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The first “social network” in history is 57,000 years old, it was made up of hunters and gatherers and served to avoid extinction

July 12, 2026 by usatoday24

The survival of prehistoric hunter-gatherers has historically been explained by two things: climate and available natural resources. And although in general terms it is true, a new study proposes that the social relations between human groups at that time were as decisive as the physical environment. The discovery. The research team focuses on small groups of hunter-gatherers who lived in the South Caucasus between 57,000 and 27,000 years ago. Apparently, these small groups traveled long distances and shared tools and techniques with other groups. Initially they thought that due to their size and distance they would live almost isolated from each other, but no. The key evidence is in obsidian objects, a volcanic rock used to make cutting tools, present in deposits located between 40 and 200 km from the quarry of origin. Why it is important. Because it forces us to rethink the classical models of human evolution that attributed the success or failure of a population almost exclusively to its capacity for climatic adaptation. Now we see that cooperation and the circulation of information was an essential survival factorwhich has implications for understand human resilience in the face of environmental change. Context. The study area is the south of the Caucasus, the natural bridge between Europe and Asia where mountains, valleys and very different climates come together in a small space, so it is a key place to understand How ancient humans moved. At the time in which the study is framed, Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted in other parts of the world and also when stone tools changed style. That is why the Caucasus is a magnificent place to verify if these changes were a sudden replacement of one population by another or there was coexistence between both cultures. In detail. Each obsidian quarry has a unique chemical composition, which allows us to determine exactly the origin of each tool located. According to the research team, the distance over which these tools are dispersed is too great for a single group to travel in search of food: the most plausible explanation is that different groups were in contact and exchanged materials. But there is another clue: the way of carving the stone is repeated in sites very far from each other, which suggests that some groups learned from others, not that they reached the same conclusion by chance. Furthermore, when dating the layers of earth from different sites, it is seen that the cultures of the Middle Paleolithic and the Upper Paleolithic coexisted for thousands of years in the same area, that is, one did not replace the other. Three powerful reasons to maintain that social networks helped these groups survive. Yes, but. The inference of “social networks” or alliances from carved stone is still an interpretation, not a direct observation: there are no written, oral or testimonial records from the Paleolithic, so any conclusion about social relations is constructed indirectly, from material patterns. In fact, the fact that obsidian travels between 40 and 200 km does not in itself prove social exchange between groups: it could also be explained by a single group with a very large territory or by reuse of tools for generations. In Xataka | A remote cave in Africa has revealed something about humans from 200,000 years ago: they already changed the clothes on their beds In Xataka | 77 skeletons, a single head: the mystery of the Slovak mass grave that torments archaeologists Cover | Gemini with AI

