silent

that the lion of the Metro remained silent

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Before every Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, a lion has been roaring for a century. Only once did he remain silent, and this silence was persecuted by a director who wanted to be respectful of the Child Jesus. It was in ‘Ben-Hur’, in 1959: the lion, instead of roaring as was his custom, appeared still, looking at the camera. It was the first time in the production company’s sound history that it adopted this timid behavior. Teasing the lion. Wyler did not want his biblical epic, which begins with the Three Wise Men visiting the Baby Jesus, to have as a prelude the roar of a circus animal. The director He then explained to the press that he did not want “the Christmas atmosphere to be disturbed”, and that he convinced Metro to replace the roar with a shot of the still lion that already existed in the studio archive, thus avoiding re-recording anything. Wyler came to regret that the anecdote made more headlines than the film itself, something that at the time seemed almost like a provocation against an untouchable symbol. The importance of ‘Ben-Hur’. ‘Ben-Hur’ was not just any production for MGM. The studio invested around $15 million in filming, the highest amount ever allocated to a film, at a time when the company was going through serious financial difficulties. The gamble worked: the film grossed nearly $37 million in the United States alone and $80 million worldwide during its initial release, enough to sustain the studio for another decade. At the 1960 Oscars it won eleven statuettes out of twelve nominations, a record that still stands 66 years later and that only ‘Titanic’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ have managed to equal, although not surpass. Lots of lions, actually. Behind “the lion of the Metro” there is, in reality, a succession of different animals: there are eight that have embodied Leo since 1924, some of which came to visit towns in the United States on a promotional tour. The current one, active since 1957 (although obviously its performer died long ago), is the only one that has formally held the name “Leo”, even though the studio has applied that label to all its predecessors equally. The first, Slats, didn’t even roar: he just looked at the camera, because the cinema was still silent. Jackie, his successor, was the first to make sound thanks to a gramophone record, and survived two train accidents and one plane accident that left him stranded for several days in Arizona. That is to say, when Wyler arrived, it was not sacrilege to touch the logo with small adjustments. The logo: it is played. Leo’s roar has been frequently interrupted, although almost never for the same reverent reason that Wyler applied. In ‘Tarzan of the Apes’ the lion reproduces Johnny Weissmuller’s characteristic cry. In the final version of ‘The Pink Panther’, the roar is interrupted by an animated Clouseau. In 2025’s ‘Merv’ the lion is replaced by a barking dog, and in the recent ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’ Cringer, the franchise’s talking tiger, takes his place. However, none of these interventions have the symbolic weight of what happened in 2025 with ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at the Las Vegas Spherewhere the Cowardly Lion played by Bert Lahr occupies the logo circle instead of Leo. In Xataka | “Leave her alone, she’s perfect”: Tom Hanks refuses to participate in the remake of this classic Hollywood film

the unstoppable (and silent) growth of plant-based drinks

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10% of all the “milk” in the country is no longer of animal origin. At least, of all the milk that passes through the supermarket shelves. To the report that has just been published GFI Europe Many buts can be said about Circana’s retail data (among them that GFI is a think tank that promotes alternative proteins), but there is something that no one disputes anymore: things have changed. Today, Spain has the consumption quota for vegetable drinks highest in Europe. What is happening with the milk? In aggregate terms, the change doesn’t seem too big. According to the report data, vegetable drinks were 10.4% of the volume of milk sold in Spanish supermarkets in 2025; Compared to this, in 2023 it was 9.2%. In euros, we talk about 354.9 million. In liters, 288.5 million. The most curious thing, however, is that half of that 10% is oatmeal drink. And why is it curious? Because according to various analyzes it seems that this boom in vegetable drinks is due to price. And they are partly right, of course, today (at a pure price) there are private label soy drinks cheaper than a liter of normal milk. However, what we see within the category is that cheap soybeans are sinking and more expensive varieties (and in barista format) are rising. That is to say, it seems that price parity has put drinks in shopping baskets. But, once inside, follow other rules. In a context in which the liquid cow’s milk loses volume Year after year in Spain, vegetable drinks gain percentage. A change of trend… A decade ago, investments in ‘fake meat’ were the order of the day. The arrival of high-tech food products that emulated meat was received as a trailer for the future. The problem is that the engine of that trend seized and stagnated. Experts talk about ‘artificiality’, ‘price’ and ‘political polarization’. But the example of vegetable drinks is the best to understand that this war of positions is not over. While the meats They have been withdrawing their ‘veggie’ proposals and ‘plant-based’ consumption has been falling, the country’s large dairy plants do they continue to bet on their own drinks oats or soy. It’s a great reminder of how we make trends ourselves. Spain, food laboratory. We recently talked about how Spain has become the great laboratory of non-alcoholic beers and now we discover that it also happens with vegetable drinks. It is not clear what it is about this country, but it seems clear that its food market is one of the most proactive on the continent. And that, as we well know, is an opportunity and a punishment at the same time. Image | Peyman Shojaei In Xataka | It looks, tastes and smells like a hamburger, but you have to call it a “vegetable disc”: the European Parliament decides the (terminological) future of fake meat

