenceyes, but at relatively low volumes and without a great sense of immediate threat. Now that is starting to change. According to the finnish estimatesMoscow could go from about 20,000 troops to almost 100,000 once the new facilities are completed. that jump multiplies the capacity of Russian pressure in the area and completely alters the military balance of the region. It is no longer a surveillance presence; It is a structure designed to sustain a massive concentration of troops. Russia is expanding its military infrastructure near the borders of NATO countries. Satellite images show numerous new barracks capable of housing thousands of troops, as well as ammunition depots and equipment storage areas The Arctic is no longer a periphery. All this has a profound reason: the Arctic has ceased to be a distant corner and has become a centerpiece of the world board. The melting ice is opening sea routes that were previously impassable, the region’s energy reserves are enormous and control of the north offers decisive military advantages. Russia has been understanding this for years and strengthening his position. China has also shown more and more interest. What once seemed like marginal geography is now a space where top-level economic, military and strategic interests intersect. Russia is expanding its military infrastructure near the borders of NATO countries. Satellite images show numerous new barracks capable of housing thousands of troops, as well as ammunition depots and equipment storage areas NATO responds. NATO’s reaction it has been fast. The alliance has activated a new advanced ground force in Finland, supported mainly by Sweden and with command and deployment centers spread across northern Scandinavia. Although the initial number of soldiers is small compared to what Russia is preparing, the political message is powerful. Finland and Sweden have gone from neutrality to becoming in central pieces of European defense. In other words, the north is no longer a calm rearguard and is beginning to resemble a new line of contact. The real fear after Ukraine. What worries NATO most is not what Russia can do now, because a good part of its army remains committed in Ukraine. The real concern is in what comes next. If the conflict freezes or ends and Moscow decides to move part of its veteran units to the north, all that infrastructure could fill up in a very short time. That means that what today seems like a medium-term preparation could quickly transform into a tangible threat. The current war, in that sense, is also a period of transition towards something broader. Europe looks to the north with different eyes. It is the most obvious conclusion: the rivalry between Russia and the West is no longer limited to the Ukrainian front. Everything indicates that is expanding towards new areas where the clash is not yet open, but where everyone is preparing as if it could arrive. Moscow strengthens positions, NATO reorganizes his defense and United States adapts its military structure to the new map of the Arctic. There is no doubt, we are not talking about shots fired on that border, but we are talking about movements, investments and deployments that reveal the same idea. As Russia continues to fight one war, satellites indicate that it is preparing the next one. Image | x In Xataka | As we look to the Middle East, the Arctic has become the hiding place for Russia’s biggest challenge to NATO: Borei and Yasen In Xataka | While we all look at Iran, something is moving in the Arctic Circle: Russia is sending bombers with missiles

The ‘Improved Games’ wanted to show that the future of sport is doping. Things didn’t go as expected