Alcohol has found an old ally among Generation Z, social pressure

July 8, 2026 by usatoday24

Do the young people of 2026 drink? Yes. But in a different way than those of two, three or four decades ago. falls usual consumption and the majority (57.9%) of people between 15 and 29 years old claim that they only try alcohol very sporadically or have directly banished it from their lives. However, that does not take away the other side of the coin: a considerable percentage of young people maintains the more or less frequent habit of raising a glass to their lips and, above all, remains social pressure that continues to associate partying and drunkenness. That’s at least what the latest studies reveal. Of young people and bottles. Generation Z is changing the way they relate to alcohol. The trend is not new (in Xataka we have talked other times of her), but that does not mean that it is easy to keep track of it: the change is so multifaceted, has so many chiaroscuros and above all has given rise to so many statistics, that it is difficult to summarize it with clear concepts. What is indisputable is that, beyond its socio-health dimension, the phenomenon is already influencing the way to relate of Generation Z and the alcohol industry, which faces what is likely to be your biggest challenge: how the hell to attract an audience that is increasingly less interested in the bottle. A percentage: 57.9%. The first touch that helps to understand the trend was provided a few days ago by FAD Juventud in a report about the matter. Among the many data in the document, there is one eloquent one: the majority of its interviewees were between 15 and 29 years old (57.9%) claim that they do not consume alcohol on a regular basis. In fact, the percentage is the sum of those who drink only a few times a year (22.7%), those who almost never do so (12.7%), those who have given up drinking (8.1%) and those who have never touched it (14.4%). When asking their respondents how often they try beer, wine, cocktails or any other alcoholic product, FAD researchers have also found that only 13.2% admit to doing so with a “high frequency”, which is equivalent to drinking every or almost every day. less and less present. It’s not just that most young people drink very occasionally, it’s that their relationship with the bottle is cooling. That’s what at least one other recent study on the subject suggests: the ‘Spanish Health Survey’released by Health and which, although it includes indicators for 2023, has just been published now. When analyzing the adolescent population cohort, its authors have had a surprise: a collapse in alcohol intake. If in 2006 the prevalence of habitual consumption among people aged 15 to 24 was 43.8%, in 2023 this figure had dropped to 17.9%. That is, the indicator decreased by 60% in less than 20 years. “It is the largest drop observed among all age groups,” confirm the Ministry of Health, which recalls that, in general, the prevalence during that period went from 48.8% to 31.1%. The other data: 35.6%. Fad provides a third interesting indicator. According to your latest surveyfocused on young people between 15 and 29 years old residing in Spain, 35.6% say they have reduced their alcohol consumption and 17.3% have directly decided to give up drinking permanently. It is not at all surprising if we take into account that 51.9% considers that alcohol is harmful to health and most adolescents know well what getting drunk entails. When Fad asked the young people what made them give up alcohol, 33.5% explained that “under its influence you do things that you shouldn’t” and 30.4% acknowledged that when drunk “you are more exposed to something happening to you.” Not only that. The majority of those interviewed (67.6%) boast a “fairly or very healthy” lifestyle, which among other things includes going to the gym (23.1%) or playing sports (21.6%). These are interesting percentages because, as Fad recalls, they exceed those associated with alcohol-based activities. Everything perfect, right? No. And here the nuances begin. Over the last few decades, Spain has been “significantly” changing its way of consuming alcohol. And that transformation is being especially clear among young people. That’s something that recognize even the Ministry of Health. However, it is one thing to drink less or differently and another to turn your back on drinks. In the same report in which he confirms the collapse in consumption, Fad issues a warning to sailors: “Despite this trend, alcohol is still very present in the lives of youth: six out of ten young people between 15 and 29 years old consume frequently or occasionally.” The agency has also detected another worrying trend: 20% of those who use alcohol and energy drinks acknowledge that they mix them frequently, and they know their effects on the body. Social pressure, untouchable. Curiously, despite all the changes registered in recent decades, there is something that persists: social pressure around alcohol. More than half of young people have internalized that drinking is harmful to their body, but that does not mean that the consumption of beer, wine and other spirits continues to be normalized at night. What’s more, Fad has detected “a general pressure to drink,” especially at parties. “It exists in leisure and party contexts and is related to the need to ‘be normal’, fit in, integrate into the peer group and belong to something, and has intensified at an early age,” warns the organization, which adds: “Those who do not drink say that they often have to explain themselves, justify their position. Furthermore, in some contexts it is assumed that those who do not drink ‘cut the bulls’.” “So that they leave you alone”. The Fad Juventud report is not based only on polls or statistics. Its authors have relied on discussion groups with 32 young people between 18 and 28 years old residing in Madrid. And their conclusion is clear: as paradoxical as it may sound, they drink less … Read more