Microsoft just delayed its end with a silent extension

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Windows 10 It had been marked on the calendar for some time as a system with an exit date. Microsoft ended its official support on October 14, 2025 and the message seemed clear: the time had come to turn the page and look ahead. Windows 11. But it is one thing to close a stage on paper and quite another to do it when there are still millions of computers using that system every day. What we are seeing now is precisely that: Microsoft wanted to accelerate the farewell, but Windows 10 refuses to become the past. An extension until 2027. The change is in the Extended Security Updates program, the path that Microsoft offers to Windows 10 users who need to continue receiving security patches during the transition. According to the company’s official websitea, registration for the consumer ESU will be open until October 12, 2027. It should be noted that the program was initially planned until October 12, 2026 and that Microsoft has updated the date. Security, not a second life. It is important to specify what Microsoft is offering, because ESU is not equivalent to maintaining Windows 10 as if nothing had changed. The company defines the program as an option to reduce the risk of malware and cyberattacks on computers with Windows 10, version 22H2, through critical and important security updates. Other types of fixes, product improvements, new features and technical support are excluded. The system that is still too heavy. The explanation is in the scale. Windows 10 still runs on around 26% of PCs, while Windows 11 is around 72%, according to StatCounter. The difference already clearly favors the most recent system, but the percentage that Windows 10 retains is still enormous in such a widespread market. In other words, Microsoft is not extending the ESU for a few stragglers, but for an installed base that still numbers in the hundreds of millions. The migration that got stuck. If Windows 10 retains so much ground, it is because for many users changing has not been as simple as accepting an update: CPU and TPM requirements that left out still valid equipment, more expensive components due to the shortage of memory and storage linked to the rise of AI, and a certain misgiving about the growing prominence of AI in Windows 11. What changes for Spain and Europe. For those reading this from Spain, the important detail is in the conditions of the European Economic Area. Microsoft indicates that the way at no additional cost is to register with a Microsoft account and continue logging into Windows with that same account to receive updates until October 12, 2027. If the user stops doing so, the company warns that the updates will be interrupted after a period of time, which can reach up to 60 days. Local account and payment. Anyone who prefers to continue using a local account is not left out, but has another way. Microsoft says those users can make a one-time purchase of $30, or the local equivalent plus tax, to keep the updates extended through October 12, 2027 without permanently signing in with a Microsoft account. The license, however, is associated with the Microsoft account used to sign up for the program. Once activated, it can be applied to a maximum of 10 compatible devices. Windows 10 is not leaving yet. The business side leaves another clue as to how gradual the withdrawal will be. Companies pay per device and the commercial program will remain available until 2028. Microsoft already experienced a similar situation with Windows XP, whose support had to be extended several times during the 2010s because millions of computers did not make the leap. The story is not identical, but it does leave a clear reading: Windows 10 seemed doomed, and yet Microsoft has just quietly delayed its end. Images | Joachim Pressl In Xataka | Your Passwords Won’t Resist the “Quantum Apocalypse”: How to Protect Your Files with Post-Quantum Encryption Today

Today at MediaMarkt this easy-to-clean, silent, bladeless Dyson fan is almost half the price

