station

A “floating gas station” in the middle of the ocean is making a fool of the US

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In the satellite images of certain points in Southeast Asia there are days in which dozens of oil tankers appear completely stopped in the open sea, forming a kind of improvised parking lot in the middle of one of the busiest shipping routes of the world. Some stay there for hours, others for days, with no apparent direction, as if waiting for something that never comes… or that happens when no one is watching. An invisible map in the middle of the ocean. I told the story this week CNN through data by MarineTraffic reviewed by the media. For years, the Iranian oil trade has followed a logic that barely left a trace in official records, with ships disappearing and reappearing in tracking systems and shipments whose origin changes depending on the document consulted. This dynamic, it seems, has allowed us to sustain a constant flow towards China even under sanctions, relying on a network of intermediaries, opaque routes and an aging fleet that operates on the margins of the international system, similar to the “Russian model”. It happens that what seemed like a succession of dispersed maneuvers begins to draw a much more defined pattern: a floating infrastructure that works away from the spotlight. The “floating gas station”. They explained in the exclusive that, in waters near Malaysia, in the area known as Eastern Outer Port Limitsa key point has been consolidated where dozens or even hundreds of ships remain waiting, exchanging oil in ship-to-ship operations that completely transform crude oil traceability. This enclave acts as a authentic service station intermediate where Iranian oil changes hands, identity and destination before continuing its journey towards Asia, becoming a central gear which allows Tehran to maintain stable exports despite international pressure. Its location, close to critical maritime routes and outside effective control, makes it the ideal place for this type of operations. SAR satellite images show vessels within the outer boundary of the Eastern Harbor off the coast of Malaysia on April 18, 2026 How the shortcut to China works. The system follows a precise and repeated logic: one where large oil tankers load crude oil at Iranian facilities, cross the Indian Ocean and reach this area. where they transfer their cargo to other ships, which in turn transport it to Chinese refineries. In this process, oil change label and appears as originating from countries such as Malaysia or Indonesia, hiding its real origin in official data. This mechanism allows China to continue receiving large volumes of crude oil at reduced prices, while Iran ensures constant income that sustains its economy in a context of sanctions. MarineTraffic data shows the multiple trips the MT Tifani made between the Persian Gulf and the EOPL from April 2025 until its capture by US forces in April 2026 “Ghost” fleet that does not stop. Behind the system are hundreds of vessels that change flag, name and owner frequently, making them difficult to track and reducing their exposure to sanctions. Many operate without identification active for long periods, activating and deactivating its location systems as appropriate, which further complicates any control attempt. The magnitude of the activity is growingwith hundreds of annual transfers that, in practice, turn this maritime space into one of the most active (and least transparent) points of global energy trade. The fight with Washington reaches another board. In the background, a story that remembered the wall street journal the weekend. Recent oil tanker seizures like MT Tifani They reflect a change in strategy on the part of the United States, which has decided to extend its pressure beyond the Middle East and act directly on these distant routes. These interventions they seek to interrupt a system that has operated for years with relative impunity, although they also show the difficulty of stopping such a distributed and adaptable network. Each intercepted ship is a signal, although the total volume of traffic suggests that the mechanism remains fully operational. Floating reserves and economic war. Beyond the immediate exchangethis network also works as a strategic reserve on the high seas, one with millions of barrels stored on oil tankers waiting to be delivered when conditions permit. There is no doubt, this capability offers Iran a mattress facing blockages or interruptions, bringing oil closer to their final buyers and reducing its dependence on vulnerable routes like right now in the Strait of Hormuz. In short, the system represents much more than an evasion of sanctions, approaching an entire logistics architecture designed to keep open a critical avenue of income in the midst of conflict. Image | Department of Defense, MarineTraffic, Sentinel 1/European Space Agency In Xataka | Ukraine taught how to use drones. Iran has gone one step further: turning them into a crusher for US radars and bases In Xataka | If the war resumes again, the US runs a risk unprecedented in the history of war: that the only one with missiles will be Iran.