ban them from social networks. Now it is a mirror for Spain

June 15, 2026 by usatoday24

After a not so long deliberation, the United Kingdom has just announce which prohibits minors under 16 years of age from accessing social networks. TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat are some of the networks that are banned for minors in a measure to tighten children’s online safety and make young people “happier.” according to Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister. This is a radical change that goes beyond child safety itself: it is a gesture of rejection of the power of large technology companies. And it is also a mirror in which France and Spain they have one eye on. “Designed to bedictative“. Last Monday, Starmer already advanced who would soon announce a ban so that younger people cannot access “harmful” social networks. In March, the Government launched a national consultation on the matter to see if they would join countries like Australia, which on December 10, 2025 became the first country to prohibit access to minors under 16 years of age to networks, which also included YouTube. “It will make our children safer, happier, and have more time and freedom to grow” – Keir Starmer A week after the notice, Starmer has reappeared to announce the measure and put forward a series of arguments that justify it. “Is there a situation in the world outside the networks where you would simply let your child pair up with a stranger, an adult stranger that you know nothing about? No, then we must take action on it,” commented the prime minister, who went on to affirm that the right choice is a complete ban on the networks. Not only networks. Thus, those under 16 will not be able to access the most well-known social networks, but they are not the only measures that Starmer has advanced. Although we will have all the details in a statement in July, the boss warns that there will be limits on the hours of use and another series of restrictions (which, again, we will learn about later). Networks like WhatsApp are left out of the list of prohibitions, where video games are not found either, but they will announce a series of measures and restrictions such as blocking conversations with strangers and live streaming. Regarding artificial intelligence, anyone under 18 years of age will not be able to legally access sexual conversations with chatbots. 90% support. As we say, after the application in Australia, other countries have been moving to see how they can limit the use of social networks among minors, with Great Britain being one of the most active. In March, a consultation began between teachers, parents and young people with a series of measures to adopt to restrict apps that, according to the Government, are designed with addictive characteristics. Reuters states that the survey received More than 116,000 responses from both parents, industry and youth and more than 83% of parents who responded stated that the risks of networking outweighed the benefits. But not only that: 90% supported the minimum age of 16 to access social networks. “This is about fighting for what we believe is right” – Keir Starmer What if Trump gets angry? In his speech, Starmer stated that the technology giants have had the opportunity to take measures to protect young people and help parents, but they have failed and that is why governments must come in to regulate. It is a direct blow to the big American technology companies and, as they point out in The Diarya journalist asked what she thinks about possible anger from Donald Trump, who has already been very vocal when a European country did something against American technology companies. Starmer’s response is that this “is about fighting for what we believe is right. I’m not going to accept that you can’t be in favor of artificial intelligence and technology and say that you want to protect our children.” The mirror of Spain. As we say, there are still details to know, such as seeing those time restrictions for other applications that have not been prohibited for minors and, also, seeing how they manage to apply the measures. But what is clear is that, if the world was already watching closely the measures taken by Australia, they will soon have the British example. Spain, France, Denmark and Poland are in that boat and Greece announced in April that it will prohibit access to networks for minors under 15 years of age starting in January 2027. A few months ago, Pedro Sánchez already detailed a package of measures that were going in this direction, drawing the ire of people like the CEO of Telegram, who broke into the mobile phones of all its users saying that Spain’s was a measure against privacy. Business for VPNs. In the background there is a very interesting conversation: whether prohibitions are useful for anything. It has happened with porn and with Australia and the United Kingdom itself with a previous measure seeing a VPN boom to bypass restrictions. Because it is difficult to put doors into the field and, although it is true that these applications have been designed with algorithms carefully controlled to retain the user, that underlying conversation is about whether what is really useful is awareness and education about the use of networks… and whether a ban will not encourage, precisely, the opposite: a greater desire to enter. But of course, there is also the fact that sexual predators They roam freely through some video gamessexualization on social networks with platforms like X and Grok giving wings to the almost unlimited creation of images and the use of images of young people by these sexual predators, who now they have more tools thanks to AI. In any case, there are many countries looking at this carefully, and if that 90% support that Starmer points out from parents corresponds to reality, it is evident that there is a desire there. Those who are not going to be so happy are the children. Image | Pexels (edited) In Xataka … Read more

While Google brags about AI, its employees do something else on an internal social network: laugh at it

