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GPS leaves us stranded inside buildings. An alternative is already in orbit and has shown that it can arrive indoors

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We enter a shopping center, go down to a parking lot or cross the door of a station and the blue dot begins to hesitate. Sometimes it takes a while to react, other times puts us on the next street and, in the worst cases, stop following us completely. We have become accustomed to the mobile phone almost always knowing where we are, but it is enough to put several walls and ceilings in the way to remember that the signals that arrive from space still have very specific limits. The answer you propose Xona Space Systems It’s called Pulsar and it already has hardware working in space. Its first dedicated satellite, Press-0has transmitted signals that could be followed from inside a building, a relevant test because it directly addresses one of the weak points of traditional satellite navigation. The demonstration, however, is only the first step, while offering a stable, immediate and accurate position indoors requires more satellites, compatible receivers and coverage that has yet to be deployed. Satellites closest to the Earth’s surface Although we usually call everything GPS, that name corresponds only to the Global Positioning System of the United States. Our mobiles can also combine signals from Galileo, from the European Union; GLONASS, from Russia; and BeiDou, from Chinaall of them included under the term GNSS. Their architectures are not identical, but they share a difficulty: transmissions arrive very weak after traveling thousands of kilometers. In the case of the American system, the GPS office itself recognizes that buildings can block the signal and that its bounces off walls introduce errors in the position. Recreation of Xona satellites Pulsar attempts to change that relationship by bringing the transmitters much closer to the surface. While the GPS satellites orbit at about 20,200 kilometers altitude, the architecture requested by Xona would place them around 1,080 kilometersa distance that allows the signal to arrive with greater power. Its rapid movement also generates Doppler variations that can provide additional information to the position calculation. The advantage comes at a price: each ship covers less territory and remains visible for less time, so hundreds are needed to offer continuous service throughout the planet. The project was not born with Pulsar-0 either. Xona carried out a first orbital demonstration with Huginn in 2022an experimental payload that allowed its architecture to be tested before launching, in 2025, a dedicated satellite. Since then, the company has transmitted for hundreds of passes, updated its in-orbit software, and managed to get different commercial receivers to track their emissions. It has also opened its own factory in California and ordered new units from Aerospacelab. There is, therefore, hardware and an industrial base in place, although the constellation necessary to provide continuous service has yet to be built. A view of Xona’s laboratory What Xona has demonstrated inside a building is not yet comparable navigation to what we expect from a mobile phone, although there is an important nuance: the entire test was carried out with a single satellite and receivers installed in specific positions. In a work signed by engineers from the company itself, an indoor antenna accumulated measurements of Pulsar-0 during its passage to estimate the position, while the comparison equipment failed to acquire GPS signals in the main test. This ended with 38.7 meters of horizontal error; Other selected records were between 0.6 and 3 meters, although in those cases the algorithm started from an initial estimate close to the real location. For a single experimental ship, the result is promising; To guide us as we walk indoors, the net still needs to be deployed. The next announced step is to launch a first batch of six production satellites, scheduled for October 2026, and initially offer intermittent coverage to some time-sync customers. For Pulsar to provide immediate and precise positions, several ships will be required to be visible at the same time, much broader coverage and receptors capable of interpreting their signals. It will not replace GPS overnight nor will it solve any interior problem on its own. But what we have seen demonstrates at least one thing concrete: a navigation signal sent from low orbit can be received inside a building at a point where GPS failed to do so. Images | Xona (1, 2) In Xataka | One study said that trees “sense” eclipses 14 hours in advance. The real explanation is much more boring

We thought that using a lot of emojis was immature. Psychology has just shown that the opposite is true.