A crew member of the International Space Station lost his speech and NASA does not know why

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Last January, four astronauts had to leave the International Space Station early due to a medical emergency. At the time it was pointed out that it was due to the health problems of one of the astronauts. However, at no time was it clarified which of them it was, in order to preserve their privacy. Over time, NASA has dropped some new data in dribs and drabs. Now, we know who it was and why, but the cause of his illness remains a mystery. The facts: At the beginning of January, NASA announced the cancellation of a space walk that astronauts Michael Fincke and Zena Cardman should have done. Just a few hours later, the imminent return to Earth of the entire Crew 11 was announced. That included both Fincke and Cardman as well as Kimiya Yui, from the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and Oleg Platanov, from the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos). The return trip was planned to take place in February, but it finally took place on January 15. At that time, NASA had not yet announced which of the crew members was sick. It was only noted that he was stable and that he would have to undergo more tests. Without words in space. Shortly after that mysterious medical emergency, NASA announced that the sick astronaut was Mike Fincke. However, at that time he still did not provide information about the illness that led him and his companions to return home early. Now, finally, we know what happened. As stated by Fincke himself in statements to the mediaon January 7, while eating with his companions, he realized that he could not speak. Thanks to the quick intervention of his colleagues and the remote support of NASA doctors, he was immediately stabilized. However, it was urgent to return to Earth to perform the relevant tests. The episode has not been repeated and it has been ruled out that it was a heart attack or stroke. More tests. Fincke will possibly have to undergo more tests so we can find out why he temporarily lost his speech. However, he himself has reported that NASA suspects that it could be an effect of his stay in space. For this reason, the medical records of other astronauts are being reviewed, looking for an episode similar to theirs. space brain. Living in space can affect your health in many different ways. All organs are susceptible to the effects of microgravity. In the case of the brain, It has been proven that it can even move inside the skull. It is not known for sure what could have happened to this NASA astronaut. However, it seems quite likely that his medical emergency was for this reason. And now what? If all goes well with Artemis II, NASA hopes to travel to the Moon more and more regularly and even build a space base there at some point. Other companies, like SpaceX, have the same dream. Therefore, it is vital to study how microgravity or cosmic radiation can affect the health of future colonizers. All astronauts of Crew 11 Astronauts on the International Space Station have been testing these types of events for a long time. What has happened to Fincke at the moment is a mystery, but logically it is something that must be taken into account. What happened to him will have to be investigated to prevent it from happening again, whether on the International Space Station, on the Moon or at any other point in outer space that humans reach. Image | NASA | Unsplash In Xataka | Spanish technology in the return to the Moon: the system designed in Madrid that NASA will use in Artemis II

My name is Tama, I am a station chief in Japan and 3,000 people have come to my funeral. Ah, I’m a cat