June 9, 2026 by usatoday24

If there’s one company pushing AI it’s… well, apparently all of them right now. The industry has rushed into the arms of this technology and, with so much money investedthey must use it for something. Google is one of those companies and Sundar Pichai, CEO of the company, has on occasion boasted about how quickly Google itself has adopted AI and how much its engineers use the tools. The boss assures that 75% of Google’s new code It is generated by AI (these companies have an obsession with pointing out that their code is made by AI, Tell Anthropic). The point is that these engineers have an internal document in which they record their daily work with AI, but not to mark progress or benefits, but for something much more curious. Laugh at her. Google engineers making Google AI memes I am one of those who thinks that, if they take away the memes, what are we left with? I have come to have conversations directly based on memes, both established and invented, and I love that both Google engineers and I have something in common: we like crappy and classic memes. Because with generative AI you have people making these crappy memes with… AI, but the ‘sauce’ of the matter is looking for low resolution images and making a crappy edit. That’s part of the joke of the meme, and the ones from Google are great. Obviously, they have not been making them public because Google would not be very happy about it (in fact it has spoken out about it), but this matter has come to light thanks to an investigation by the media. 404 in which they have recreated some of these memes that Google employees themselves made not on any Monday, but on the most important date on the calendar for the company: I/O 2026. While Google presented those AI features that engineers had been working on for the past few months, those same engineers were sharing memes about the presentation on the aforementioned private ‘board’. These memes are ‘voted’ with a system of emojis like the classic raised thumbs. And there are not a few who enter the game. Google meme recreated by 404 Media This one is tough from the start: “I/O Announcement: New Ways to SLOP.” It’s a direct attack on the company that, these employees say, quickly received more than 100 thumbs up from other employees. Google meme recreated by 404 Media Me, working. AI Bro: “still not using AI? Why is it taking you so long? AI is magic, are you a muggle? The best AI tool has been released today” Google meme recreated by 404 Media Jetski, why did you do that stupid thing I told you not to do? Jetski: “Jetski is an internal Google tool” Google meme recreated by 404 Media Jetski has created a functional operating system on its own. Google Engineer: I doubt it Google meme recreated by 404 Media Barbie: what happiness making changes to the code with vibe coding Oppenheimer is the human who must review that code written by a machine Google meme recreated by 404 Media Companies trying to get you to use their new AI features Beyond these artisanal memes, there are two curious things. The first is that several of these engineers share that boredom with AI that is also seen in part of social networks, and it is curious that not even the people who make the tool buy the marketing discourse of those who sell that tool. The second, and getting more serious, is that there are those who want to escape the development of this technology, but doesn’t see alternatives because all the technologies they are in the same boat. There are statements like “I have no motivation and feel burned out by the constant changes, but I have no alternative” or “AI-related projects are prioritized while everything else is put on the back burner.” There are also statements that show a disconnect between internal work policies and the need to push AI development as far as possible. “We are finding that AI has relieved the pressure and bottleneck in code generation,” says another employee, “but everything else has become a bottleneck: build times, testing, the delays in human review, the comparatively slow infrastructure, and the version comparison system.” “The conclusion that many colleagues are reaching is that Google’s infrastructure and engineering culture was built to be stable and intentionally slow, but the pressures to accelerate the pace using AI are colliding with that strategy,” says another. In the end, It is logical that they are pushing this technology internally. Goal, for example, also doesputting pressure from above for employees to use it. And there are good things, but the problem is that these large companies are finding themselves in a situation in which the tools have changed a lot, as well as the tasks, but the core of the ‘bureaucracy’, so to speak, has remained the same. For example, another employee claims that he has completed many tasks quickly thanks to AI, but when the work is finished needs a human review which then takes the same time as always. That’s where the bottleneck is. What Google says Memes are funny, but Google sure wasn’t amused. Have you answered anything? Well yes. 404 includes two statements from Google. On the one hand, the first one they sent: “We encourage our engineers to rigorously test and critique our internal tools. That honest feedback loop is vital to how we build technology. AI coding models are designed to assist developers, but it’s critical that we keep humans in the process, including the oversight and expertise of our world-class engineering talent. “We continue to refine our internal tools based on employee feedback to ensure they are facilitating, not hindering, daily productivity.” Very marketing, but the curious thing is that, after 404 published the article showing the memes, andThe Google spokesperson sent another statement: “We encourage our engineers to … Read more

The Social Security reform has opened the door to working longer. Early retirement will remain half closed