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It is still too early to know if the Enhanced Gamesthe famous ‘Enhanced Games’ that were held this weekend in Las Vegas with some rules on doping infinitely more lax than those of any competition recognized by the IOC, will achieve their commercial objectives. Whether or not it has been an effective marketing campaign. What is already clear is that they have deflated at a sporting level. Its organizers promised an evening full of heart-stopping records and marks by athletes ‘enhanced’ with steroids, EPO or testosterone, but they have obtained only one record. The question that remains is… And now, what? Doped athletes? To the Enhanced Games Many things may be blamed on them and their philosophy will be more or less convincing, but there is one thing that cannot be blamed on them: going head-on. The event, held over the weekend in Las Vegas with the pomp of a great showadvanced its objective already in its name: ‘Improved Games’. Its purpose was to organize an athletics, swimming and weightlifting competition in which athletes could doping almost without restrictions. The only limit was that they did not use illegal drugs and the drugs had been prescribed by a doctor. From there, wide Castilla: anabolic steroids, testosterone, EPO… The use of prohibited equipment was even allowed, such as polyurethane suits similar to those that the International Swimming Federation (FINA) banned years ago. The idea was very simple: to prove that, in order not to remain “stuck” and allow athletes to give “the best version” of themselves, official sport must rethink its vetoes. @enhanced_games A $1,000,000 WORLD RECORD SWIM! Kristian Gkolomeev wins the Men’s 50m Freestyle in 20.81 and takes home $1,000,000 bonus + 250,000 first place finish and reclaims his 50M Freestyle world record. ♬ original sound – Enhanced Games The value of a good show. Although the idea is provocative and has earned it enormous media exposure, the organizers of the Enhanced Games wanted to give the event the appearance of a great show. The competition was held at Resorts World in Las Vegas, in a stadium with capacity for 2,500 people and after months of a speech measured to the millimeter to generate expectation. In his favor he had two great claims, beyond the controversy. The first, a team of media athletes. Among the athletes who agreed to participate, Olympic medalists or podiums from world tournaments such as Leidy Solis (silver in Beijing 2008), Fred Kerley (silver in Tokyo 2020), Kristian Gkolomeev (silver at Gwangju 2019) or Hafþór Björnssonweightlifter who reached a world record in 2025 and is famous above all for playing “the Mountain” in ‘Game of Thrones’. And that among a wide etcetera. 42 athletes. In total, 42 athletes (sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters) participated in the Enhanced Games, the vast majority of whom were doped. Guardian precise that of all of them there were only three people who chose to participate in the tests in a ‘clean’ way, without consuming chemical substances that would be equivalent to a disqualification in any official tournament. Their participation in the event gave an extra point of epicness to the Enhanced Games and reinforced its main challenge: Can the consumption of testosterone, EPO, steroids or polyurethane suits really make a difference? Don’t say sport, say money. The second claim that we referred to before explains what Gkolomeev, Björnsson and many other athletes who agreed to participate in the Enhanced Games were doing yesterday in Las Vegas. Beyond their greater or lesser harmony with the underlying message, if they decided to compete it was because the organization promised great awards: $500,000 per test, half of it for the winner. If he also managed to set a world record in one of the “definitive tests” (100 m dash and 50 m freestyle) he could earn an extra one million. And how was it? Not as good as the organizers (probably) expected. Despite the expectation generated, the advertisements who claimed that records were already being broken in training and throughout the hype generated around the use of chemicals, the reality is that the first Enhanced Games only managed to crown a world record. The Greek swimmer did it Kristian Gkolomeevalmost in extremis. Under the watchful eye of the organizers, he managed to complete the 50 meter freestyle in 20.81 seconds, slightly lower than the 20.88 official record achieved by the Australian. Cameron McEvoy in March. Proof of the relief that this meant for those responsible for the Enhanced Games is that, after the race (and in further demonstration that the tournament was more intended as a show than a sporting event), the executive director of the ‘Games’, Max Martin, he knelt before Gkolomeev to proclaim his victory. The mark of 20.81 will not be officially valid, but it will allow the Greek to pocket the bonus of one million dollars. “Maybe next year I’ll beat it again,” he said. A pyrrhic victory. Martin did not save on superlatives when evaluating the competition and went so far as to celebrate that the Enhanced Games have “changed the world”. “We have seen how records were broken and how 12 athletes broke personal bests,” celebrated. The reality is that the balance of the first ‘Improved Games’ has been discreet and has certainly fallen far below the expectations generated by the organization itself. Beyond the consumption of doping substances allowed in the event, Gkolomeev, for example, scratched his record with the help of a ‘supersuit’ banned by FINA. Doped vs ‘clean’. Apart from the fact that there were athletes who broke their “personal records” thanks to doping, as the organization claims, in some cases the competitions were won by the few athletes who claimed not to use drugs. This was the case, for example, of Hunter Armstrong, who won the 50 m backstroke against two doped rivals, or the sprinters Tristan Evelyn and Fred Kerley, who in addition to taking the winner’s check he threw a jibe to their opponents: “They have to train a little harder, … Read more