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Dyson is not a cheap brand. All their products enjoy that premium aura and exclusivity that few brands can boast of, but it is not by chance. If there are products that work well and set trends that other brands then follow, those are Dyson’s. And their blade fans are no exception. Therefore, when we find offers like this one from MediaMarkt, it is worth taking advantage of them. Right now, we can get the Dyson Cool AM07 for only 211.65 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Currently out of stock at Dyson’s own websitethis fan has an official price of 349 euros, although in almost all stores we find it for 249 euros. In MediaMarkt too, but, if we are members of the MiMediaMarkt club, it makes us an extra discount of 37.35 euroswith what we will have gotten for those 211.65 euroswith free shipping or free store pickup. And if you prefer, right now, you can get it a few euros cheaper, for 207 euros in Miravia. Silent and stylish, as well as cheap He Dyson Cool AM07 it’s a bladeless fan which stands out for its careful design. Thanks to this, it is almost another decorative element, but not only that: it is easier to store and clean and its cylindrical shape makes finding a space where it does not get in the way much easier. That bladeless design also makes it safe for homes where there are children. Its operation prevents air shocks thanks to the Air Multiplier technologywith which the air comes out continuously and smoothly and also has a great range. But if there is another point to highlight, it is silent what is it. It is perfect to use while we sleep, and much healthier than installing the air conditioning or even portable. Offers 10 power levels and has a timer which allows us to program its shutdown between 15 minutes and 9 hours. Additionally, it comes with remote control for control, with the added bonus that it is magnetic, to leave it attached to the fan and always have it at hand. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Dyson In Xataka | Best connected fans (2026). Which one to buy and five recommended models In Xataka | Buying guide for connected fans: recommendations for choosing a “smart” model with WiFi and six models from 50 euros

Science warns of its silent and devastating impact on fertility

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When we think about the effects that tobacco has on the body, our mind quickly goes to the lung cancer or cardiovascular diseases. However, the damage goes much further and one of the key points here is in the direct impact it has on the fertility of men and women. But it not only alters conception, it alters our DNA and reduces success rates in medical treatments. In the case of women. The scientific evidence is very consistent regarding the effects of smoking on the female reproductive system, since smoking harms conception, alters ovarian follicular dynamics and makes embryo implantation difficult. In fact, a higher risk of delayed pregnancy, as well as primary and secondary infertility, is observed in women who smoke. To highlight some of these points, we must know that women smokers have up to 60% more likely of developing fertility problems. This is justified by the difficulty in forming the blood vessels that will nourish the endometrium. But in addition, it is also estimated that today 13% of infertility cases that have been reported to be related to tobacco itself. Aging. One of the most striking effects is how tobacco steps on the accelerator of ovarian aging. A study of the Women’s Health Initiative found that both active smoking and passive smoke exposure are associated with natural menopause before age 50. Specifically, menopause can be advance between 1 and 4 years in smokers or ex-smokers compared to women who have never smoked. The masculine factor. Although we can almost always blame women for reproductive problems, the reality is that the impact of tobacco on men is equally severe. Here the WHO itself point that tobacco affects fertility and sexual potency, something the CDC agrees with, pointing out that smoking damages sperm and can be one of the causes of erectile dysfunction. Because? Science has seen in these cases that smoking reduces semen volume, sperm count and also how they are moving. But in addition, smoking can negatively affect hormonal production and damage the DNA of the sperm, which makes conception less likely. In assisted reproduction. When a natural pregnancy does not occur after several months of trying, assisted reproduction techniques are used, but here tobacco can also play tricks. And we are not talking about an infallible technique, and that is why smokers face a worse prognosis in in vitro fertilization treatments. To be more specific, the figures suggest that these patients suffer pregnancy rates 30% less and they need a higher dose of medications to stimulate their ovarian reserve. Pass the generations. This is one of the most interesting discoveries that has been made in this case, since smoking not only affects those who ascend to the cigarette, but its trace can follow the offspring. For example, children of smoking mothers may suffer a reduction in sperm concentration of between 20% and 40%. And in the case of daughters there is a risk of being born with a low ovarian reserve. Images | Haim Charbit freestocks In Xataka | ‘Children of Men’ is ceasing to be a dystopia: the global sperm count has been sinking for years