May 29, 2026 by usatoday24

Social Security is pushing those who can continue working to delay their retirement as much as possible, but it resists modifying one of the most discussed rules of the system: the penalty in the pension of those who they retire earlyeven when they accumulate more than 40 years listed. The flexible retirement reform contemplated in the Royal Decree 416/2026 will come into force on August 28, launching the Government’s strategy to extend working life of workers and contain pension spending. What changes with the reform. The new flexible retirement regulation seeks to encourage more people to extend your working life as much as possible voluntarily and can make part of their pension compatible with a salary, something that current regulations did not allow. The idea is not to force anyone to continue working beyond the legal retirement age, but rather offer more incentives so that those who can and want to do so, keep working. The person who is already retired, instead of stopping working completely, can do so part-time. In exchange, they will receive a salary for their work and a supplement to the proportional part of the pension. In this way, someone retired can obtain a higher income while still active, and will receive 100% of their pension again when they stop working. That is, if someone retired receive a pension of 1,000 euros, and for working 32 hours a week (80% of a full day) they will pay you a salary of 1,000 euros, your pension will be cut in that proportion, but the sum of salary (1,000 euros) and pension (200 euros) will provide you with greater monthly income. The current regulations force you to choose between working or receiving the pension. Put obstacles to early retirement. The demographic pyramid in Spain, in which there are fewer and fewer young people to maintain the pension system and a longer life expectancy, has forced successive governments to take measures to maximize working life of employees to continue contributing. This has led to the extension of the retirement age, which has been progressively delayed since 2011 to go from 65 to 67 years in 2027. The other measure approved in the pension reform of 2024 to discourage early retirement is to apply some reducing coefficients to the retirement pension, so that the more you anticipate retirement, the less pension you receive in return. Contribute 40 years without reward. One of the problems posed by the application of reducing coefficients is that those workers who already exceed the maximum limit of years of contributions necessary to access ordinary retirement at age 65 (38 years and six months or more by 2027), will not be able to retire early. without penalizing themand end up getting paid a lower pension than other workers with fewer years of contributions. This group has already organized under the association Asjubi40 and different political groups with representation in Congress have carried out proposals to eliminate this grievance to workers with long contribution periods when they want to advance their retirements. As and how he published The Independentvoluntary early retirees bear an average reduction coefficient of 11.36% and receive an average pension of 2,002.58 euros per month, after retiring at an average age of 63 years and two months. In the case of involuntary early retirement, the average reduction rises to 18.9%, the average pension stands at 2,100.42 euros per month and the average retirement age drops to 61 years and ten months. The unaffordable cost of stopping working. The reason given by the Government for not eliminating these reducing coefficients It’s simple: removing those penalties would be expensive. The Executive estimates an additional cost of 3,358 million euros per year for Social Security if the reducing coefficients are eliminated for those who retire early after having contributed 40 years or more. Of that figure, 1,345 million would correspond to voluntary early retirement, and 2,013 million would correspond to those retired involuntarily, that is, those who have been affected by ERE, business closures, force majeure or other cases considered by the General Law of Social Security. Social Security cannot assume it. Although Spain is registering record numbers in terms of number of members. It closed 2025 with a budget deficit of 5.58 billion euros. Once again, we are facing a record to be treated of the smallest deficit of the last 14 years, as as highlighted The Confidential. But it is a deficit, after all. However, the incorporation of contributions such as the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI), has contributedIn 2026 alone, 1,162.23 million euros will be added to the Social Security Reserve Fund, which reached a total amount of 15,267 million euros last March. In Xataka | From the “Great Resignation” to the “Great Early Retirement”: the labor market loses the experience of those over 55 years of age Image | Pexels (Joaquin Carfagna)

The world wants to verify the age of children so that they do not access social networks. Children’s solution: paint a mustache