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It is only 14.3 kilometers of line but it is key for the residents of Wakayama and Kinokawa, the towns that connect the Kishigawa Line located south of Osaka. Right now, on the train you can find locals going here and there but, above all, there are tourists. They are not just any tourists, for that we have to go a few kilometers higher where we will find them taking photos with the famous Glico Man of Dotonbori. Here we will find tourists interested in two of the most deeply rooted hobbies in Japan: trains and cats. A formula that can be explosive, capable of recovering a train line by itself, attracting local tourism and positioning two small towns on the map of those seeking a different experience in one of the most extravagant countries in the world. Because here, the trains arrive dressed as cats and the station masters are… indeed, cats. My name is Tama and I am the boss of this station The Kishigawa Line was born at the beginning of the 20th century. The objective was to unite three sanctuaries and make it easier for those who made the pilgrimage there to get around. Nichizengu Shrine, Kamayama Shrine and Itakiso Shrine linked by a train line, count in Japanism. The line remained in operation for decades and in the 1960s the Nankai company took over its operation. But time moved on and large cities became a black hole that absorbed and absorbed workers. Cities grew first with Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Then with accelerated development that made Japan the most technologically advanced country in the world. And at the same pace as they conquered the world market with electronic devices at rock-bottom prices, cities grew at the same pace. Workers were needed for all types of tasks. the book Tokyo, Ueno station It explains very well how workers left their hometown and disappeared for years, unable to spare a handful of days to return to their place of origin. That depopulation little by little it was killing the Kishigawa line. The use of it fell so much that in 2006, Nankai decided to close it, unable to make the service profitable. And in the 2000s, the passengers had fallen in half compared to a decade ago. The solution came from the local governments through which the line passed, who took charge of the land and infrastructure, leaving a new company in charge of its operation and maintenance. The only problem is that no one wanted to take charge of a line of just 14.3 kilometers with a debt of more than five million dollars. At that time, local governments came knocking on the door of Okayama Dentetsu, a company that had already achieved some success with other similar public-private collaborations. Hand in hand with this new company, Wakayama Electric Railway was created, the company that was going to take charge of the Kishigawa Line. That day, a cat would forever change the future of the line. After the reopening event, at the Kishi station, a woman asked if a cat that was barely two months old could stay at the station since she couldn’t find a home. Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Okayama Dentetsu and, by extension, of Wakayama Electric Railwaynot only welcomed her at the station, he also gave her a job in a clear show of trust. Tama, which was the cat’s name, was now another worker on the new line. The rise was meteoric because in 2007, just a few months later, Tama was appointed Station Master. And he saved the line. Attracted by the news, tourists multiplied. More and more passengers approached the Kishigawa Line to meet the cat who, in uniform, guarded the station. Attracted by the supposed good luck of the new worker, more and more people came to take photos with her. The success was such that from the less than two million passengers who took the line before 2005, 2.3 million passengers were reached in less than a decade later, they explain in Japanism. Office of Tama, station manager The Tamaden was Japan’s first theme train Aware of the popularity of their new worker, Wakayama Electric Railway wanted to take advantage of Tama’s potential even more and in 2009 they inaugurated the Tamaden, the first cat-themed train, dressed with cat ears and whiskers, as well as numerous caricatures of the cat herself. Inside there is specific decoration with cat motifssuch as the upholstery or the fabric of the seat cushions. It’s not the only thing. Handles, lamps, curtains, footprints on the floor… everything is reminiscent of the cat world. By the way, the upholstery is brown with the characteristic color of the cat Tama. In fact, everything that surrounds this line lives for and to remember the figure of Tama. Kishi Station now has cat ears and eyes clearly visible from its exterior. There Tama had her own office, as she earned stripes in the company. His impact was key to resurrecting the line. Unfortunately, in June 2015, at the age of 16, Tama passed away. The affection of its neighbors was seen in the following days when the governor of the prefecture to which the train line belongs issued a statement. And, above all, when… 3,000 people attended his funeral. Tama was replaced by Nitama. It was logical if we take into account that Nitama was a station manager at another of the stops on the line and replaced Tama during her days off. That is to say, Nitama received painful recognition from Wakayama Electric Railway. One of those promotions you never want. The cat Nitama also worked with dedication. In fact, the president of the company that operates the train line noted at the end of 2025 that “it worked diligently and provided irreplaceable comfort. Nitama, please monitor the Wakayama Electric Railway from the sky,” in words reported by Independent. And Nitama died last November 2025. Until then, this new station chief could be seen every … Read more

“We felt cheated.” Even gas station owners are freaking out about the sudden, meteoric rise in oil

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The missiles fell and the energy markets soared. When the conflict officially began on February 28 between the US, Israel and Iran and its expansion through the Middle East, the energy markets responded to the new scenario and in more or less two weeks, the barrel of Brent has already risen by 50% according to EIA data. At gas stations, the price of fuel also rose overnight. The rapid rise in fuel. Below these lines you can see how the average price of fuel in Spain has evolved according to the data extracted from the Ministry of Ecological Transition of the States and compiled by the Dieselogasoline website. Thus, if we closed February with a price of €1,493/l for Unleaded 95 and €1,548/l for Diesel A+, March has been a relentless uphill climb for all fossil fuels. Today they mark €1,727/l and €1,935/l respectively. With this panorama and the figure of 2 euros/liter on the horizonthe first days already There were long lines at some service stations. before what was coming. Evolution of fuel prices in Spain in March. Dieselogasolina.com The perfect storm. With the blockade of the Strait of Hormuzthe place through which approximately 20% of the world’s production of crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes, confirmation that China turns off the tap of its exports to meet domestic demand, the slowdown in activity of some deposits and that large merchant companies are paralyzed or surrounding all of Africa to satisfy demand at the cost of a longer and more expensive route, it is clear that the scenario for buying oil looks bleak. In fact, not even the International Energy Agency release 400 million barrels of emergency reserves (the largest mobilization in history) was enough for the market to react. Ultimately, that number equivalent about four days of world consumption or about 20 days of what passes through the Strait of Hormuz. And it could be worse: as the spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps explained: “They will not be able to artificially lower the price of oil. Prepare for oil to reach $200 per barrel,” picks up Al Jazeera. Instability, the reduction in supply and its use as a measure of pressure summarize the black picture. But that gasoline is not that of war. Although the history of conflicts in the Middle East is an unequivocal precedent to glimpse the rise of fuel and everything, because in practice it has an impact on the logistics of the bulk of the activities: if the fruit store brings its delivery five times a week, those deliveries cost more. And if you travel 50 kilometers a day to get to work, it will also cost you more. Economy of the obvious. However, there is a harsh reality: that fuel that you are already paying at war prices was acquired previously. We are paying prices for the future, those for replacement. And not just consumers: also gas stations. As Michel-Édouard Leclerc, president of the E. Leclerc supermarket chain and its gas stations, said, to public broadcaster Franceinfo: “We felt cheated, just like the drivers, by the almost automatic speed with which prices rose.” In his case, he also announced the reduction of 30 cents at the group’s gas stations in France thanks to negotiations with suppliers. Who sets the price of fuel. In the Spanish state, prices have been free since 1998, as the CNMC explainsbut from here there are several actors that influence: The international market, based on the price of Brent oil or refined oil in the reference markets. The refinery or wholesale operator, which adds its operating and logistics margin until distribution. The gas station operator: if it is a flagship station such as Repsol or BP, the price is practically a matter for the parent company. If it is independent or belongs to a large surface (such as Plenoil or Leclerc), it has more room for fixation. Hence they are the cheapest. The State through taxesmore specifically the Special Tax on Hydrocarbons and VAT. In Xataka | The rocket and the pen: the theory that explains why the rise in gasoline is here to stay In Xataka | There is a hidden war to sell us the cheapest possible gasoline. One that Ballenoil and Plenergy already dominate Cover | Leclerc

