starting

Artists are starting to ask their fans not to poop at concerts, even if they lose their place

by

Olivia Rodrigo has confessed that she recognizes her most devoted fans by smell. They are the ones who poop in the front rows, unable to stop looking at it even for a moment. Behind the eschatological joke there is a somewhat more controversial fact (if possible): the front row at concerts is currently so expensive that many fans are not willing to lose their place for a squeeze. The fans have greater strengths. At KISS Breakfastthe morning show on the British station KISS FM, the hosts asked Olivia Rodrigo about the most uncomfortable place she had ever had to go to the bathroom. The singer redirected the answer: has been to concerts and festivals where people wear diapers to stand in the front row, not move and do their business on siteand he noticed that closeness firsthand. “I’ve smelled it,” he said. It’s not the first. Other artists that make you want to. The first time he noticed the problem was at his concert in Hyde Park in June 2025: it is a venue that prohibits leaving and re-entering once the entrance has been scanned. There he read a fan’s poster announcing that I wore diapers to last in the front row. She is not the first artist: years before, in 2023, during Taylor Swift’s Eras Toura wave of fans was detected showing off their diapers so as not to miss a single minute of the more than three-hour repertoire. ‘Glossy’ magazine documented how content creators taught how to put them under their dresses and recommended the most discreet diaper brands. Part of the problem. The question is funny, but there is an aspect of this story that is not so funny. Rodrigo kicks off The Unraveled Tour in Hartford (Connecticut) next September, a tour of 86 dates around the world. Prices already confirmed by Ticketmaster range from $83.40 to $799.50. General court access is around $250 and VIP early entry packages to the pit will be between $540 and $554. With these amounts, it is normal that if a fan is willing to wait up to ten hours in line to get a good spot, they are also more than willing to piss themselves. The image of the hysterical fans who can’t hold their pee is replaced by a sadder one: the design of the venue penalizes going to the bathroom, and the fans have to manage as best they can. We can discuss whether there are artists who really deserve all this ordeal, but the point is that live prices are not going to go down, and as we have seen in phenomena like Bad Bunnyconcerts are the new place where you have to be. With or without diapers. They all smell. Rodrigo is not the only one who has suffered from the issue in recent weeks. At a concert by folk singer-songwriter Noah Kahan in Philadelphia on June 26, someone didn’t even put on a diaper: defecated directly next to the seats. Kahan approached him the next day at Days later, in Toronto, he had the public recite an oath: upon entering the premises you sign a social contract by which you should not do belly on the floor. The size of the artist (and the age of the audience) who goes to see Rodrigo or Taylor Swift and who goes to see Kahan is different, so perhaps the proximity in time of this eschatological drift of the concerts may be coincidental. But of course, it articulates a story about how concerts have become luxurious and very expensive prisons that restrict us from the most basic needs. Of course, it opens the door to highly expressive means of claiming for crowding and delays. Header | NRK P3 In Xataka | In 1966, a professor traveled to Cartagena to meet John Lennon. And thanks to him Spain began to learn English

Spain has 15 million pets that cannot set foot on a good part of its beaches. That’s something that’s starting to change.