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For many people, using a lot of emojis in emails, text messages or work chats is a sign of immaturity or unprofessionalism that should not be overlooked. However, the most modern psychology has analyzed the reason for using so many emojis and the reality is that It is not a childish actbut a desperate attempt to recover the emotional nuances that plain text has taken from us. The context. Conveying sarcasm in plain text is undoubtedly a great challenge, and not doing it correctly can result in a message that transmits an edge tone that can ‘scare’ the person to whom we send it. That is why using emojis or any type of expression strategy over text is what saves us from transmitting something that is not what we want. Non-verbal communication. When we speak face to face, words are only a fraction of the message, as tone of voice, posture, a raised eyebrow or a smile convey the true intention behind what we say. In the digital ecosystem, that layer of communication disappears, leaving our WhatsApp or Slack messages at the mercy of the interpretation (and often, pessimism) of the recipient. And this is where emojis come in, since, far from being simple decorations, psychology defines them as substitutes for non-verbal communication. Without going any further, an article published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2021 demonstrated that emojis function as real affective symbols that help convey pure emotional content. It can be measured. An investigation of Journal of Nonverbal Behavior found that adding positive emojis to a completely neutral message makes the recipient perceive it as positive. Likewise, negative emojis can instantly darken the tone of a text that has no point of malice behind it. In privacy, as the magazine points out Symbolic Interactionthe use of emojis in romantic conversations dramatically increases clarity of intentions, reducing the feared ambiguity of the first digital flirtations that in person can be much clearer thanks to the tone or looks we use. There is not a single emoji. With all this evidence, the logical conclusion would seem to be: “Use as many emojis as you can so they can understand you better.” But science warns that there is a catch, since the meaning of emojis is not stable. Here we must keep in mind that, unlike words, which have agreed definitions in dictionaries, emojis are tremendously dependent on the context, the platform and, above all, the generation of the reader. What for a boomer or a millennial It is a simple friendly smile, for Generation Z it can be interpreted as irony, passive-aggressiveness or even contempt. He is the king. The effectiveness of the emoji depends entirely on where and with whom you use it. Research published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports support that, in informal communication, emojis reduce ambiguous interpretations and bring interlocutors closer. However, In the workplace everything changessince, although it brings closeness, it can also alter the perception of competence of the person sending the message. It has even been seen that in formal emails or with superiors, an excess of emojis can generate communicative “noise” and detract from the professionalism or appropriateness of the message. Images | Tim Witzdam In Xataka | Psychology says that people who thank drivers when crossing the street don’t do it just out of gratitude.

In Zamora there is a town whose neighbor is a deer named Tomás. And he has already shown that no one will get him out of there