May 5, 2026 by usatoday24

The United Kingdom presume to have one of the strictest legislations in the world when it comes to protecting minors from social networks. The curious thing is that young people are managing to demonstrate that age verification technology has a unique Achilles heel: an eyebrow pencil. Look, I have a mustache. The British country has been forcing platforms to implement age verification measures in accordance with its Online Safety Act for months. However, a recent study from the NGO Internet Matters reveals that the limits imposed by these platforms are surprisingly easy to overcome. In fact, one of the methods is especially striking, because some children simply use an eyebrow pencil to paint a mustache and thus look older than they really are. Children 1 – Machines 0. This agency surveyed 1,000 children and parents in the United Kingdom and although it showed positive effects after activating these measures, it also made it clear that many children saw these systems as an easy obstacle to overcome rather than as a way to keep them safe. 46% of minors believe that the measures are easy to overcome. Only 17% believe that they are very difficult to avoid, while 19% say they do not know. Source: Internet Matters. Cheating machines is trivial. 46% of the children surveyed indicated that These age verification systems are easy to overcomeand only 17% found them difficult to avoid. There are several methods to overcome these systems, but most are simple. For example, using video game characters like ‘Death Stranding’ to show them in front of cameras trying to verify their age. Also show IDs of other people when asked, or simply use false birth dates. (At least) One in three skips the controls. But not everyone uses these methods: although the aforementioned 46% say that it is easy to overcome these systems and another 17% say that they are neither easy nor difficult, “only” 32% admit to having used some technique to overcome them. Of course, it is one thing that only 32% admit it and quite another that these figures are representative taking into account that they are confessing that they are doing something that they should not do. Methods vary, but many use fake birth dates or log in with their parents’ or siblings’ accounts. Complicit parents. The effectiveness of the Online Safety Act depends largely on the family environment, with data suggesting that at least a quarter of parents are uncooperative. The study indicates that 26% of parents have allowed their children to ignore or overcome these age verification systems, and in fact 17% admit have actively helped their children to evade these controls while 9% simply turn a blind eye. It’s not that big of a deal. Many parents justify this “help” by indicating that they understand the risks of their children accessing these platforms, but prefer to supervise the use of services such as TikTok or video games themselves. The idea: allow your children to bypass restrictions to play with friends or stream, but theoretically under your supervision. The failure of putting doors to the field. It’s not just that age verification systems are easy to overcome: The thing is that they do not eliminate risks completely either. In the Internet Matters study, almost half of the minors surveyed (49%) indicated that they had recently encountered toxic material on the Internet. This makes it clear that even children who do not try to bypass these controls still encounter inappropriate content. There are those who advocate going further and push for the end of online anonymity. Image | Jeremiah Lawrence In Xataka | The EU has just ready its app to verify age on the internet. And Ursula von der Leyen warns: “There are no more excuses”

why the silent user is the big winner of social networks

April 28, 2026 by usatoday24

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

Three months ago Australia banned social media for those under 16 years of age. It is already investigating possible breaches

April 1, 2026 by usatoday24

Just three months ago, Australia launched one of the most ambitious regulations that have been proposed so far on social networks and minors. The measure came into force on December 10, 2025 with a clear message: force platforms to prevent those under 16 years of age from having accounts and give families back part of the control over the digital lives of the youngest. From the first moment it was presented as a pioneering initiative, but something important was also assumed from the beginning: applying it was not going to be easy. The first doubts. The rule has already entered its most delicate phase, checking whether it is really being applied as planned. The eSafety regulator has opened the first formal review and has put platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube under scrutiny. The agency speaks of “significant concerns” and points to failures in control mechanisms. It also points out that current systems are not effectively preventing those below that threshold from continuing to open new accounts. How minors are sneaking in. The report goes beyond a general warning and focuses on very specific failures in the control systems. It has been detected that there are not enough safeguards to prevent users under the permitted age from creating new accounts, but also something more striking: some platforms allow the verification processes to be repeated until the user manages to pass them. Also in certain cases, these profiles are invited to demonstrate that they meet the age requirement even after having indicated that they do not, which shows inconsistencies in the application of controls. A problem that was already anticipated. The difficulties in applying the rule have not arisen now, they were already on the table from day one. When the law came into force, The Australian Government itself admitted that its implementation would not be perfect, and the first signs pointed in that direction. According to ABC, Some minors managed to bypass the verification systems with basic tricks, such as altering their appearance in facial controls. The outlet itself also warned that parents and older siblings could help some children get around the restrictions, an early sign that the challenge was not just in passing the law, but in making it really work. What is at stake for the platformss. The investigation opened by eSafety does not remain a diagnosis, it opens the door to possible sanctions if it is demonstrated that companies have not taken reasonable measures to prevent minors affected by the rule from having an account. Reuters points out that The fines can reach 49.5 million Australian dollars and affect the aforementioned services and platforms. The regulator has already begun collecting evidence and hopes to close at least part of its investigations by mid-year, which places technology companies in a scenario in which non-compliance is no longer just a reputational risk. The Spanish mirror. What is happening in Australia helps to put into context a debate that has also gained weight in Spain, although here it is at a different point. Peter Sánchez announced in February that The Government wants to prohibit access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age within a broader package of measures on age verification, traceability of hate and responsibility of technology managers. The key difference is that that ban has not come into force and is not being enforced. Still, the Australian case offers a useful reference to anticipate what kind of challenges may appear when such a measure moves from political announcement to actual implementation. Images | cottonbro studio In Xataka | “What the hell is happening with Lidl Spain?”: Germans are speechless at the chain’s comic surrealism