by

It comes with going to a park or taking a walk through any city in the country, but in case there were still any doubts, the Government recently provided definitive proof that Spain is a land of pets. The first official census has counted neither more nor less than 15.2 millionof which 7.6 are dogs. With such figures it is better understood that, as summer approaches, more and more people are asking themselves a question: Can we go to the beach with our four-legged friends? The answer is: it depends. Reviewing the figures. We mentioned it before: in Spain there are many (many) pets. It is something that we intuited thanks to the censuses carried out by feed manufacturers, companies dedicated to the care of pets or the Companion Animal Identification Network (REIAC), but which has been confirmed by the first official study of the State. It details that in Spain there are 15,171,569 pets, of which 7,562,893 are dogs. They represent, respectively, 14.1 and 9.6% more than in 2021. Beyond the raw data, the census confirm that in Spain there are now more pets than people under 30 years of age or who live in the country almost double of dogs than small children. Hence the pet economy this awakening the appetite of more and more companies (from feed manufacturers to insurance companies and venture capital) or that, when planning their summer vacations, they have already many families looking for accommodation (or even destinations) pet friendly. To the beach with the dog. Proof of this enormous interest is that every year the blogs specialized in pets (and also some other generalist) publish maps and online guides to dog-friendly beaches during the bathing season, which usually runs from June to September. Their ‘photograph’ does not always coincide, but usually includes more than a hundred sandy beaches. Some place the total count around 130 beaches. Others raise it to more than 150. That disparity is not surprising because the list can change from one year to the next and not all sandy beaches that accept dogs do so in the same way. Fine spinning. Last year, in fact, RTVE published a map in which he differentiated between three main types of beach, depending on the freedom that the dogs had on each one. The most comfortable for pets would be the ‘complete’ beaches, those to which they can freely access all year round. In second place would be the ‘partial’ sandbanks, which tolerate pets, although with small print. For example, the presence of dogs can be restricted to only a defined stretch or a certain time slot, such as at night, when the number of bathers is reduced on the beaches. Finally there would be what RTVE calls ‘nearby’ beachesstretches of coast close to urban areas in which access is allowed in at least part of the sandy area. Why so much complication? Basically, because the Coastal Lawthe framework standard that regulates the maritime-terrestrial public domain, leaves a wide gap that have been covered by the regional and local administrations. And that challenge has not been faced in the same way everywhere. What’s more, sometimes the topic has generated intense social, political and institutional debates. One of the latest examples has been left by Gijón on account of his new ordinance municipal on animal welfare: in March, during the allegations phase, the Principality he was reluctant to the presence of dogs on the city’s beaches, although later nuanced that the decision depends on the City Council. From the beaches to Change.org. Another interesting case is found in A Coruña, where it has been activated a collection of signatures in Change so that the Consistory allows dogs on the beaches in summer in night timefrom 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. Right now the local ordinance prohibits pets on beaches between June 1 and September 30, with the only exception of the Bens sandy area, which is considered a “dog beach”. Along the Spanish coast there are many more With these characteristics, which are added to other sandy areas where dogs are allowed during the summer, although at night. One figure, two conclusions. let there be between 100 and 150 beaches that can be considered (to a greater or lesser extent) dog-friendly) leaves several conclusions. The first, as recently reported on the Sr.Perro blog, is that the number of sandy areas in which there is a clear regulation that allows enjoyment with dogs is very small. In general, it is estimated that Spain has somewhat more 3,500 beaches. That the proportion is so low is explained, in part, by the requirements that all those sandy areas must comply with opt for the badge of ‘Blue Flag’. The “Guide to Blue Flag criteria” of 2025 states that “the prohibition of domestic animals on the beach must cover the entire area of ​​the candidate beach, including the bathing area.” “Local regulations must prohibit the presence of domestic animals on the beach during bathing season, even outside bathing hours,” the document insistswhich cites WHO studies on “microbiological risks” associated with the presence of excrement on beaches. Gaining weight (little by little). That is the second conclusion that the sandbank map leaves. dog-friendly. Although they remain a minority, some sources they specify that their number has been increasing due to the increase in the pet census and citizen pressure, which sometimes results in campaigns like the one activated this year (also in 2025) in A Coruña. A quick check on Google shows that Sanlucar de Barrameda, Marin, Vila-seca, Cadiz, Punta Umbria either Almeriaamong other populations, have taken steps in recent years (or months) to make it easier for people to enjoy the places of a dip. Image | Nathalie Anfuso (Unsplash) In Xataka | Your cat asks you to cuddle and then bites you. It’s not evil, it’s that you don’t understand its signs

AI is going to generate unprecedented wealth. The question everyone is starting to ask is who is going to stay with her?