Today the latest from a master of horror arrives on Disney+, a survival show that was about to end up in a drawer

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The last time before this year that Sam Raimi directed a horror film was in 2009, with ‘Drag Me to Hell’, a return to his roots after the ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy and which remains, perhaps, his best film along with ‘Darkman’ and the ‘Evil Dead’ trilogy. After extensive work in the ‘Oz’ franchises and Marvel, he returns to the humor, suspense and violence of that marvel with this fantastic ‘Send Help‘you just landed on Disney+. In it we will meet a shy and lonely woman (Rachel McAdams) who travels with her arrogant and insufferable boss on a flight that ends up having an accident and leaving them on a desert island in the Pacific. What begins as a survival story becomes an inversion of the work hierarchy: the person who knows how to survive in nature is not the same person who rules in the office. From there, a strange and hilarious mix of ‘Cast Away’ and ‘Misery’ that doesn’t cut corners either in the intensity of its most violent scenes or in the grotesque humor with which it portrays its protagonists. The original idea for the film dates back to before the pandemic, when Raimi came across this script from the authors of ‘Freddy vs. Jason’. When COVID happened, cuts came to the industry, and the studio tried convince the director to reduce the budget and release it on platforms. Raimi wanted the production to reach theaters, so the project was presented to the former Fox, now owned by Disney. In an especially profitable year for traditional horror films like ‘Sinners’ or ‘Weapons’, and for thrillers with a twist like the hit ‘The assistant‘, ‘Send Help’ is placed, as is usual for Raimi, in an intermediate and unclassifiable terrain. Extremely dark humor, a description of characters between social caricature and classic horror comics and a load of impossible plot twists for the enjoyment of those who think that plot coherence is for the weak when there is emotion and narrative pulse. In Xataka | Netflix premieres today the dystopian series that has risen to the throne of the best in history in six seasons

the Mediterranean reaches 20 degrees and today a DANA is going to show us what it means

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Let’s start at the beginning: what is going to happen today in Castellón is something completely ordinary. A DANA coming down from the Cantabrian Sea and discharging water over the interior and coast of Castellón, perhaps some hail and intense gusts of wind. The extraordinary thing is everything else, everything that surrounds it: the warmest April in decades, the Mediterranean with a ‘heat wave’ at the beginning of May and the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen in the coming years. What we do know is what is going to happen now. Because, as I said, the DANA was located on the Cantabrian Sea and has been moving towards the east. The point is that the most unstable sector of this DANA spreads today over the north of Castellón. Once there, the DANA, the surface winds and a steep orography facing southeast force the rise of humid air from the Mediterranean. That is the recipe for potentially very intense convective nuclei in inland regions. By Wednesday or Thursday the situation will improve. As I say, a priori, it is nothing exceptional… Although we normally associate DANAs with autumn, the truth is that spring is also a time when they are abundant. What makes this event worth studying is the context that surrounds it. …except for one thing. At the end of April, anomalies of 2 to 3 degrees were recorded in the Gulf of Valencia, the area around the Balearic Islands and Catalonia. A fact that summarizes all this: the Sa Dragonera buoy It touched 20 degrees on April 26while the average for the Balearic Sea in April is 14.9. A warmer Mediterranean in spring is equivalent to more moisture available in the lower troposphere. When there is a contribution of cold air at altitude, that moisture becomes fuel: greater convective instability and more intense rains in less time. This is the problem. While AEMET maintains the yellow noticethere is no reason to assume more danger than expected. However, it is true that it is increasingly difficult to rule out torrential accumulations in any month of the year. The question is not whether it will rain a lot or not, the question is that DANAs arise on a Mediterranean different from the one that served as a reference to build our infrastructures and our warning thresholds. Image | BenBaso In Xataka | There are meteorologists who are already comparing El Niño of 2027 with that of 1877, a catastrophic event that wiped out 4% of the population