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Linarejos is a village of the Zamorano municipality of Manzanal de Arribain the very heart of the Sierra de la Culebra, where they live around a dozen people. And a deer. That last one is an important detail because it explains why this small town near the Portuguese border has been strained several times in recent years in the headlines of the national press. First in 2023by the work and grace of a deer with impressive antlers baptized ‘Carlitos’. Now due to another of his conspecifics, a male 140 kilos called ‘Thomas’. The story of Carlitos it didn’t end well. That of Tomás (or ‘Tomasín’, as they also call him in Linarejos) has left a script twist worthy of a Pixar movie. In a place in Castilla y León… More specifically, in the town of Manzanal de Arriba, Zamora, is located the small village of Linarejos. A few dozen residents settled in the heart of the Sierra de la Culebra, in the surroundings of a regional hunting reserve. Despite its poor record, over the last few years the village has awakened several times the interest of the national press. And always for the same reason: imposing deer that decide to become one of the locals and live with their neighbors. The deer ‘Tomás’. The most recent case involved a male deer weighing about 140 kilos and having impressive antlers that the inhabitants of Linarejos have nicknamed ‘Tomás’. Although it is a wild, undomesticated animal, this peculiar deer has made the village its particular refuge: it rests there and feeds there. It is so easy to see him dozing in the shadow of the walls and facades of the village that has become a kind of claim tourist. Zamora’s Opinion assures that the deer has been living there for about two years. “We all fit”. Although there is a hunting tradition in the region, Tomás has fallen in favor with the neighbors, who have decided to welcome him as one of their own. “It doesn’t do anything,” they explain from the bar. “He doesn’t mess with anyone, he hasn’t disrespected anyone or anything, ever. There he is taking a nap. What crime is he committing? Coming to town?” Another neighbor confirms that the deer “doesn’t bother anyone” and speculates that it may have ended up in Linarejos while looking for shelter from the wolves. In addition to safety and good shade, he has also found food. Everything perfect, right? No. The residents of Linarejos have learned to live with Tomás. They have even taken a liking to him. But that does not mean that the presence of the deer among the houses and orchards of the village poses two problems. The first, that it is still an animal with a “wild instinct”, such as recognize some resident. In addition, it is equipped with enormous antlers. The second handicap is that Tomás not only meets neighbors. Curious people also come to Linarejos, people who want to see it up close and do not always maintain the appropriate distance. “People from outside come to see him, to take photos with him, to caress him,” explains to Zamora’s Opinion a neighbor, who still remembers the recent case of “a couple with two children” who approached Tomás as if he were a pet and even ran their hand over his back. That does pose a danger because, says another resident, “although it is sociable” the animal retains its “wild instinct.” A couple of years ago an injured deer took refuge in a Zamorano town where it has been wandering peacefully ever since. A few days ago they captured him and took him away arguing that he was a danger and blabla. Well, he has returned to the town😳 He has traveled 50 km to his house😳 pic.twitter.com/pLq5LzlveK — ⅃ɵ෴eL🪶 (@joel27799310) July 23, 2026 “They are coming to shoot him!” Tomás’ presence in an inhabited village caused so much concern that a few days ago the authorities made a radical decision: capture him and transfer him to the Casal estate. The operation to hunt him gave a good scare to the neighbors, who on Thursday of last week found a deployment of Seprona and Environment agents in their streets. “They are looking for him, they are coming to shoot him,” came to be commented in the village. In reality, the objective was different: to numb the deer, reduce it, remove it from the urban area and transfer it to a natural environment. The operation went well and the story could have ended there… if it weren’t for the fact that Tomasín had other plans. A 50 km trip. To the astonishment of the residents of Linarejos, the deer reappeared in the town a few days later, which means that it undertook neither more nor less than a 50 kilometer journey on your own through the Sierra de la Culebra. His objective: to leave the area where they were trying to relocate him and return to what he considers his natural refuge. Ironically, this feat has given him even more visibility and made him interest in Thomas grow. In Linarejos they still have fresh memories of another deer similar to Tomasín who years ago also decided to turn the streets of the village into his home. That animal was called ‘Carlitos’, he had a 14-point antlers and the locals managed to gather around 54,000 signatures through an online campaign to shield and protect it from hunters. It was of little use. In September 2023, residents came across the decapitated carcass of a deer in the area. The town immediately suspected that it was their illustrious deer, although the Junta de Castilla y León he denied it shortly after. The reality is that in Linarejos they did not see Carlitos again, so the neighbors decided pay tribute drawing its silhouette on doors and facades. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | An Iberian lynx sighted in Euskadi for the first time in more than a century. The big … Read more

this startup has just shown that there is another way

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Still It is unclear whether humanoid robots will be the next big revolution of consumer technology, but there are certainly more and more companies competing to sneak one of these robots into our homes. They all have something in common: they are a lot like us, maybe too much. They have a face, torso, arms and legs. What if there is another better solution than that? That is what the startup Genesis AI believes, which has just presented its new generalist robot Genesis Eno, whose design is far from what we are used to seeing lately. In the words of the company itself: “Instead of imitating a fully human appearance, we have designed Eno based on human capabilities, prioritizing mobility, dexterity and functionality in the real world.” Genesis AI is a French-American startup, founded in 2025 and based in Palo Alto, California. They count in Forbes that the company raised $105 million in its latest financing round, which included investors such as Koshla Ventures and Eric Schmidt. Goodbye legs, hello wheels The Genesis Eno looks like a cross between a minimalist appliance and a humanoid robot. The first thing that stands out about its design is that it does not have legs, but rather moves on a base with wheels which allows you to move through space without needing so many joints. This gives it greater stability, although in environments with steps it is a limitation. On top of this base are a series of articulated panels that allow it to “stand up” and also fold down for storage when not in use. It also does not have a head, but instead has a kind of black piece where we assume that the sensors are housed so that it interacts with the environment. Genesis also offers another version with a screen mounted on the panel that would be the chest of the robot (you can see it in the main image). The key is in the hands What is very human are his arms, especially his hands. Genesis says the design of the hands has been copied so that it can handle objects that have been “designed with people in mind.” As they say in Humanoids Dailythe hands were developed in collaboration with Wuji Techa Chinese company that is exclusively dedicated to the design of robotic hands. The hands of the Genesis Eno have a movement angle of 22 degrees and look practically the same as a human hand. To control them with skill there is the brain GENEwhich the company says is the first AI brain to give robots “physical manipulation capabilities comparable to those of humans.” GENE allows the robot to interact with its environment freely, unlike other robots that have pre-programmed movements. It is also capable of remembering, can adapt if the environment changes, and is able to schedule multi-step tasks, as if it were a fleshed-out AI agent. The company assures that they plan to begin production of the Genesis Eno at the end of 2026. First it will reach industrial clients, then the service sector (such as hotels or hospitals) and finally to private clients. At the moment They haven’t said anything about the price. Images | Genesis AI In Xataka | This humanoid robot promised to do our housework. For now it’s a $20,000 puppet