by

There is a hot debate surrounding the profitability of AI. For now, the wild investment in data centers It is not contributing at all to the growth of the US economybut there are those who believe that AI is already generating wealth, The problem is that we still don’t know how to calculate it.. Meanwhile, a crucial question is emerging in all of this: If AI ends up being the goose that lays the golden eggs, is it fair for companies to keep it all? Give back to the people. A few days ago, Donald Trump made a comment that went somewhat unnoticed, but is very relevant. During a conversation with reporters in the Oval Office, he said he hopes AI companies will “give something back to the public,” that is, to share the wealth they are generating. His exact words, according to Reuterswere: “I’m going to meet very soon with the 12 or 15 most important executives, and we are talking about giving something back to the public, and if we do that, the public will be very rich (…) I think they will do it, and I think that will make it very popular.” Why is it important. That the president of the United States mentions the possibility of sharing the wealth that AI is going to generate is a way of admitting what we have been observing for a long time: AI is reconfiguring the labor market and that for many people that means being fired. Of course, Reuters contacted OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic and Google to evaluate the president’s statements and none of them did so. Yes, but. These statements They arise in a context in which the popularity of AI among citizens is at a minimum, so it may be a way to appease the growing rejection in American society. According to a Reuters and Ipsos poll53% of citizens fear that AI will leave them or someone in their household without a job. Additionally, 73% were concerned about the increase in the use of AI. A public fund. It is one of the options that are circulating and that OpenAI itself recently proposed. The logic is that, since AI is going to generate a lot of wealth, the state buys shares and then distributes the profits among the population. That is, the state becomes a partner in AI and shares the return on that investment, like Norway’s sovereign fund with oil, but with AI as a resource. The other option would be to impose a tax on company profits, but for whatever reason they do not defend this idea as much. Qmaybe it’s not enough. The most apocalyptic scenarios They point to a future in which AI does all the office work. In one opinion column in Financial TimesVinod Koshla, founder of a venture capital firm, anticipates that AI will do around 80% of the economically valuable work that humans do today, causing massive unemployment. In this scenario, a sovereign wealth fund may not be enough, so it proposes several changes, such as equalizing capital gains taxes with wages, and creating a 20% “token” tax from 2030 on income derived from AI computing and replacing human payrolls with automated systems. This collection would first go to cover unemployment for those who lose their jobs and, if the bet on AI goes well, it could then be used to lower the cost of basic services that can be automated (healthcare, personalized tutors or legal assistance) so that they stop being a luxury linked to income. Image | Igor Omilaev in Unsplashedited In Xataka | The future of geopolitics is played in AI models: Claude Fable 5’s veto indicates that Europe is offside

We believed that a master’s degree was a guarantee of finding a job. It’s starting to be of exactly no use.

by

When you have higher education and can’t find a job or want to advance, historically a good idea has always been to go back to school. Getting a master’s degree was an almost safe investment in the face of uncertainty because it allowed you to specialize and find a better job. However, if we talk about master’s degrees, that reality is no longer true. More specifically, general master’s degrees. Because while doctorates or qualifying master’s degrees do work, general master’s degrees suffer an alarming devaluation in the market: according to a study by the Burning Glass Institute with data from the Bureau of Employment Statistics (BLS) of which echoesThe Wall Street Journalthe unemployment rate in the United States among those under 35 years of age with a master’s degree is at one of its highest levels in the last 20 years. Master’s degrees are worth less and less. What the Burning Glass analysis says is that those who have a master’s degree under 35 years of age are in the 77th percentile of unemployment when the normal is the 50th percentile. In fact, they are behind those with less education. Of course, we are talking about general master’s degrees, not qualifying ones. Furthermore, this phenomenon does not occur among those who have a doctorate. Gad Levanon, chief economist at the Burning Glass Institute, sums it up appealing to the law of supply and demand: “there are more titles competing for fewer positions than those titles were designed to unlock.” In short: once a master’s degree was a sign of distinction, but when everyone has it, it no longer makes a difference. Why is it important. Beyond statistical curiosity, it is a question of time, money and expectations. Making an effort to pay for a master’s degree thinking that it is an investment with a quick return and when it is not is frustrating. Plus, a 2025 Indeed survey collect that more than a third of graduates consider that their university degree was a waste of money or time and that they could do the same without it. In the case of generation Z, the percentage rises to 51%. The boom in master’s degrees has also reached human resources departments: the Society for Human Resource Management warns that more and more companies are replacing degree requirements with practical skills criteria. This represents a gap between young people who accumulate theoretical degrees and human resources offices, which are looking for talent prioritizing, not the paper that proves that you studied it. Context. The market for people with a master’s degree is saturated simply because there are too many master’s degrees: hyper-specific, online and blended, express… because non-qualifying higher education is a most lucrative business. In the United States between 2005 and 2021, the master’s degree offer grew by 69% to exceed 33,500 according to the Postsecondary Education and Economics Research Center. In Spain, more of the same: “The Spanish university in figures” collect that the offer of master’s degrees in Spain has skyrocketed by 54% since the implementation of the Bologna Plan, going from 2,626 to more than 4,000 official degrees. This boom has been driven exponentially by private universities, with enrollment growth of 250% more. Meanwhile, two things happened that helped this perfect storm: according to Lightcast data analyzed by the Wall Street Journal, the percentage of job offers that require a university degree fell to 17.8% in 2024 compared to 20.4% five years ago, a trend that already affects 87% of sectors. The second big problem of young graduates is called AI: while HR looks for decisive people, companies are betting on artificial intelligence for those junior positions essential to gain experience. In Spain they work, but with small print. The CYD 2024 report points out that in 2023 Spain reached the highest overqualification rate in the entire European Union: 35.8% of higher graduates between 20 and 64 years old work in low-skilled positions, compared to the 21.9% average in the EU. That is to say, it is not that these master’s degrees do not help you find a job, it is that they help you find a job below what they promise. Yes, but. Practical skills may be emerging as an important requirement for employability, but theory is one thing and practice another: although 85% of companies say they hire based on skills, when it comes down to it, only 1 in every 700 actual hires meets that criterion. according to a report joint Burning Glass Institute and Harvard Business School. On the other hand, there are master’s degrees and master’s degrees: we have already seen that the qualifications continue to work and there are also subjects with high demand that make them potentially attractive. In Xataka | If the question is “how can I earn more money throughout my life,” the answer is simple: by going to college In Xataka | The most in-demand master’s degrees right now in Spain: a volume of enrollees that continues to grow every year Cover | Irene Vega