At 11 km long and with a roof with a light show, China’s longest underwater tunnel has become a tourist attraction

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Under the waters of Lake Taihu, in the Chinese province of Jiangsu, lies the longest underwater tunnel ever built in China. Although it serves today as a great solution to decongest one of the most dynamic regions in the country, it has also become, almost by surprise, a tourist destination on its own merits. The reason: a majestic ceiling full of LED lights that change color and an architecture almost designed more to be contemplated than to be functional. A key point. As we mentioned, the tunnel extends under Lake Taihu, in Jiangsu province, about 50 kilometers east of Shanghai. It aims to connect the expressways of Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou to relieve traffic pressure in the lakeside cities, while also serving to boost economic development from the Yangtze River Delta region. It is also a segment of the highway that connects Shanghai and Nanjing, the former national capital. For this reason, it is a key piece in China’s infrastructure network, but its design and light show have also led to it being transformed into a whole tourist experience. Figures. With 10.79 kilometers in length, the tunnel had a cost of about 9.9 billion yuanabout 1,230 million euros. Work began in 2018 and lasted almost four years. To build the two-way tunnel, with six lanes and 17.45 meters wide, more than two million cubic meters of concrete were used. For ventilation, there are three complexes distributed along the surface of the lake that guarantee air circulation inside. The challenge of building under the mud. It was not a simple work. The bed of Taihu Lake is formed by large accumulations of clayey silt, which made it impossible to use conventional excavation methods with tunnel boring machines. The engineering team opted for a cofferdam system: the route was divided into nine sections and, in each one, a temporary dike was built to “create solid ground” and work dry. Once that section was finished, it was filled with water and moved on to the next. According to collect Tunnels & Tunnelling, one of the biggest challenges was waterproofing the structure, since at some points the tunnel is 20 meters below the lake bed. Thes LED lights yesThey always improve everythingeither. Their figures and the work that had to be done for something of such magnitude to materialize is impressive. But the tunnel has attracted more and more attention for a clear reason: its roof. Those responsible They installed LED lights on the roof of the tunnel to combat driver fatigue during what would otherwise be a very monotonous journey underground. The panels do not simply project a uniform color, but rather show images that change. Ventilation and architecture. But the LEDs on the ceiling are not the only eye-catching element. The three ventilation points that emerge on the surface of the lake have been conceived as sculptural pieces. According to China Dailythe one located in the center of the tunnel was transformed into an artificial island 150 meters in diameter; that on the western side, near Mashan, is shaped like a conch; and the one on the eastern side, next to Nanquan, evokes the silhouette of an ancient boat. The most striking is the one known as “Jade Snail”: 45 meters in diameter and 39 meters high, it is equipped with 174,000 LED light points. A tunnel that generates tourism. The CCCC construction company points out that the Taihu tunnel is now the second highway between Shanghai and Nanjing, and has increased the number of visitors to the tourist enclaves of Lingshan and Nianhua Bay by 50%. The Mashan area, directly connected by the tunnel, is home to the Lingshan Great Buddha, one of the largest in the world and a pilgrimage destination for millions of people. Liu Xiaoyu, head of Wuxi National Taihu Lake Tourism Resort, pointed out told China Daily that “the tunnel will bring more tourists to the Lingshan Scenic Area and hotels in the area.” recordd. At almost 11 kilometers, the Taihu is the longest underwater tunnel in China, but it is not the first in the world. The title of longest underwater road tunnel remains with the Norwegian Ryfastwith 14.3 kilometers, connecting the city of Stavanger with the municipality of Strand. On the other hand, if we talk about underwater tunnels in general, the Eurotunnel (which links England and France by rail) retains the absolute record with 37.9 kilometers of submerged section. Images | CGTN In Xataka | Xiaomi or Xpeng car factories are so advanced that they have become the favorite destination of Chinese schools