why the silent user is the big winner of social networks

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A few years ago social networks were used as authentic repositories of information, with many publications throughout the day and maximum interaction. Nowadays it is not unusual to see Instagram profiles completely empty of posts and reserved only for stories or even on X people who publish absolutely nothing, but have a really old account. And it’s not that they are dead accounts, but that their owners are just “watching”. A paradigm shift. The technology industry has been selling us the need to have a presence on social networks to participate in the collective trend and with the aim of staying behind. But for science, these people who just watch without participating are actually the most intelligent and have received the name ‘lurking’. For a long time, this attitude was attributed to a lack of commitment, but the reality is that lukers We represent the vast majority of users on the Internet, who only prefer silent consumption without entering into controversies or commenting on anything at all. In this way, our opinions remain in our minds and are not materialized by putting an answer on X or a comment on YouTube on a video. Why does it happen? Here a key study from Frontier in Psychology has analyzed the psychological mechanisms behind this technological retreat and points to four critical factors: Seeing the lives of others generates pressure that inhibits the desire we may have to share our own life or our concerns. Concern for privacy, since a publication can easily be misinterpreted without context and expose itself to unnecessary controversy. The pressure to generate social interaction in the comment box of different platforms is something that can deplete our energy reserves. There is an excess of interactive stimuli that causes the brain to not be able to process more. Consumption without exposure. Not all those who remain silent do so for fear of entering into a controversy, but for many, it is a matter of efficiency. Here, according to a job from Computers in Human Behavior, the motivations for consuming content such as watching a tutorial on YouTube or reading a thread on X are totally different from those for participating. Here the user seeks mere usefulness for their daily life, making reading comments help to contextualize a news item without having to enter the mire of discussion. In this way, the user feels that they are up to date with all the news that may surround them, but without having to type a single word. The dark side. The problem is that these attitudes indicate that the level of toxicity on social networks is quite high, which is why this ‘defense mechanism’ is activated in which a user does not leave because they do not want to lose connection with the world, but they ‘turn off’ their microphone. In the end it is a selective withdrawal in which you continue to see what is happening, but the noise is not allowed to directly affect the user. Images | freepik In Xataka | Snapchat has almost 1 billion users and invented the king format of the Internet. He still doesn’t know how to make money with it

Sudden death has increased by 30% in Europe. In Spain the problem is even more serious and silent

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It arrives without warning, unexpectedly and in most cases with a fulminant cardiac origin that leaves patients on the ground in a few seconds and without the ability to respond. These are some of the characteristics that the sudden deathwhich has always been one of the biggest challenges for emergency medicine and that we must increasingly take into account because cases do not stop increasing. And especially in Spain. A new trend. A large study recently published in the journal The Lancent has put figures to this silent reality, pointing out that mortality records in the last decade have increased by 30% in Europe, and the trend in Spain exceeds the European average. How it has been seen. To understand the magnitude of this finding, we must look at the methodology that the research team has followed, which has taken as a source of data from the WHO that come from 26 European countries between 2010 and 2020. In this period, more than 53 million deaths were recorded from many different causes, and of these 2,583,559 were classified as sudden deaths. It is not a minor figure, since this means that almost 5% of the total deaths in that decade fall into this category. And if we look back, we observe an average annual increase of 2.9% in Europe, although if we focus on Spain, this increase rises to 3.3%. It’s not COVID. Seeing that the study ends in 2020 and automatically blaming Covid and the vaccines that were administered is something that may be an idea that many have in their heads, but the truth is that it has nothing to do with it, since the upward trend had already been consolidated since 2013. Which is the culprit. There are several hypotheses on the table here, one of them being the aging of the population, which is much more vulnerable to fatal cardiovascular events. But age is not the main problem, since cardiovascular risk is conferred by having a poor lifestyle that includes a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, hypertension or diabetes, which continue to be silent pandemics that prepare the ground for heart failure. It is also important to highlight that the difference between various countries depends on the effectiveness of health systems, ambulance response times and, above all, the availability of defibrillators (AED) and CPR training of the general population. The latter is something in which Spain is not as aware as in other European countries, where a good part of the population knows how to act in the event of cardiac arrest if it occurs in the middle of the street. Causes depending on age. In the case of the under 35 years oldthe cause is usually a genetic or structural failure that has not been previously detected, predominating electrical alterations of the heart such as the famous Brugada syndrome. The problem is that many times the patient does not present symptoms until the onset of sudden cardiac arrest, having already seen cases in our country in very young people who, for example, They play soccer and suddenly fall on the field. In people over 35 years of age the origin changes and here lifestyle and wear and tear prevail, with acute myocardial infarction causing the vast majority of cardiorespiratory arrests. The Spanish context. The data provided by The Lancent study fit perfectly with the demographic and health puzzle of our country, since if we go to the INE we see that heart diseases (along with oncological diseases) are responsible for half of the deaths in Spain. And although the INE points out that in 2024 deaths from circulatory diseases decreased by 2.4% globally, entities such as the Spanish Society of Epidemiology and Cardioalianza remember an uncomfortable truth: Ischemic heart diseases continue to be the leading single cause of death in Spain. How to improve. The European study does not seek to create alarmism, but rather to light an emergency beacon in terms of public health. Stopping this 30% increase does not involve a magic pill, but rather a dual approach: improving early diagnosis in young people with a family history and, above all, filling our streets with defibrillators and citizens who know how to do cardiac massage. And, in absolute terms, cardiorespiratory arrest is a time-dependent process, meaning that every minute that passes without the patient receiving assistance translates into 10% less chance for your heart to beat again. This makes in 10 minutes It is almost impossible for a patient who has suffered an arrest and who does not receive CPR to come back to life, and this should make us aware of how important it is to know the basics of CPR, since it can truly save many lives. Images | wayhomestudio on Freepik In Xataka | We thought the marathon was heartbreaking. The largest medical follow-up to date has just settled the debate