In Aragon, farms are starting to do something with their slurry ponds: cover them with solar panels

by

only in Aragon there is more than 4,000 farms of pigs, farms from which every year thousands and thousands of tons of meat that later is marketed in the rest of the world. In the pigsties where the cattle are raised, however, something else is generated: an enormous amount of slurry that represents a real challenge environmental. At the end of the day, these wastes end up stored in ponds that emit harmful gasessuch as methane, ammonia or nitrous oxide. In Aragon they have had an idea: cover them with solar panels. From farms and slurry. Spain is one of the big producers of pork in the European Union, something that is possible thanks to a vast network made up of thousands of farms. The problem is that not only cattle come out of them. The industry generates millions of tons of slurry, a manure that can be used as fertilizerbut whose management poses some challenges. Although the composition varies depending on its source, farm manure generally generates greenhouse gases and pollutants, including methane and ammonia. It is not a minor issue if we take into account that some calculations They estimate that the Spanish pig sector produces just over 60 million tons of slurry each year. A challenge, an opportunity. Manure management takes time under the magnifying glass of the environmentalists and is regulated in the lawwhich includes measures such as cover at least part of the ponds or the use of systems that reduce their emissions. With this backdrop, a few years ago a consortium formed by the Aragonese firm Intergia Energía Sostenible and two other entities became a question: What if necessity were made a virtue and the space occupied by the slurry ponds was used to generate energy? What if, at the same time that manure deposits are covered to reduce their emissions, photovoltaics could be expanded? A “win-win”. The result was a project developed between 2020 and 2023 which, with the support of the European EAFRD fund and the Government of Aragon, dedicated itself to investigating this path. His idea was very simple: cover the slurry ponds with floating solar panels to achieve a win-win manual. Polluting emissions remain at the levels established by regulations and, at the same time, the farms improve the performance of their ponds, converting them into sources of solar energy production. Instead of covering rooftops or acres of fields with solar panels, they are deployed directly over manure deposits. Rethinking floating systems. From Intergia they explain that the project developed between 2020 and 2023 let some interesting lessons. For example, the ammonia in slurry ends up oxidizing and degrading some elements of photovoltaic installations. Specifically, certain parts of the module fastening system and wiring. Now the company wanted to go one step further and open the way. “While floating photovoltaics are already widely used in bodies of water, such as irrigation ponds or lakes, their use in other liquid bodies is in the study phase,” claims. Hence, the firm (along with other allies, such as the University of Zaragoza) is promoted Fotopura project that wants to help the pork sector reduce its emissions while generating energy. One project, two bets. To move in this direction, the company has set up two facilities pilot with which he hopes to learn more about the potential of photovoltaic panels to cover slurry ponds. In fact, both are designed to “maximize” reducing polluting emissions and resisting ammonia corrosion, although they differ in a key aspect: one of them uses standard commercial parts, designed for floating photovoltaics; the other has been designed specifically for ponds in which livestock manure is stored. A Zamora farm. That is the place where Fotopur has assembled its first prototype. In November They installed their photovoltaic cover on an 880 m2 slurry pond located on a breeding farm in Calzada de Tera, Zamora. To be more precise, Intergia deployed a 13.5 x 25 m floating platform with 56 panels and a peak power of 33.04 kWp. In total, the entire installation covers 90% of the pond and those responsible hope that it will help cover up to 22% of the farm’s electricity bill. The interesting thing is its components. The company used a commercial floating photovoltaic system used in water ponds. That is, it was not created specifically for slurry ponds. What Intergia and the rest of Fotopur’s partners have done is apply small changes. For example, to avoid corrosion, they replaced the steel parts that came from the factory with aluminum and stainless steel parts. To reduce friction they also incorporated a plastic sheet. …And a Zaragoza farm. He another prototype It was assembled weeks later at a bait farm in Tauste, in Zaragoza, and unlike the Castilla y León version, it was designed specifically for use in slurry ponds. For example, its creators devised a system that “minimizes the air-slurry contact surface between the floating elements and that will facilitate the support of the photovoltaic panels.” Another of the tasks they have had to face is “design a specific structure”formed by a matrix of anodized aluminum beams anchored to the platform and with brackets that allow the panels to have an inclination of 15º. In total they house 16 panels with a power of 9.44 kWp. The screws are made of aluminum and stainless steel to prevent corrosion. If its authors’ plans are fulfilled, the floating platform will “effectively” cover 10% of the pond’s surface and its photovoltaic production will reach 15.2 Mwh/year, enough to cover up to 53% of the farm’s electrical demand. That plus, claims Intergiawill allow the Aragonese exploitation to reduce its fuel consumption, “expensive and polluting.” And now what? With its prototypes Fotopur aims to continue advancing on the path that was already opened in 2020, solve the problems that were identified then and demonstrate the advantages of covering the slurry ponds with solar panels. Now, once the Zamora and Zaragoza facilities have been set up, the experts will dedicate themselves to controlling … Read more