Telecinco is so desperate for you to show ‘The Island of Temptations’ that it is generating brainrot-style AI promos

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In its desperate search for a minimum audience that will lift its trembling numbers, Telecinco has launched an unexpected promotion on social networks: anthropomorphic fruits having fun, getting jealous and declaring their love like the contestants of ‘The Island of Temptations’. Behind it is not only a late recovery of the brainrot aesthetic, but something else: riding one of TikTok’s latest viral hits. Fake strawberries. On April 8, 2026, the official Telecinco account on X published a promotional video for the tenth edition of ‘Temptation Island’. The piece was generated with artificial intelligence and caused some perplexity among followers of the series. The reason: it is a piece that accumulates the worst vices of what has come to be known as AI Slop: rigid and not very expressive animations, inconsistencies between different versions of the same character (the strawberry with different skin and features, the banana with variations in the head) and a very poorly worked finish. Hearing problems. Why has Mediaset made this decision? The chain closed 2024 with a 9.8% screen sharethe worst annual mark in its history since it began broadcasting in 1990 and the first time it fell below the 10% threshold. From the departure of CEO Paolo Vasile in 2022when the chain averaged 12.3%, the accumulated loss is close to 20% of audience. ‘Survivors 2026’, which started in March, is not harvesting the expected data and ‘Temptation Island’ is practically the only format that works consistently. The ninth edition reached 17% on its best night and averaged 11.5% in access deliveries. As soon as that edition finished, Mediaset announced the tenth and advanced its production to January 2026, breaking the tradition of summer recordings. It will hit the screens very soon: on April 13, with a triple weekly broadcast and five new couples as protagonists. Only three months have passed since the previous edition. That is why Telecinco has launched itself into AI aesthetics: the always coveted young audience is the one that has been consuming brainrot at industrial speed on TikTok for months. The island of Frutitentaciones. In March of this year, the AI ​​Cinema TikTok account posted the first episodes of ‘Fruit Love Island‘, a reality dating show in which the contestants are anthropomorphic fruits generated by AI. In nine days The account experienced an absolutely excessive speed of growth, with episodes with an average of 15 million views, although the profile has currently disappeared and has been dispersed into parallel accounts. The format directly parodies ‘Love Island’, and by extension its adaptations such as ‘Temptation Island’. Soon imitations were born as The Island of Fruitsexplicit parody of the Telecinco program. The AI ​​slop aesthetic. This is clearly what this Mediaset piece alludes to: low-quality digital content that is consumed compulsively, and that is intuitively associated with cognitive deterioration due to overexposure to social networks. AI Slop has been defined as unconvincing, repetitive images and videos designed to generate immediate reactions, and to be produced as quickly and at the lowest possible cost. The most paradigmatic case of AI Slop is italian brainrotwhich was born in 2023, plaguing the internet with absurd characters generated by AI and accompanied by meaningless Italian phrases. Tralalero Tralala went from being a niche meme to accumulating billions of views on videos with no clear origin and that repeated the same mechanisms over and over again: visual absurdity, squeaky sound and minimal or directly abstract narrative. Children love it and Mediaset wants to lower the age of its audience, no matter how counterproductive it may seem to bring a product like ‘Temptation Island’ to them. In Xataka | The latest edition of ‘The Island of Temptations’ has not only been a viral phenomenon: it has saved the month of Telecinco