Anker Prime Docking Station 14 in 1, analysis features price specifications

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My work desk is, I admit, a battlefield of cables. I have two 27-inch Dell monitors at 1440p, a Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 with Windows 11, a MacBook Air M4 what I use when I travel and a Mac Mini M4 which is my work team. Additionally, I use a Razer Huntsman keyboard (which by some quirk of fate occupies two USB ports) and a webcam. When NASA needs a cable, they look for it under my table. From time to time, my desk also receives a visit from a camera whose SD card I need to empty quite frequently, and none of my computers have a built-in card reader. More cables and connections. To make matters worse, because of a mess of connectors (only one of the monitors can connect to a Thunderbolt port) when I want to connect the MacBook Air M4 or the Huawei laptop to the monitors I can only take advantage of one of the two. Luckily, since the Mac Mini does have an HDMI port, it is the only one where I can use both screens. In short, a mess of cables, connections and adapters to connect any of my three devices. I had been looking for a solution for this mess of connections for a while and Anker Prime Docking Station 14 in 1 came to my table promising to solve exactly that problem. Connectors for all tastes If I’m honest, the first thing that my old mind thought when I had it in my hand was its resemblance to one of those alarm clock radios from the 90s. However, the first thing you notice when you take it out of the box is the weight: almost 900 grams. That already leaves us some clues that we are not dealing with one of those adapters that people (especially Macbook users) carry in their backpack. This is a serious desk piece, with metal construction and a very premium feel that not only fulfills an aesthetic function, it also helps dissipate some of the heat. The little control wheel on the side of the device is striking. It looks like the crown of a watch and, in a way, takes the idea of ​​controlling some smartwatches to move around the hub interface and access options by pressing it. And then there is the front screen that, although it does not occupy the entire front as one would expect, offers very useful information about the charging power it is supplying, information about the resolution, the type of monitor connector or, simply, the time. I must say, that It’s more useful than it seems at first and I no longer look at the time on the computer bar, but I have surprised myself on more than one occasion looking at the time on the Docking Station. The disposition of the 14 connection ports It is very well thought out. On the back are two HDMIs with 4K support at 60 Hz and a DisplayPort with 8k support at 60 Hz. So, in practice, it allows up to three screens to be connected to the setup. Anker Prime Docking Station (DL7400), 14 DisplayLink Triple Display Ports, 140W max., Smart Display and Fan, up to 8K, for macOS and Windows, Requires updated DisplayLink Driver The price could vary. We earn commission from these links It also has a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port, two USB A for data with a transfer rate of 5 Gbps and a third USB A for connecting the keyboard or mouse. In my case, I have used the three ports to connect the Razer keyboard (which uses the two ports) and the webcam. The USB C output port is also located here, which is the one you connect to the computer and offers a charging capacity of up to 140W, so you can take advantage of the fast charging options on gaming laptops or 96W Macbook Pros. Such charging power generates heat in the internal components of the device, so, in addition to the aluminum coating on the exterior, has an internal fan which cannot be heard in the slightest even in a quiet environment. On the front it includes an SD card reader, a microSD slot and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. I have used the latter less because I use Bluetooth headphones and all computers have this very accessible connection. But I find it equally useful because it is very accessible, and to use it you just have to change the audio source to Anker in the computer options. That design logic is exactly what I needed. Have all the connection cables to the monitors, network cable, keyboard and webcam behind, and on the front, have quick access to the charging ports for your mobile phone or upload photos from the camera without having to look for cables or accessories. Connect everything with a single cable However, what undoubtedly seems like a triumph to me is that all the devices are ready to use just by connecting a cable. However, before reaching the magical moment of connection, you have to do your homework: install the DisplayLink driver on each computer that we are going to use with the base. It is not a direct plug and play connection. The software is essential for the monitors to receive the video signal. On Windows the process is quick and frictionless: install the driver software and go. In MacOS, in addition to installing the software, you have to grant screen recording permissions, something that may be striking the first time the notice appears, but it has a technical explanation and we will get to it. Thanks to this software, the brightness and contrast adjustment of the monitors can be controlled from the system taskbar (similar to how Apple monitors appear), without having to navigate through menus or access the monitors’ adjustment buttons. It is a minor detail but it adds up on a day-to-day basis. Once the entire software part was installed, I connected … Read more