How a seat change on flight KL592 has shown the cracks in the system

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We’ve been talking about it for two weeks. hantavirus in Europe and the script is getting more complicated. It is no longer just the three dead, the rejection of the president of the Canary Islands, the air evacuations to Nebraska or the French emergency decrees. Now, in the last few hours, the plane thing is added. And the Health Department of the Generalitat of Catalonia investigate a third case: a passenger on flight KL592 who did not appear in the first scan because she had changed seats during the flight. The important thing here is not the virus. It never has been: hantaviruses have been known for decadesthe Andes variant has waging war for years and the WHO itself classifies the population risk as low. The important thing is the x-ray that traces everything about our international epidemiological control system. And what a picture… The way in which this outbreak has been detected (an autopsy in Johannesburg and not through active surveillance protocols), the failures of tracing (about thirty people disembarked before there was an alert) and the heterogeneous response of the different states are drawing the first serious “stress test” for a world that said it was prepared for the post-COVID world. But it wasn’t. Although the response is being good, effective and worthy of praise, there are three big gaps that we cannot ignore: how diseases are tracked in an increasingly complex world, what happens to the international health cooperation network (when there are people actively trying to dismantle it) and how is it possible that a change of seat can be, even today, enough to lose a contact. In the end, what differentiates this outbreak from that of El Bolsón in ’96 or that of Epuyén in 2018 is that, in addition to affecting a considerable group of Westerners, it has generated an enormous trail of cases internationally. We must not forget that the first deceased from the ship died on April 11 and no one identified the cause until three weeks later. In fact, the detection has had a lot to do with chance: if it had not been for the autopsy that was performed on his wife in Johannesburg, no one would have found out until a long time later. That allowed more than thirty people to get off the ship and move around the world. And how is it that we have ‘unlearned’? The best example is the EU cross-border tracking system which, although it has many technical and legal devices, has been hibernating since 2026. But there are many more, no country had updated protocols for a virus that, let us remember, was causing problems in one of the largest (and interconnected) metropolitan areas in the southern hemisphere. And that should lead us to reflect on how we are going to prepare for a world where these types of problems They are going to be more and more common. Image | Ministry of Health In Xataka | It is not so contagious, but it is very lethal: in Argentina the hantavirus went from 17% to 33% in the blink of an eye

We believed that the secret to rest was sleeping eight hours. A study has shown that we forget a big element