cars will beep (even) more starting in July

by

For two years, since June 2024, all new cars have been beeping. They whistle a lot. It is the first disappointment that every driver experiences when they put aside their old car and decide to buy a new one. In Spain, where The average age of the vehicle fleet is 14.6 yearsbuying a new car is the closest thing to experiencing the jump into a black hole and moving into the future. And those who have had the opportunity to brand new car approved from 2022 or purchased as new from 2024 will have experienced that irritable feeling of checking that your new car beeps every now and then. The most obvious thing is with the intelligent speed assistant which, as I commented in this articleit can turn into hell. Now, starting July 7, 2026, every new car must have new driving assistance… or surveillance systems. Driver monitoring will be more proactive to alert the driver in case of distractions so that he can correct his behavior and thus avoid an accident. More surveillance, more beeps To understand all this, you have to go back a little before 2020. Then the European Union approved a project called Vision Zero with which we want to reduce by 50% the road fatalities registered between 2020 and 2030 with those who died between 2010 and 2020. The ultimate objective is to reach zero deaths in 2050. To carry out this ambitious aimthe European Union carried out the obligation to implement a series of safety systems with the aim of reducing accidents. This project has three phases, of which the first came with a huge battery of new systems. As stated in the Regulation (EU) 2019/2144From July 2022, all new cars approved they have to be equipped, among otherswith systems like smart speed assistantemergency braking or the reversing camera. And with the driver fatigue and distraction assistant. In the second phase, it was contemplated that from 2024 every new car had to be sold with the previous equipment, regardless of when the car had been approved. That is, if you buy a car right now, it will have to have these systems. And starting on July 6, 2026, the next phase begins. From the next day, every new registered car must have an even more advanced system to monitor driver distractions and fatigue. Yes, indeed, we are facing an advance of what is already known. What was mandatory until now was the system known as Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning o Drowsiness and Attention Assistant (DDAW) and from now on cars will have to have the new Advanced Driver Distraction Warning o Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW). What changes? The first system is more passive than active. The one known as DDAW which is mandatory at this time, analyzes whether or not the driver keeps his eyes on the road and warns when this does not happen. However, it bases its operation on small movements on the steering wheel and general control of the vehicle but, by itself, it is not clear whether we are looking at the mobile phone or simply looking at the rearview mirror repeatedly because we are going to merge onto a highway. The new ADDW system, as explained by our colleagues from Motorpassionis more proactive and it does monitor the movement of our eyes and head but it also has three areas mapped. If our eyes are distracted by something that has happened in a space where it is impossible to keep our attention on the road, such as the roof, the system will alert us. If, on the other hand, the system detects that we are looking at a window or at the central area, where the screen is located, it will allow a few seconds to pass. If the driver keeps his eyes on one of these spaces, the car will begin to beep and send sound and tactile signals (such as the vibration of the steering wheel). The system will activate automatically after six seconds as long as we move between 20 and 50 km/h. Once this threshold is exceeded, the warning will arrive after just 3.5 seconds. He problem with this type of assistants is that sometimes they are much more intrusive than we would like as drivers. We already commented in Xataka that if not well implemented, the speed assistant that works with sign recognition can be all hell. Especially in the city, where the streets constantly change boundaries, the warnings can become desperate. In our experience, the same thing can happen with fatigue detection assistants. If you bought a car after 2022, you may have noticed that your car may beep when, as we said, you are simply checking the rearview mirror to enter a very congested road. The objective of this new system is to be more careful and not fall into these false positives. However, some studies assure that this extensive security package can be too overwhelming for older drivers (who would also benefit the most) and? many others disconnect them Tired of the constant beeping. Some of them, such as speed assistant or distraction monitoring, They are activated with each new ignition and it is mandatory to move between the menus to disconnect them in the vast majority of cars. In addition, this decision by the European Union has also garnered some criticism for increasing the price of vehicles. Especially Daciawhich was the queen of offering the most basic car possible on the market, has complained bitterly about this but what cannot be denied is that part of the increase in car prices comes hand in hand with these new mandatory security improvements. Photo | Xataka and Mazda In Xataka | The industry has been filling cars with complex safety systems for years. The only problem is that we don’t use them