This is the silent crisis of the chip of the future

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While the world has its eyes on the race for traditional silicon and artificial intelligence, a silent crisis is brewing in the global technological bowels. The United States and Europe are investing billions to recover the sovereignty of microchips, but they have ignored a material that could put the future of robotics, defense and energy in check: gallium. Western blindness to an absolute monopoly. Gallium is not as high-profile as lithium, it is not even technically a “rare earth”—as the specialized publication China Talk—but it is of irreplaceable critical importance. While the US administration strives to shield its supply chains, Beijing has been moving its chips around the board with impeccable stealth. The data is overwhelming. China currently controls 99% of the global primary production of galliumwhile the United States stopped producing it almost four decades ago. The great particularity of this material, according to Geopolitical Monitoris that it is not extracted directly from a mine, but is a byproduct of the processing of aluminum and zinc. This makes it deeply vulnerable: its production cannot magically increase no matter how much demand rises. This dependency is not a mere theory. China has already started using this domain as a geopolitical weaponimposing export restrictions in 2023 and escalating to a complete ban on shipments to the United States at the end of 2024. From mastering the mineral to conquering the factory. The Asian giant’s strategy was not the result of chance. As pointed out China Talksince the early 2000s, China forced its aluminum producers to extract gallium, achieving self-sufficiency and global control of the raw mineral (what is known in the industry as a market upstream). But the real drama for the West is happening right now in the final products (downstream). China has given birth to the “TSMC of GaN”: Innoscience. This Suzhou-based company has burst the global market for Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductors, sinking its American rivals – such as Navitas or EPC – by offering prices up to 50% lower. Such a collapse in prices is not magic. The secret lies in a lethal combination of state financial muscle and technical audacity. As revealed China Talkin its early years Innoscience It operated with negative gross margins of 266%, supported by more than $350 million in government funds. They were willing to lose money to gain the world. Added to this is its industrial business model. While Western companies are fabless (they design the chip but pay third-party factories, such as the Taiwanese TSMC, to assemble it), Innoscience manufactures its own chips. They were the first to mass produce 200mm wafers, allowing them to get 80% more components out at a fraction of the cost. Against this backdrop, the pattern that is drawn is chilling and mirrors that of the solar panel industry: European giants such as STMicroelectronics They have ended up surrendering to the superiority of Innoscience, injecting $50 million into the Chinese firm in exchange for access to its factories. Goodbye to traditional silicon. To understand the seriousness of the issue, you have to understand why silicon is no longer enough. As they point out from AZOM, Silicon is reaching its physical limits. Gallium Nitride (GaN), on the other hand, is a “broadband” semiconductor (wide bandgap). Compared to 1.1 eV for silicon, GaN has a bandgap of 3.4 eV, allowing it to operate at much higher voltages and temperatures without melting. Translated into simpler words: GaN provides greater energy efficiencythe devices do not heat up and allow the size of the components to be drastically reduced. That’s why our mobile phone chargers are now smaller but charge the battery in minutes. Beyond a phone. Gallium Nitride is the master pillar of critical technologies: AI data centers: These chips reduce energy losses by up to 30%, something vital in the face of the devouring electrical appetite of Artificial Intelligence. Electric vehicles: They are key for on-board chargers and converters, radically improving their autonomy. Defense and Military: Advanced radars, missile systems, electronic warfare and the 5G antennas that connect us all depend on GaN. A future dictated from Suzhou. The market is about to explode. From Geopolitical Monitor projects that the sector GaN semiconductor devices It will go from generating 3.06 billion dollars in 2024 to almost 12.5 billion dollars in 2030. And the lion’s slice seems to have a Chinese name. It is a fatal mistake to think that Innoscience He wins only because he is cheap thanks to the million-dollar subsidies from his government. As clarified China Talkthe company innovates at the highest level, designing chips across the entire voltage spectrum (from 15V to 1200V). Its quality is such that it has become the only Chinese partner of American giants like NVIDIA and Google to design the 800-volt power architectures that will power the “AI factories” of the future. The forecast is dark, but there is an ace up the sleeve. If the West does not react, Innoscience will go from having a dominant position to an absolute monopoly. If a new trade war breaks out, car, robot and data center manufacturers in the US and Europe will have to ask permission from a single Chinese company to be able to turn on their machines. Despite the pessimism, the battle is not entirely lost. Western companies and governments are testing various containment strategies: The judicial trench: Companies like EPC and Infineon They have sued Innoscience in the US for patent infringement, achieving some import restrictions. However, this is just a patch; The bans usually apply to loose chips, but not to final products assembled in China, and the Asians can redesign their models to bypass the ban. The technological leap (300 mm): The great hope is in changing the rules of the game. Texas Instruments (USA) and Infineon (Germany) are leading the move to larger, 300mm GaN wafers. They have the advantage that the highly specialized machinery to manufacture them is in German and American hands, heavily protected by export controls. Furthermore, at the basic … Read more