We thought that the great challenge of veganism was vitamin B12. A study suggests that social relationships are

March 13, 2026 by usatoday24

Whatever there is taken the step to veganismfor whatever reasons, knows that the most difficult thing is not to give up cheese or meat, but to face Christmas dinner with the family or the Sunday barbecue with friends, since food is an event with a great social component. In this way, when someone decides to radically change consumption habits in a predominantly omnivorous worldnot only changes the plate, but also social relations. Now science has determined the tactics these people develop in order to survive social frictions. The data. The study, published in September 2025is not limited to conducting a survey among vegan people to analyze the impact on their social relationships. What they did was exhaustive field work between 2017 and 2022, combining in-depth interviews, observation and netnography, which is the analysis of the behavior of online communities. where debates arise about it. The goal here was none other than to understand exactly where and how everyday interactions are “broken.” And above all how they tried to compensate in an almost innate way. Social fractures. The researchers here identified that tensions in a social relationship do not arise from a simple difference of opinion about the most ethical diet, but from what they have called “relational fractures”, which are divided into three very clear areas: Co-execution: The simple act of cooking with another person, such as a partner, or sharing a meal becomes logistically complex. What was once a fluid ritual now requires planning, separate pans, and constant negotiation to arrive at a common dish. Co-learning: Family traditions, like inheriting grandma’s secret meatball recipe, are short-circuited. This means that the exchange of culinary knowledge between omnivores and vegans often comes to a standstill. Activities that may be everyday activities, such as going shopping or choosing a restaurant with other people, become logistical minefields where one has to balance one’s ethical needs with the preferences of others to choose, for example, a restaurant with a menu that suits everyone. Survival kit. So, if relationships fracture, how do vegans avoid becoming isolated? The researchers here discovered that, to maintain social peace and navigate these turbulent waters, vegans develop four specific “relational competencies” that sometimes appear without them realizing it, which we see below. Decoding. This is the ability to “analyze,” meaning vegans learn to anticipate how others will react to their diet and evaluate whether the environment is safe, hostile, or simply curious. Depending on the impression you have, your behavior will adapt to the environment by being more or less open with the topic. Disengagement. The second pillar is to deliberately separate food from social interaction, as it means that one will eat their vegan plate while another eats animal products, prioritizing company and conversation over dietary friction. Chameleon effect. The third adaptation consists of integrating so as not to attract attention in the group. This may mean, for example, bringing food from home to a social gathering or ordering a basic salad at a steakhouse without comment, all to prevent veganism from becoming the central topic of conversation of the evening. Abandonment. The last adaptation that has been detected in some vegans is where they directly give up different shared plans, such as stopping going to certain restaurants or social events. Even, in extreme cases, a distancing has been detected in an interpersonal relationship, since it becomes toxic due to the tensions that are generated. It is not born from nothing. One of the researchers has been exploring “morality in markets” for years and this led her to talk about indigenous and animal consumption practices. In this way, veganism is something that has been scrutinized for a long time in different studiessince it is not just about choosing what to eat, but it is an ethical stance that the omnivorous environment often perceives as a challenge to its own social and cultural customs. The big conclusion that can be drawn from all this is that the transition to a plant-based diet does not only require learning to read nutritional labels or discovering new recipes, but also requires a profound social and emotional re-education.. The long-term success of a vegan lifestyle depends as much on resilience at the supermarket as it does diplomacy at the dining table. Images | Anna Pelzer Xataka | Protein powder has become the star accessory of modern wellness. Nutritionists have something to say

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