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One of the mantras most repeated ad nauseum in the field of health is related to the need to sleep at least eight hours nightly. A goal that has been widely studied with the repercussions that failure to meet it may have. But now we have seen how the regularity in sleep is a much more powerful preacher of long-term health than mere duration. It’s when you sleep. Although we had very ‘glorified’ how much sleep we have to, trying to make up for lost hours on the weekendthe reality is that the important thing is to have good consistency, as is the case with many other processes. The regularity. The scientific consensus on this paradigm shift is gaining strength, and the last major proof is published by the National Sleep Foundation with an article that points to this regularity as one of the most forgotten components of our nocturnal habits. The key here lies in the internal clock, since we must remember that the time of waking up and early exposure to natural light is what activates our internal system with the cortisol release. In this way, by maintaining a constant reference, we ensure that critical biological processes, from hormonal secretion to body temperature, are regularized. When we don’t respect it. Just like when we travel to another country and we follow schedules very different from ours, the same thing happens here. We have the classic situation on the weekend, where we go to bed late and get up two or three hours later than usual, and surely the feeling when we get up is exhaustion. This is what is now known as ‘social jet lag’ or ‘Monday jet lag’, responsible for that mental fog, lack of alertness and low cognitive function with which we start the week. A shield. Unlike total sleep duration, regularity is a direct marker of the integrity of our circadian system, since when the internal clock and the demands of the environment become out of sync, known as chronodisruption, the body suffers. Just like when we travel between countries or experience time change. Here, a study published in Health Data Science HE dedicated analyzed more than 88,000 adults in the United Kingdom and found that irregular sleep patterns are associated with a greater predisposition to suffer from up to 172 different diseases. In fact, actigraphy studies have shown that intra-individual variability in our sleep hours is a direct marker of all-cause mortality, so trying to accumulate hours on Saturdays and Sundays not only does not save the furniture, but it puts us at risk. The impact of irregularity. In this sense, a linear relationship can be seen between sleep instability and the risk of suffering a cardiac event. But trying to “compensate” for tiredness on the weekend also results in worse insulin sensitivity and ends up altering glucose metabolism, which causes the bill to be quite expensive in the long run. Furthermore, the lack of a clear sleep routine causes a chronic pro-inflammatory state. This alteration compromises our immune response to pathogens, worsens the regulation of autoimmune diseases, and decreases the ability of our cells to repair themselves and eliminate metabolic waste. In summary, following set hours of sleep is essential if we really want to have optimal results in our daily lives. Images | diana.grytsku in Magnific In Xataka | We have accepted that “deep sleep” is the standard for sleep quality: science points in another direction

We have been blaming hygiene for our allergies for almost 40 years. Ancestral DNA has just shown that the problem is more complex

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Every time a child develops a asthmarhinitis or eczema, one of the questions we ask ourselves is why it happens, and one of the ‘culprits’ we point to is excess cleaning. Right now it is a reality that we live in environments that are too neat, using disinfectant gel all the time and not letting the little ones play in the mud because logically they can get stained. However, science here has ‘traveled’ to the past to find out the origin of allergies. What have they done? Here two new and massive studies based on the analysis of prehistoric DNA are putting the famous “hygiene hypothesis“And the paradigm we face now is that the evolutionary adaptations that our immune system has developed over the last 10,000 years to survive pandemics, curiously, are designed to protect you from allergies, not to cause them. A return to the past. To understand the plot twist, we must go back to 1989 where epidemiologist David Strachan proposed the hygiene hypothesis. Here it was proposed that the lack of exposure to microbes during childhood in most modern societies deregulated the immune system, since it literally did not grow with good training under its belt. In this way, it was proposed that, by not having real pathogens to fight against, the body created an imbalance that caused the immune system itself to attack substances that are not actually a threat, such as pollen or mites. And it seemed to make sense. A genetic journey. The first blow to this hypothesis has been dealt by a great published research in Nature this same month of April. Here the researchers analyzed almost 16,000 ancient genomes from individuals who lived thousands of years ago. What they discovered here is that the transition to agriculture in the Neolithic changed everything, since human societies became dense, we began to coexist closely with animals and, with this, large-scale infectious diseases arrived. But these pathogens that we began to face, despite the many deaths they generated, also favored hundreds of immune variants to ensure our own survival. But there is more. This is where parallel research that is revolutionizing our understanding of asthma and autoimmunity comes into play. Here is an article preprint has crossed ancient DNA with the modern complete genome with the aim of looking for differences between our DNA and that of our ancestors. Logic dictated that a system “revolutionized” by evolution to fight bacterial and viral infections of the past would be the cause of today’s allergies. But the data show exactly the opposite, as the study reveals that genetic variants that were positively selected in recent millennia have strengthened defenses in “barrier tissues” such as the intestine, against pathogens, but at the same time reduce allergic inflammation. The variants. Among these defense genes We have, for example, LYZ, which codes for lysozine, a fundamental antimicrobial enzyme in our secretions that destroys part of the bacteria. We also have FUT6, which is involved in protein fucosylation, a process vital to the interaction between our mucosal immune system and the gut microbiome. Why are we allergic, then? If our genetics have been evolving for 10,000 years to protect us from allergies in the lungs and intestines, the question is inevitable: why do cases continue to increase? Here science suggests that the problem is not simply an excess of cleaning in the present, but a profound imbalance. In this way, we do not need to catch diseases or live surrounded by human society, but the problem is that our immune system, genetically adapted to the strong pathogenic pressures of the first agricultural societies, expects to encounter a series of commensal microbes in the environment. The ‘problem’ is that these microbes are no longer present in modern cities and that is why the genes we have with a protective function cannot do their job correctly. Images | Drazen Zigic on Freepik In Xataka | The allergy season in Spain has been extended by 25 days since the 90s. And 2026 brings very bad news about it