a walk through Beijing, Ebro, Chery and the silent streets

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This is the third time in two years that I have visited China. The first time was for visit OnePlus and OPPO headquarters in Guandong. The second, for get into the kitchen at the Honor factory and headquarters in Shenzhen. Now I do it for something totally different and that’s why I would like to do something different. I tell you. On this occasion I accompanied Ebro, yes, the car company of the Chery group, to the Beijing Motor Show and the Chery headquarters in Wuhu. And I do it for a reason: cars, historically, have not been my greatest passion, but now, at almost 32 years of age and with a view to starting a family, I am thinking about changing cars and I know China has a lot to say about this.. In Córdoba, my city, everything always arrives late. I mean, relatively recently they opened the first bowling place. açaito give you an idea. That’s why I know that something is changing, because every time I take my car, a small Seat Ibiza, I see cars from brands on the road that I didn’t see two years ago: Omoda, Jaecoo, Ebro, MG and BYD, mainly. Understanding his success requires understanding the context of his native country. and, to do this, there is nothing better than coming to it and experiencing it first-hand. And that’s why I propose something to you. Ebro S900 PHEV | Image: Ebro I propose that we live this together through a kind of daily blog in which I will tell you what I have seen, what I have learned and what things have caught my attention. Not from the perspective of an engine expert, but from the curious point of view of someone who knows that A new car is part of your next stage in life and you can’t stop seeing how Chinese brands are becoming more and more popular. Together we will visit the Beijing Motor Show, we will tour the streets of the Chinese capital, we will travel to Wuhu and we will see what and how is cooked in the bowels of Chery. That’s why I think the first thing is to put ourselves in context. At the group level, Chery takes bronze in the Chinese market, only behind BYD and Geely. Only in 2025, the firm sold 2,860,393 cars exactly, which is said soon. Chery, in turn, has several brands and subsidiaries such as Chery Automobile (where we find Chery New Energy and Fulwin), Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas, Zongheng, Luxeed (along with Huawei), Exeed, Jetour, Karry, iCar, Rely, Soueast and the Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint venture. Its most famous products are, without a doubt, the Tiggo and the Arizo. Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas (arrives in Spain this year) and Exlantix (in China it is Exeed and will arrive in Spain next year) are the brands that the company uses to boost your export strategy. Ebro, for his part, It is a joint venture established in 2024 between Chery and Ebro EV. Roughly speaking, this partnership allows Chery to assemble vehicles at the former Nissan plant in Barcelona and distribute them in Spain and Portugal under the (revived) Ebro brand. It’s a little more complex, but let’s stick with that idea. Tiggo 9 | Image: Xataka Actually, Ebro cars use Omoda platforms | Jaecoo (with some adjustments, for example in the suspension) and these, in turn, are the exported versions of the Tiggo. He Omoda 9 SHS It is, clearly, a Tiggo 9. Why so much branding? Because so they can attack different market segments with specific models and strategieshas no more. It is exactly the same thing that other Chinese groups such as Geely do, which has Geely, a large part of Volvo and Polestar, almost half of Proton Holdings, Zeekr or Lynk&Co, to name just a few. Aito M7, the electric SUV owned by Huawei | Image: Xataka Having said that and having that context, the first thing that has caught my attention in the short time I have been in China is how ubiquitous local brands are. I’ve seen endless BYD, Xpeng, Leapmotor, Nio, BAIC and ArcFox. I have even had the chance to see a couple of Xiaomi SU7s. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes or Audi, because there are, but it gives me the impression that they have a more luxury component. From the models I have seen, I get the feeling that European cars still have a certain premium aroma here. Toyota, Hyundai and Honda are also relatively common, but the omnipresence of local brands is evident. One of the few Chery that we have seen in Beijing Something that stands out in Beijing, where I am right now, is that you hardly see Chery cars. There are, a priori, three reasons: Chery​ is a great exporteris a Chinese brand whose power is not in China (despite being one of the best-selling brands), but in the international market. It makes sense, since abroad there is much, much, much less competition than in the local market and, above all, in the big capitals. We are in Beijing, a Tier 1 city. There is more capital and users are looking for higher-end/premium products, which explains the greater presence of Tesla, European, electric brands such as Nio or Arcfox and, above all, BAIC (Beijing Automotive Industry Holding). BAIC is a local brand and all taxis are BAIC. Arcfox is BAIC’s premium electric range. The registration system. Buying a car in Beijing is not about going to the dealership and that’s it. To avoid pollution, the government established a points and lottery system to obtain permission to buy a car. Gasoline cars go by lottery and the chances are tiny, 0.1%. New Energy cars (electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, etc.) are on a waiting list. It is long, very long, but unlike the lottery, it is safe. If you want a car in Beijing, the easiest thing is to buy an electric one and there … Read more