Science explains why you leave the gym a month after starting

by

The beginning of the year arrives, the gym fee is paid and you leave with great motivation religiously for several weeks. But a day appears where you can’t go due to overwork and, suddenly, you don’t play sports again for months. This is a description of what happens to many people, and although it is easy to blame a lack of discipline, the truth is that psychology points to the goals we set for ourselves. The culprits. As reported by El País, when we face To a new exercise routine, we set goals that are as rigid as if it were a new company we are creating. And this is a mistake, as a study published this year points out, showing that excessively rigid exercise plans encourage an “all or nothing” mentality. This means that if the goal is to “go to the gym 4 days a week for 1 hour” and one week you can only go two days for 20 minutes, the brain processes it as a total failure, which triggers dropout rates. But also, if they are very ambitious, great frustration can arise when you are not seeing the result because of how far away it is. The goals. We usually start the sport with a result in mind which can be “lose five kilos” or “get some good abs to go to the beach to show them off”, but science suggests that this is the wrong approach to adhering to this exercise plan in the long term. The evidence suggests that focusing on the process, such as proposing that tomorrow you will do a little more exercise than today, improves motivation. This is supported by self-determination theory, which shows that when exercise is associated with daily enjoyment and well-being, rather than achieving a number on a scale, it is maintained for longer. Flexibility. One of the great fitness myths is that you must reorganize your entire existence around your training routine to achieve results, and this can suffocate anyone. Here the science point because the goals must be individual and above all flexible in the event of an unforeseen work or social event, since sport can be seen as a real inconvenience. Autonomy. When exercise is perceived as a punishment or a medical obligation imposed to improve health, it has an expiration date that is very close. Here interventions reviewed by Infocop and publications of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (SEMFYC) they insist in the need for progressive adaptation and, above all, giving positive feedback. The WHO itself, in its guidelines on physical activityemphasizes that health promotion should not be obsessed with the “optimal goal” and maximum performance, but with the creation of a sustainable habit that focuses on doing a little exercise so as not to be sedentary. Because the reality is that with a small amount of exercise time, The benefits achieved are incredible. Rescheduling goals. In summary of all this, we must keep in mind that we must avoid strict numbers at the beginning, such as ‘lose 10 kilos in two months no matter what’, and above all be compassionate towards failure, since a day without training does not ruin progress. In addition, we must opt ​​for activities that really motivate us and not the exercises that appear on TikTok and that are fashionable. Images | freepik In Xataka | We have been debating for years whether we should exercise at night or in the morning. The answer is in our DNA