Samsung has shown a new device with AI. It is not what we imagined and is reminiscent of an Apple idea

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When they tell us about a new device with artificial intelligencethe normal thing is that we think of a mobile phone, a laptop or, at most, the disappointing Rabbit R1 either Humane AI Pin. That’s why it’s interesting to stop when a company like Samsung teaches something that doesn’t quite fit into any of those boxes. What we have seen this time is not a common gadget, but a rather revealing clue as to how the South Korean giant could imagine a possible home interface of the future. What Samsung has shown in Milan is called Project Luna and, at least for now, it moves in the field of concepts. It is a desktop device with a mobile circular screen that acts as a head and can rotate to face the user. The company’s materials also show that this head not only rotates, but also changes orientation depending on the angle it needs. With that combination, Samsung draws a home device that wants to look less like a conventional speaker and more like an object designed to interact with the user. A concept that points further than a speaker One of the scenes that Samsung has used to show Luna places it on a kitchen table, connected to the user’s smartphone, playing music with an interface reminiscent of a record player and answering questions both by voice and on screen. In that same demonstration he also appears controlling the lighting in the room and suggesting food options for the day. Additionally, there are projectors scattered around the kitchen that display data such as the calories in the recipe or a calendar notice for a dinner party. And that’s where Luna begins to tell us something more interesting than her own design. In an interview with Fast CompanyMauro Porcini, Samsung’s chief design officer, explained that this concept represents more of “a vibe, a feeling of the type of design language we want to use.” The phrase matters because it lowers any immediate commercial reading and forces us to look at it differently. Rather than anticipating a launch, the firm seems to use this project to teach the type of language and relationship with the user that it wants to explore in future AI devices. And at that point it is difficult not to remember Apple. In August 2024, Mark Gurman told Bloomberg that the company was moving forward with the development of a home desktop device that would combine an iPad-like screen with a robotic arm. The proposal, according to that informationwas conceived as a home control center, a tool for video calls and a remote surveillance system, with a screen capable of tilting and rotating 360 degrees using actuators. It has not materialized as a product, but there is some underlying parallel with what Samsung is now teaching. The most interesting reading may not be in looking for an exact equivalence between what Samsung has taught and the rumors about Apple, but in stopping at the underlying trend. What we’ve seen suggests that home AI could end up taking a much more tangible form than the assistants or screens we already know. We are not yet talking about a consolidated category, far from it. But it does provide a fairly serious clue as to where the industry could move in the coming years. At this point, the temptation is to think: okay, that sounds good, but where exactly does something like this fit into our daily lives. Because we can imagine it on the kitchen counter, recommending a mealanswering a quick question or accompanying us while music plays, and the scene is even convincing. The problem is that that same house is already full of devices that already cover a good part of all that. Images | Samsung In Xataka | Meta spent 2 billion on a Chinese AI startup. China is clear that it was a conspiracy

We believed that procrastination was a time management problem. Neuroscience has shown that it is a survival instinct