Gasoline has risen so much that even Mark Zuckerberg has looked for a low-cost gas station to refuel his yacht: Gibraltar

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From the start of the war of Iran, filling the car tank has become one of those little dramas everyday things that we all know well. A few euros more, a sigh of resignation, and continue. But there is another refueling scale that makes your complaints at the gas station For those 10 extra euros that it cost you to fill the tank, it almost sounds like a joke. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and fifth greatest fortune of the world, owns the launchpada 118 meter superyacht valued at about 300 million dollars. Since the US and Israeli bombs began to fall on Iranian soilfilling your fuel tanks involves an extra cost of $278,880 with each refueling. The most curious thing is that the solution that the tycoon has found is very similar to the one that any citizen with a foot in this price escalation has probably adopted: look for a low-cost gas station. The painful tank to fill Maintaining a luxury superyacht is not cheap, which is why only millionaires can afford it. He launchpad by Mark Zuckerberg has a fuel tank of approximately 420,000 liters. To put it in context, it is the equivalent of the capacity of about 7,000 medium-sized cars at one time. The yacht is equipped with four MTU 20V 4000 M93L engines which, sailing at a cruising speed of 16 knots, consume about 982 liters per hour each. That leaves us with approximate consumption of 4,000 liters of fuel per hour. That is to say, an equivalent consumption 560 cars traveling at 120 km/h or 73 buses. To this we must add that the launchpad He does not travel alone, he does so accompanied by his support yacht, the wingman. Expenses double. The Launchpad has four motors like this According to price data monitored by the specialized portal Ship&Bunker in January 2026, the average price per ton of fuel for yachts (MGO) was $715. Data from March 2026 on this same portal suggest that its price has skyrocketed to $1,379 per ton. This means that filling the fuel tank launchpad In January, Mark Zuckerberg had to pay a bill of just over 300,300 euros, while doing so today It would cost you about 579,180 euros. An extra cost of $278,880 with each refueling in just three months. Gibraltar: low cost gasoline for yachts Faced with such an increase, Mark Zuckerberg and many other wealthy yacht-owning tycoons have done what any neighbor’s son would do in this case: look for low-cost gasoline. In this case, the closest and best located is Gibraltar. As and how they stood out in The CountryGibraltar is not only a strategic rock between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean that Philip V delivered generously to the British. For superyacht owners who frequently cross the ocean, it is the equivalent of a motorway gas station as it is located on the most optimal shipping route to cross the world by sea. For superyachts that, like the launchpad, they just made Its periodic maintenance in the exclusive shipyards of La Ciotat (France), the Strait route is the shortest to go down to the Canary Islands and, from there, head to the warm waters of the Caribbean to meet its owner in Miami. The same thing happens with the reverse route, allowing ships to refuel without deviating from the most optimal route between both continents. He launchpadwhich is more similar to a small cruise ship than a pleasure boat, stops in Gibraltar regularly on its routes between Europe and America. It is not because of the pleasure of its views, but because of the price and the refueling infrastructure for superyachts, cruise ships and large freighters that has created Gibraltar. Its special tax status allows boats over 18 meters to refuel with duty free fuel, making it a mandatory stop for these giants of the sea. It is no coincidence that he is one of the bunkering points busiest in the world, with prices that, even after the escalation following the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, remain lower than in many ports in northern Europe or the eastern Mediterranean. In Xataka | The difficult part has not been building an 80-meter, $200 million yacht. It has been taken to the sea without destroying it Image | Feadship, Meta