a photographic show that aspires to become the best mobile phone of 2026

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Xiaomi has a new workhorse for the highest range. It is the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, one of the most ambitious phones on the market and a clear candidate for best mobile of 2026. On paper, it has everything to compete head-to-head with anyone that comes before it: a camera system that, at least in hardware, sets new benchmarks in the sector, a generous battery and Qualcomm’s most powerful processor. We review the characteristics of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. Xiaomi 17 Ultra technical sheet xiaomi 17 ultra dimensions and weight 162.9mm x 77.6mm x 8.29mm 218g screen 6.9 inches Xiaomi HyperRGB Resolution 2608 x 1200 LTPO adaptive refresh 1-120 Hz 3,500 nits peak brightness HDR10+, Dolby Vision processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Storage 12 + 256GB 12 + 512 GB 16GB + 1TB rear cameras 50 MP, f/1.67 OIS, 23mm equivalent 200 MP, variable aperture f/2.39-f2.96, OIS, 75-100mm equivalent 50 MP, f/2.2 ultra wide angle front camera 50MP, f/2.2 battery 6,000mAh 90W fast charging 50W fast wireless charging operating system Android 16 based on One UI 8.5 connectivity 5G Wi-Fi 7Bluetooth 6GPSNFCUWBUSB type C price From 1,449 euros The lightest Ultra Regarding the design, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra It is the lightest and thinnest Ultra to date. Xiaomi has left the curvature behind (thanks, Xiaomi) to create a flatter and straighter device, weighing below 220 grams. Not bad considering that we are looking at a phone with a good-sized battery and that measures more than 16 centimeters high. Xiaomi has abandoned the curves and its new Ultra looks better than ever. It’s thinner, lighter, and even more refined It is manufactured in aluminum alloy for its sides, and fiberglass in its rear part. In the Stellar Green finish, the phone is made with mineral particles, giving a very attractive shine effect. The device’s screen is 6.9 inches, flat, with OLED technology and a peak brightness of 3,500 nits. The company has worked especially to make it a panel that is not harmful to the eyes, and has TÜV certifications for blue light emission and flickering. Chicha, lots of chicha About the hardware it is exactly what you expect: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5configurations of up to 16 GB of RAM + 1 TB, LPDDR5X and UFS 4.1 memories, and a 6,000mAh battery with 90W fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging. Perhaps a little more fast charging could be expected given the size of the battery and knowing that some cheaper Xiaomi phones have been using 120W systems for years, but they are not figures to complain about. If you are wondering about the composition of the battery, we are talking about a silicon content of 16%, so we are looking at the technology expected in a phone of this height. The software stars Xiaomi HyperOS 3 and is based on Android 16with an additional layer of artificial intelligence powered by both Gemini and Xiaomi under the name of Xiaomi Hyper AI. The camera, tell me about the camera The reason for this phone is the camera. Because it’s not just any camera. The main sensor repeats the size that every flagship should aspire to: one inch. The lens is signed by Leicaand the resolution is again 50 megapixels. But the magic of this phone, like any high-end phone, is in the zoom. The telephoto lens is one of the most ambitious at the moment: variable aperture, focal range from 75 to 100mm and resolution of 200 megapixels. The zoom is mechanical, allowing you to shoot at 75 and 100mm without loss of quality between focal lengths. It has a Samsung HPE sensor, one of the most current and capable at the moment. To top it off, it has a 50-megapixel ultra-wide angle, and a selfie camera with the same resolution. As usual in the Xiaomi Ultra, this year we can also bet on the photography kit. This not only allows for a better grip and adds a physical button panel to be able to photograph with a more analog experience, it also adds 2,000mAh capacity to the phone so that it can last the day even better. Versions and price of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra The Xiaomi 17 Ultra will arrive in Spain in four color options: Black, White, Starlit Green. We can buy it in two variants: Xiaomi 17 Ultra 16GB+512GB: €1,499.99 Xiaomi 17 Ultra 16GB+1TB: €1,699.99 The Photography Kit It will be available in three color options: Silver, White, Purple for a price of €99.99 in my.com and official distributors. The Photography Kit Pro will arrive in black and will be available for €199.99 on mi.com. In Xataka | You can now buy the Xiaomi Tag: the rival to Apple’s AirTag and that you can use with both Android and iPhone

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