The oceans are smoking and the bad news is that that phrase is starting to stop being a metaphor

by

Global sea surface temperature is once again approaching 2024 records, Arctic ice marks its historic winter minimum and the average temperature is 1.43 degrees above pre-industrial levels. What’s more, the Earth’s energy imbalance has reached its highest level in 65 years. And all of this without El Niño being active. So I have to correct myself: what is happening is not that the sea is smoking. That’s a huge understatement. What happens is that the oceans have gone up a notch and we are completely caught out of the game. What is happening? According to Copernicus dataIn March, the global average temperature was 13.94 degrees. That is 0.53 above the 1991-2020 average and 1.48 above the pre-industrial temperature. It’s not the warmest March on record, but it’s close. In contrast, February 2026 was one of the three coldest in the last 14 years. And it’s curious because, anyway, we are in ENSO-Neutral conditions. The 2024 record was reached with El Niño pumping heat from the Pacific; Now we are in the most absolute normality. That does have experts from half the world worried. And the sea? In the sea things are more complicated because the surface temperature is very close to lrecord ace of 2024. Furthermore, it is not a question of a specific rebound: it is the result of a sustained rise throughout the entire month of March. There are specific areas (subtropical and northeastern North Atlantic, North and South Pacific) that are already at record values; The big question is what will happen at the end of the year and, above all, at the beginning of the year when El Niño is at its highest peak of intensity. Well, but this doesn’t affect us much, right? It depends on what we mean by ‘affect’, of course. What there is no doubt is that, despite the fact that temperatures are rising around the world, the Mediterranean has become the great laboratory for all detected and undetected climate risks. After all, Mare Nostrum heats up to 20% faster than the global average. And that has clear and direct consequences for water: from the mass extinction of vertebrates to the decline of grasslands to an enormous mortality of fish. Is a sea dying little by little; a sea that drags us with it: because the heat of the Mediterranean injects more water vapor and fuels extreme precipitation phenomena. The DANA of Valencia It’s a reminder of all this.. That is, the scenario is known. What remains is to see what we do to prepare for it. Images | BenBaso | Xataka In Xataka | Something strange has happened in the stratospheric polar vortex. And it is a hint of the winter that awaits Spain

We have been searching for a cure for HIV for decades. The tenth cured patient in the world gives us a starting point

by

Receiving an HIV diagnosis several decades ago was practically a death sentence for many patients who saw that there was no possible treatment to eradicate this virus and that sooner or later would develop the disease. But little by little, treatments for prophylaxisof attenuation, reaching an undetectable viral load, and now we are seeing the first cases of complete eradication. There are several cases. We are facing a new historical milestone in medicine, and it is no wonder, since an international consortium of researchers has documented the tenth case in the world of a person who has managed to be cured of HIV, or rather, who has managed to eliminate the virus from their body so as not to develop the disease. The latter is known as the ‘Oslo patient’. A 62-year-old man who has not taken antiretroviral treatment for four years and has no trace of the virus, which has led to a published article in Nature where a great research process is recounted, something that has been possible thanks to the work of the international consortium IciStem 2.0, led by the Oslo University Hospital and with a fundamental participation of Spanish science through the center IrsiCaixa. His story. The clinical history of the ‘Oslo patient’ follows a pattern that is increasingly familiar to scientists, similar to that of the famous ‘Berlin patient’ in 2009. Diagnosed with HIV at the age of 44, the patient developed severe hematological cancer in 2020, for which he had to receive a stem cell transplant with the aim of regaining normal blood cell genesis. But here the key to success was that the donor of these stem cells was his own brother, who had a rare and coveted genetic alteration known as the CCR5-delta32 mutation. Because. When we see the term ‘mutation’ we automatically go to the negative meaning and all the diseases that having a mutation in the DNA can cause. But the reality here is that the CCR5-delta32 mutation acts as a cellular “shield” by modifying the receptors of a type of defense cell, T lymphocytes, so that HIV be unable to anchor to them and infect them causing its destruction. In this way, by replacing the patient’s immune system with his brother’s cells, doctors not only treated the cancer, but “rebooted” their defenses, making them immune to the virus. From here, HIV could not access its defensive cells, which is the mechanism it uses to become chronic and become ‘undetectable’ to the immune system. What happened next? As the researchers report, two years after performing the transplant, the medical team decided to withdraw antiretroviral therapy under strict monitoring, since it is a truly critical moment for patients. From here, and several analyzes later, it was seen that there was no sign that the virus was multiplying again. In the end, viral DNA was not detected either in peripheral blood tests or in biopsies of intestinal tissue, which usually acts as a “reservoir” where the virus hides. And this is where the Spanish group, through IrsiCaixa, has had a lot to say, since its research teams are currently monitoring 40 participants in similar conditions. What does it mean? Although it seems that we have achieved the definitive cure, the reality is that this is not the case. Right now we must understand that hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a very high-risk and extremely clinically aggressive procedure that initially leaves the patient without any defenses and then they trust that the transplant will work and they will not reject it. All of this makes its mortality rate very high, so it is only ethically and medically justified in patients suffering from a potentially fatal blood cancer, not as a standard therapy for people living with HIV, who today can lead a normal and healthy life thanks to daily antiretroviral treatments. It’s the way. Although it is not the definitive therapy, it does open the way to developing genetic therapies such as CRISPR or cellular treatments such as therapies CAR-T that manage to imitate this immunity in the patient’s own body in a safe, scalable way and without the need to undergo a transplant from an external donor. Although to get here there is still a long way to go for science. Images | National Institute of Allergy In Xataka | The HIV epidemic never left Africa. Now a new treatment wants to make a difference