Finding the cheapest gas station in your area is very simple thanks to this very powerful tool

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We have been very attentive to fuel prices for a few days. It is no wonder, since since the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran has exploded to the point of leaving the Strait of Hormuz in a compromised situation, oil has ended up skyrocketing and gas stations have already begun to notice the impact on their shelters. While the Government study what measures you can applyMany drivers go to those gas stations that have the cheapest fuel. And for this there are tools that the State itself offers. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge made it available to any citizen quite some time ago, the Geoportal from Gas Stations, a free tool that allows you to know the price of fuel at all service stations in the country, so you can filter by the cheapest one in your area. It also has another very useful function: knowing how much has the price changed at every gas station. We tell you all the details below. What is the Geoportal and why is it worth it? The Gas Station Geoportal is a web application of the Ministry that collects the prices of all service stations in Spainupdated every five minutes. What you see on the screen is practically the real price of the moment. The tool has been available for years, but in situations like the current one, or like the one that happened with the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, its use makes special sense. Currently there are gas stations in large cities and in the main corridors that They already exceed 1.70 euros/liter in gasoline or 1.80 in diesel, while others remain below average. With a 50 liter tank, choose carefully where to refuel can mean quite significant savings. How to find the cheapest gas station from the GeoPortal To enter the Geoportal, all you have to do is enter this link. There is also a free mobile application for Android and iOS. It is called Route-E, and it is developed by the Ministry itself. In addition to gas station prices, it includes information on charging points for electric vehicles. When you enter the website you will see a map of Spain with marked service stations. On the left are the filters. The process is simple: Select “Service Stations” as search type. Choose your province and town. The map will automatically center on that area. You can refine it even further with the zip code if you live in a large city. Choose the type of fuel. You will find everything from the usual ones (gasoline 95 E5, gasoline 98, diesel A) to alternative options such as natural gas, bioethanol or hydrogen. As soon as you select one, the map will show the price of each station along with its schedule and operator. Mark “Sale to the public”. This excludes gas stations belonging to agricultural cooperatives or closed groups that are not open to any driver. Check the list ordered by price. When you have clicked ‘Search’, just below the map the tool generates a list of stations. Filter by price and the cheapest ones in the area should appear first, and you can export the list in CSV or Excel format if you need it. As extra information: yes you hover over any station on the map, you will directly see its price, schedule, rating and operator without having to click. There is an additional filter: “Discount plans”. If you activate it, the search engine shows gas stations with current promotions, either because they belong to a specific chain or because they offer discounts to groups such as transporters, farmers or taxi drivers. Mobile Apps If you prefer not to use the Ministry’s website, there are several free applications for iOS and Android that offer a similar feature. At Xataka we already talked about them a while ago, among which are GasofApp, GasAll, Gasolineras or GasOnline, among others. They all draw on the same official data and allow you to locate the cheapest stations near your location in real time. In addition to all of them, there is also Ruta-E, which is the one we mentioned before, but the rest of the apps offer (in our opinion) much faster and easier navigation. How to see the price history of any gas station Knowing the current price is good, but if you are curious about how the price of a specific station has evolved over time, you can also do it from the Geoportal. For that, just enter this page and complete the form that appears on the screen. You have two options to check the evolution of prices: through the price history or through a timeline per gas station. To do this you must: Selectr the interval of time. You can choose between daily, weekly, monthly or yearly views, and set a start date and an end date for the period you want to analyze. Heegir data series. Below in the form will be where you can decide if you want to see the evolution of the average price of all of Spain, of an autonomous community, of a province, of a municipality or of a specific gas station. Select the fuel. The menu includes all available: 95 E5 gasoline, 98 gasoline, diesel A, diesel B, LPG, natural gas, hydrogen and many more. Choose the type of graph. You can view the data in a line or bar graph, depending on what is most comfortable for you. The result is a graph that shows the evolution of the price in the chosen period. With it you can see, for example, how much diesel cost at the gas station in your neighborhood before the situation with Iran became tense and how much it costs today. Cover image | Geoportal and engin akyurt In Xataka | Cuts are coming for the most used Cercanías line in Spain. The reason: more capacity and driverless trains