We have been terrified of superbugs for decades. The real silent danger is “superfungi”

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When we talk about the antibiotic resistancemany people are already aware of the great problem that not having medications against superbacteria poses for public health, since today there are many antibiotics that have no effect on bacteria. But the WHO launch an alert very important to expand our field of vision also to the “super mushrooms“. Growing danger. If there is a protagonist in this new threat, it is Candida auris, precisely because, unlike other fungi that have been with us for centuries, this one has recently emerged as a global public health problem by causing serious infections, especially in people who are admitted to hospitals or nursing homes, who already have other associated diseases. A genomic macro-study in which the Carlos III Health Institute has participated analyzing more than 300 isolates from patients in 19 countries, has drawn the map of the evolution of this multi-resistant fungus. And the reality we face is that it is capable of spreading rapidly among fragile patients, and worst of all, it is very resistant to the anti-fungal drugs that we use on a daily basis. It is very complete. As experts point out, the enormous expansion of C. Auris is not only focused on the ability to evade the first-line antifungals that we have, but also on its ability to form biofilms on hospital surfaces or medical devices. This causes an object used by several patients to become ‘infected’ and spread the infection among them. It was suddenly. The reality is that today there are many fungi from the Candida family that coexist with us by being on our skin naturally, and without causing problems. The trigger comes when our defenses fall because we are sick, immunosuppressed due to a transplant or naturally because we are older. And this is where this fungus goes from being a being that lives with us ‘in peace’ to completely invading us and causing disease. The culprit. Paradoxically, our efforts to kill bacteria have part of the blamesince here the experts point to a structural problem of abuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics that “sweeps away” the natural bacterial flora of our body. In this way, if bacteria that colonize our digestive system are destroyed, for example, it creates free ‘holes’ that can be used by fungi without control. Added to this is a serious pharmacological problem, since right now we do not have many medications to fight fungi. And the problem is that its structure is quite similar to the surfaces of our own cells as it contains cholesterol in many cases. This means that drugs that destroy the fungus without producing a toxic effect on the patient are not very abundant. There is more. Although we focus on C. auris, there are other threats in this same kingdom, such as Scedosporium prolificansa multiresistant fungus that, through unique evasion mechanisms, causes very high mortality rates in immunosuppressed patients. The solution. Right now, science indicates that we cannot address the crisis of superfungi and superbacteria with patches, but rather we must create a unitary strategy that encompasses human, animal and ecosystem health. And right now the massive use of fungicides in agriculture causes the fungi in the environment to resist our medications that we use in the most serious patients. Images | Adrian Lange In Xataka | Faced with the need to look for weapons against superbacteria, science has opted to send viruses into space

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