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Almost all of us have been in the situation of being faced with a task that must be done no matter what, such as studying an exam or handing in an assignment. We know that it is something important, and that we should start addressing it now, but suddenly we are doing something totally different and insignificant like reorganizing the drawer or watching a video on YouTube. What seems so common is what we call procrastinationand we understand more and more why we do it. The context. For decades, popular culture has told us that procrastination is a time management problem or, worse yet, simple laziness. However, neuroscience has a very different message when it points out that procrastination It is not an organizational failure, it is a crisis of emotional regulation. The brain. To understand procrastination, we must first look at the anatomy of our brain, which often functions as a large battlefield divided into two sides. On the one hand we have the limbic system, which is one of the most primitive parts of the brain and whose function is simply to keep us alive, away from pain and seeking immediate pleasure. On the other hand, we have the prefrontal cortex, which is the most evolutionarily ‘modern’ area, located right on the forehead. This is where we have rational thinking, long-term planning and logic. What is known. Already a 2021 review pointed out that these areas are activated when you have to do a task that generates anxiety, boredom or insecurity, such as studying an exam. And it is no wonder, because the limbic system detects this situation as a “threat”, and automatically hijacks the prefrontal cortex to prioritize immediate emotional relief by looking at Instagram over the long-term benefit of starting to study to pass. We know more. Now, this year, a new study has taken a new step to understand this brain system, by identifying in primates a specific neuronal circuit that functions as a “brake” for motivation, and that connects two parts of the brain: the ventral striatum (VS) with the ventral pallidum (VP). The researchers discovered that when we face tasks associated with discomfort or the possibility of failure, this VS-VP circuit is activated, inhibiting the action, as if it were an emotional protection mechanism taken to the extreme. The most striking thing about the study is that, by interrupting this circuit in the laboratory, the subjects immediately restored their motivation, “releasing the brake” and tackling the difficult task. It’s not laziness. This new line of research is consistent with previous research that associated procrastination with stress, fear of failure, and anxiety. In this way, when seeing a blank document or a very complex Excel sheet, the amygdala activates a flight response. In fact, it has been seen that chronic procrastinators tend to have worse connectivity between the amygdala. the anterior cingulate cortex, which makes them less able to filter negative emotions and distractions. In short, the brain will procrastinate to protect itself from the psychological discomfort caused by a task. Hacking. Seeing how complex this all is, blaming yourself or calling yourself “lazy” is of no use. But it is true that you have to follow a strategy to be able to hack our perception of stress and reward, starting to break up the work, making it so that, instead of setting out to “write the entire work”, you should opt for “write only the title and the first paragraph for five minutes” to trick the amygdala. It is also possible to block sources of easy dopamine with a blocking system on your computer or mobile phone that makes it difficult to access Instagram or YouTube to watch a video. This way, if the immediate reward requires an effort like going to the next room for the phone, the prefrontal cortex has time to intervene and put us in concentration mode. Images | Ashkan Forouzani In Xataka | Procrastinating is a death trap for your brain in the form of anxiety. The problem is that we don’t know how to avoid it.

China has shown that the good and cheap electric car exists. So Citröen has had to get its act together

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China is doing very well with the cheap electric car. And if not, tell them BYD Dolphin Surfa 100% electric vehicle that the company finances at just over 3% for 125 euros per month. Without financing it costs 19,990 euros which, after aid, can become 11,780 euros. Saving exceptions like Dacia Springwhich compete in a much lower league, Western manufacturers have no choice but to respond. And Citröen has been the first to do so. 11,700 euros. Citroen has been lowering the price of its ë-C3 for more than a yeara car that was launched on the market for more than 20,000 euros and that, since its launch, has been reduced by almost half. Now, after aid, the Citröen C3 costs 11,700 euros, with an eight-year warranty. What it offers. With a price practically identical to the Dolphin Surf, an almost identical autonomy (220 km under the WLTP cycle), and a technology relatively similar to that of the Chinese alternative, we are finally talking about a price at which the company can be competitive. What China offers. Both vehicles, in their most economical version, have LFP batteries. The main difference is in the charging system: 65 kW for the BYD and 30 kW for the Citröen. The key, however, is not in the specs: it is that BYD has been offering a competitive price since its arrival in Spain, which has catapulted it into the top 3 of the best-selling electric cars in the country. Beyond Tesla. There is no electric car that sells more than the Model 3 in Spain. This is to be expected, given the reliability, range and price of the vehicle. Just below Tesla, we have the BYD Dolphin Surf, which has sold more than 1,332 units so far this year (compared to 2,489 for the Model 3 and 2,023 for the Model Y). Taking into account that they play in completely different leagues, the BYD case is a resounding success. A purely urban car that sells practically twice as much as its direct rivals. The electric C3 has 634 units sold, placing it in the top 9. The ranking points to something very clear: the price is the main purchasing factor for the Spanish electric companyand Western manufacturers will have to tighten their grip if they want to compete with China. In Xataka | The electric cars with the most autonomy that can be bought in 2026

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