A Chinese station has trained its employees to save 2 seconds on their task. Now they have 30,000 more passengers

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Think of an activity that you repeat daily. Think about how much time it takes you and what it would mean to spend two seconds less. What would you do with that time? That is what the workers and technicians at the Guangzhou South Train Station (China) have asked themselves. And the result has been spectacular: 48 more trains in motion and 30,000 more passengers on the tracks. 2 seconds. It is the time that the Chinese workers and technicians employed at the Guangzhou South Train Station (China) had in mind. It was the great objective. For more than a month, they have all been working with one goal in mind: reducing the time it takes to clean and prepare trains passing through the station by two seconds. Zhong Miao, comprehensive control service officer of Guangzhou South Railway Station, explains to the Chinese media that after a month and a half they managed to reduce the time of this task from 58 to 56 seconds. The final intention, of course, was for the train to be stopped for less time. The result. With the changes introduced, station operators were able to make way for 48 more trains in a single day. The two seconds that may seem insignificant allowed the number of passengers to increase by more than 30,000 people. To achieve this, they point out in the local mediathe operators worked with an enormous amount of data collected through numerous cameras. This station alone has a control room with 208 screens. With them they analyzed how much time passengers spent at the station and it has been possible to reduce the travel time of travelers by 17% compared to the figure collected three years ago. Guangzhou South Railway Station. For a train, two seconds was nothing short of marginal. For a station where more than half a million people pass through every day, it’s a whole world. And the new way of acting has been launched taking advantage of the Spring Festival, days in which the routes multiply taking advantage of the Chinese New Year. If the forecasts are met, on average, 530,000 passengers on Chinese high-speed trains will pass through this station every day. It is estimated that a new record was broken in October of last year when the million passengers passed through the station. It is not even the busiest station in China, its 28 platforms do not represent any record either. But to give us an idea of ​​the hustle and bustle that goes on inside, On February 13, 1,200 trains were operated in a single day as a result of the movements of the aforementioned Spring Festival. To give us an idea, during travel peaks such as Easter, 270 trains pass through Atochain which high speed is added but also long and medium distance. The longest high-speed line in the world. The station is located at a key point, near Shenzhen and Hong Kong and serves as a transit station for all travelers arriving from Southeast China to large cities such as Chongqing, Beijing or Shanghai, with which the station is connected. In fact, the Guangzhou-Beijing line is one of the crown jewels of Chinese railway service. And it is that since 2012 it is the longest high-speed line in the worldwith 2,298 kilometers. During its inauguration, it was hoped that the train would take less than eight hours to cross a distance comparable to traveling from Algeciras to Amsterdam. Today, This journey can be completed in 7 hours and 17 minutes. if you take the fastest bullet train. Photo | Tauno Tohk and Yang In Xataka | China has not only created the most extensive high-speed network in the world: it wants to operate it at 1,000 km/h and has taken a new step

In 1986 a man parked on the wrong side of the gas station. That day he solved an embarrassing problem for all drivers