Europe has grown tired of being NASA’s “supporting actor.” And that is why it is starting to work with China

by

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have teamed up to launch an ambitious mission, aimed at studying the mechanisms used by the Earth to protect itself from solar inclement weather. The SMILE mission was scheduled to launch this April 9, but a small technical problem has forced it to be postponed until a date that is still unclear. In any case, it is just a small stone on the road for a mission that reinforces Europe’s intention to join forces with the Today it is considered the direct competition of NASA on many space issues. Given the ups and downs that the United States faces in scientific matters, it could be an interesting idea. The terrestrial sunscreen under a magnifying glass. The SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) mission has four instruments aimed at analyzing the interaction of solar winds with the magnetosphere that acts as the Earth’s shield. It is a necessary mission for many reasons. On the one hand, because many of the mechanisms used by the Earth to protect itself from solar radiation remain partly a mystery. And, on the other hand, because data analysis could help predict solar storms more accurately. Currently it is possible to know with high probability whether they will occur, but the situation is far from being exact. Since these types of events affect terrestrial communications systems, forecasting would be a key point. Four instruments. The instruments that SMILE has They are the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), the Light Ion Analyzer (LIA), the Detector Plane Assembly (DPA) and the Ultraviolet Imager (UVI). The SXI is responsible for taking X-ray images to study the boundaries of the magnetosphere, while the DPA provides mechanical and thermal support. That is, it helps keep the imaging systems at a stable temperature, something essential given the proximity to the Sun. As for LIA, its function is to analyze ionized particles. Solar winds consist of a flow of ionized particles that form in the Sun’s corona and are released into space. They are directly related to the harmful effects of solar storms, so it is important to analyze them. For its part, UVI is responsible for taking images in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum. Above all, they will take images of auroras, closely linked to peaks in solar activity. European and Chinese contribution. The European Union has provided the SXI and DPA instruments, in addition to the Vega rocket that will propel the satellite and all its instruments into space. For its part, China has developed the UVI and LIA instruments, as well as the SMILE suite satellite platform. Spain is not missing either. One of SMILE’s instruments, the DPA, It has been developed at the Spanish National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). Little recognition. NASA has given Canada a seat on the Orion capsule to travel to the Moon. Canadian Jeremy Hansen is one of the crew members of Artemis II, despite having never traveled to space. Canada has not participated in the technological development of the mission. Europe, on the other hand, has provided the engine system that has propelled the four astronauts towards our satellite. Even so, little mention has been made of ESA’s important contribution during the development of Artemis II. Why China. A long time ago, China stopped being an emerging space power and became one of the most consolidated on the current scene. With its Tiangong Space Station Located in low orbit, it is the only facility of its kind besides the International Space Station. Its lunar mission has great relevance thanks to the exploration of the Chang’e unmanned missions. Besides, hopes to take its own taikonauts (as Chinese astronauts are known) to the satellite in 2030. Its exploration on Mars is also important thanks to rovers like Zhurong. Tiangong Low hours for NASA? Donald Trump’s government wants to make drastic cuts to science with public investment in the United States and possibly NASA will not escape. Therefore, it may be a good time to seek other support in the space race, as ESA is already doing with SMILE. That does not mean that it will stop collaborating with NASA, but it is true that it is open to exploring new partners. If there is one thing that history has taught us, it is that the best way to advance in the space race is to put egos aside and move forward as a team. Closing yourself off only to a traveling companion can end up being counterproductive. Images | ESA | Shujianyang In Xataka | Astronauts’ food is not appetizing at first, especially in China

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.