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The history of innovation It’s full of big names and epic breakupsbut also of silent advances born from minimal errors, from everyday mistakes that anyone could have made. Sometimes, a small mistake reveals a problem so common that no one had thought of it or knew how to formulate it, and it is enough to look at it differently to find a solution that ends up benefiting millions of people without it being barely noticed. In this case, one man saved millions of drivers from embarrassment. A universal problem. Maybe his name doesn’t sound familiar to you, but the story of Jim Moylan It is more important than it seems. The story begins with a scene as trivial as it is recognizable: a Ford engineer (Moylan) soaked by the rain, standing at a gas station, realizing that he has parked in the wrong side of the pump. Where anyone would have felt frustration or perhaps some embarrassment, he saw an everyday problem that could be solved elegantly, cheaply and definitively, and in a matter of minutes. wrote a memorandum proposing a small symbol on the instrument panel to indicate which side the tank was on, a simple idea born from personal experience and the conviction that eliminating that doubt would save time, inconvenience and, yes, small humiliations for millions of drivers. The path to a great idea. Moylan was not a media figure or a senior manager, but an engineer with a long and discreet career within the all-powerful Ford Motor Company, a man, yes, professionally obsessed. with instrument panels and with making them as clear and useful as possible. Thus, after sending his original proposal in 1986, the man did not think about it again, but the company did: the symbol he had scribbled on a page quickly went into development, it was approved without much resistance. and ended up integrating in the first models of the late eighties, demonstrating that in large organizations there was still room for a good idea, no matter how small and coming from whoever it was, to cross the hierarchy and become a reality. From Thunderbird to the entire world. Months passed until the first public appearance of the arrow came, an almost imperceptible moment, hidden in the instrument panel of a Ford Thunderbird 1989. It didn’t matter, its power lay precisely in that simplicity. It was so obvious and useful that the competition It didn’t take him long to copy itand in a very short time it went from being an internal Ford solution to becoming a de facto standard in the global automobile industry, and it did so to the point that today it appears in practically any car in the world, including electric ones, where it points to the side of the charging port with the same unbeatable logic. The inventor without a patent (or ego). Unlike other innovators, Moylan He never patented his idea nor did he ask for financial compensation or public recognition, content simply to see how his arrow worked and helped people. For decades, millions of drivers benefited from his invention without even knowing his name, while he silently watched as that little “walk of shame” at gas stations disappeared, getting closer sometimes to strangers to explain the usefulness of the symbol, but without ever mentioning that it had been his doing. Late recognition. I remembered a few weeks ago the wall street journal which was not until many years later, thanks to a chance investigation from a podcast and to the rescue of internal files, when Jim Moylan’s name came to light and he was publicly recognized as the author of one of the most discreet and universal innovations in the automobile. The man died without having sought famebut he left a legacy that lives on every time someone stops at a pump and, with a simple glance at the instrument panel, knows exactly where to stand, reminding us that sometimes true genius lies in solving the obvious in the simplest way possible. Image | Josh In Xataka | An engineer decided one day to put the BMW airplane engine in a car. The result was tremendous In Xataka | When an engineer wanted to cross Africa by car, he invented a wooden one. It would be the beginning of the end

China urgently needed a train station, so it was built in nine hours with 1,500 workers and 23 excavators.

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Anyone who has done a work at home will have already experienced firsthand that they know when it starts but not when it ends, something that happens in domestic works and that we also see from time to time with public works. And large infrastructures take time, although we have seen real records such as this 10-story building in just 29 hours. Of course, in China. Precisely there, in the city of Longyan in the southeast of the country, is where they have made a train station overnight. Literal. And although the work is a milestone in 2026, the reality is that this reform in record time took place in January 2018 and that left Elon Musk with his mouth openwhich had no qualms in stating that “China’s progress in advanced infrastructure is more than 100 times faster than that of the United States.” As China Central Television narratedat 6:05 p.m. the station closed and only 17 minutes later the remodeling kicked off in an action that more than a construction seems like a synchronized swimming number until 3:30 in the morning, the time of the end. A kind of “open heart operation” in public works Only nine hours for a project that, although it is true that it was not a new station from scratch, was not exactly small: it consisted of a remodeling and connection of roads between a new high-speed line between Longyan and Nanping and three existing railway lines. Furthermore, they decided to do it at night so as not to interrupt daily rail traffic. Because at 6:22 p.m., 1,500 workers grouped in seven units were executing seven different simultaneous tasks, such as Zhan Daosong tolddeputy manager of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, China’s leading railway construction company. To carry it out, they relied on seven trains and 23 excavators. Thus, while one group installed monitoring and signage equipment, another paved the land. The millimeter precision and rapport is such that Reminiscent of open heart surgery but transferred to public works: with workers distributed over a range of 1.5 kilometers in their assigned places and 23 coordination teams to ensure compliance with deadlines and processes. Something like this is not done overnight, but before the day of truth They did six large-scale drills to prepare. The decision to do it at night has an explanation: not to interrupt the day’s rail traffic because in fact, at 1:56 in the morning they already had the first test train accessing the new station. Because they had also estimated a verification period of three and a half hours in which three other trains accessed the facilities. At 5:53 in the morning the rehearsals were over: K297, a normal passenger train, arrived at the station. As impressive as the speed of the project, which involves enormous planning work and prior studies, was the achievement achieved: reducing the travel time between both cities from seven hours to just an hour and a half thanks to the high-speed train that travels along the track at 200 km/h. In Xataka | 100% autonomous factories where it is not necessary to turn on the light: China is already considering manufacturing cars only with robots in 2030 In Xataka | Tesla’s dwarfs continue to grow: the Model 3 is no longer the premium electric that sells the most in China Cover | CGNT

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