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Europe wants to pay without depending on Visa or Mastercard, and Lidl has just taken a key step to achieve this: with Wero

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Lidl has started to accept werothe payment system promoted by banking in Europe, in its German online store. Even at first it may not tell us much, but a supermarket of the stature of Lidl that adds one more payment method is part of a much broader movement: an attempt by Europe to stop depending on Visa and Mastercard for something as everyday as online payments. We tell you all the details. Wero, “the European bizum”. According to the chain itself has confirmedLidl is the first large supermarket in Germany to integrate Wero into its online payments. Lidl.de customers who have an account in one of the 18 banks that already support the system will be able to pay directly from their current account, in real time, and without the card or any US payment network intervening in the operation. How it works in practice. The process is simple, since it is enough to activate the Wero function once in the bank’s app, similar to the way Bizum works in Spain. From there, when completing the purchase on Lidl.de, the customer can confirm the payment from their own bank (the website automatically redirects them to the app) or scan a QR code with their mobile phone. The money comes directly from the bank account, and in case of return, it returns the same way. There are no card intermediaries involved. Why Lidl and why now. According to collect According to The Paypers, the deployment begins in Germany, but Lidl and the European Payments Initiative (EPI), the entity that manages Wero, already plan to extend its adoption to online stores in Belgium and France throughout 2026, and also incorporate payment in physical stores before the end of the year. Nicola Bracht, head of Schwarz Payment Solutions (the payments division of the Schwarz group, parent of Lidl), explained to the media that the decision responds “to the search for a fluid customer experience” and “data protection and security criteria aligned with European standards”, and has announced that the group expects Wero to continue growing as a transversal payment method across different channels. A European alternative to Visa and Mastercard. wero born in 2023 as a trademark of the EPI, an initiative founded in 2020 by fifteen European banks (including BBVA, Santander, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas) with the aim of building their own payment alternative that reduces dependence on Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, all of them of American origin. Its name plays on the words “we” (us) and “euro.” The system was first launched for transfers between individuals in Germany, France and Belgium, and has since expanded its scope, first to payments between individuals and companies, and now to electronic commerce. Between the lines. What makes Lidl’s incorporation relevant is not so much the gesture itself as what it represents, since Wero’s arrival in high-volume e-commerce is, precisely, the land where Visa and Mastercard get a good part of their business most profitable in Europe. Until now, Wero moved mainly in the field of transfers between individuals, something similar to what Bizum offers in Spain. That a chain with the scale of Lidl begins to accept it in its online store is a step towards that other field, that of commercial payments, where the dispute with the card networks is really played out. Lidl has not been the only one to announce a similar move. And Decathlon will also accept payments through Wero in Germany on its website, as has confirmed the chain. Economic sovereignty. This advance by Wero also comes at a time when the European payments ecosystem itself is reorganizing to another level. Bizum, together with the Italian Bancomat Pay, the Portuguese SIBS, the Polish Blik and the Nordic Vipps MobilePay, has promoted the creation of a joint company based in Madrid that seeks to make all these national systems interoperable under a common infrastructure with Wero. The president of the Spanish Banking Association, Alejandra Kindelán, counted A few months ago “when we talk about payments, we talk about economic sovereignty, competitiveness and Europe’s ability to decide its future”, and payments have gone from being a simple infrastructure to becoming a question of sovereignty. And now what. The calendar managed by EPI points to Wero reaching more online stores in France and Belgium throughout 2026, and payments in physical stores (via QR and NFC) before the end of the year. We will have to wait to know if with so much alliance and momentum from the banking sector, Wero can end up becoming a real alternative to Visa and Mastercard in Europe. Cover image | Jonas Leupe and VLADISLAV BOGUTSKI In Xataka | Mistral is very far in the AI ​​race. Samsung doesn’t care about that and plans to invest a fortune in it

Spain wants to have its own “sovereign” AI. The first step is called Sherpa.ai, and the State is already a shareholder

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The Basque company Sherpa.ai, specialized in AI and data privacy, closed at the beginning of July an $18 million financing round. This has some relevance, since the State itself participated in the round through the American fund Forgepoint Capital, being the first time that the Government has become a shareholder in the company. What has happened? Sherpa.ai, founded in Erandio (Vizcaya) by Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria, has closed its first round of financing since 2021, the year in which had raised 8.5 million dollars. In this new injection of capital, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), the public vehicle linked to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, enters as an investor. Known as the “digital SEPI”, it is the way that the Government has to invest in technology companies. Who is behind. The fund leading the operation is Forgepoint Capital, a Silicon Valley firm specialized in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence that, as share From El Mundo, he had already invested in two other Basque companies in the sector, Maisa AI and Multiverse Computing. Along with Forgepoint, there are repeat investors who were already in the capital of Sherpa.ai: the Mundi Ventures fund, from investor Javier Santiso; Ekarpen, the Basque Government’s venture capital vehicle; and Allegra Holdings, one of the investment companies of the Losantos Ucha family, precisely the owner of the largest fortune in La Rioja. In detail. Sherpa.ai has been operating for more than a decade and it is one of the Spanish companies with the most experience in artificial intelligence. They focus mainly on what they call “data sovereignty”, that is, the possibility of training and using large language models without the information leaving the client’s servers. It is an approach that is increasingly in demand in this sector, since no company likes having their data flying around while they use AI. Among its clients are Indra, which in fact was close to buying the company two years ago, the United States National Institute of Health (NIH), Caja Laboral, Unicaja and Prosegur, according to they count from the middle. Why does it matter? The entry of SETT into Sherpa.ai is part of the distribution of European funds that the Government has been allocating to technology companies considered key to strengthening Spain’s digital sovereignty. According to collect El Mundo, this operation is one of the last in which the digital SEPI has participated with this item of European funds, since the deadline to commit the capital expired on June 30. In recent weeks, this same route of public financing has also reached another Basque company, Multiverse Computing, which received more than 100 million euros, as well as Openchip. The founder and CEO of Sherpa.ai, Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria, explained that “this round allows us to accelerate our vision: to develop and commercialize a secure and scalable artificial intelligence platform that allows companies and governments to harness the full potential of AI without giving up control, privacy and sovereignty of their data.” Investigation. The company assures having also reinforced its scientific activity in parallel. And at the beginning of July he presented a study on how to train large language models with private data distributed among different organizations, without the need to share them, which reinforces this commercial discourse of technological sovereignty with the intention of favoring sectors such as health, banking or public administration. Basque Country, on fire. With the new funds, Sherpa.ai plans to accelerate the development of its platform and expand its international presence, especially in sectors such as healthcare, finance, cybersecurity and government. Furthermore, the Basque technology ecosystem is gaining traction, as several AI companies in the region have received capital injections these last weeks from the digital SEPI (the aforementioned Maisa AI and Multiverse Computing), just before the deadline to commit European funds. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega breaks his personal purchase record in Europe: more than 800 million euros for offices in Paris

The KF-21 is no longer a project and is one step away from operational service

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South Korea has been trying for a quarter of a century to turn a political ambition into a fighter jet manufactured under its own direction. What we are seeing now is the moment in which this journey begins to materialize: the first production KF-21 has already left the factoryhas flown and It is scheduled for delivery to the Air Force in September. That does not mean that the entire fleet will be fully operational from that day, but it does mean that the Boramae has left the prototypes behind to begin its incorporation into military service. The succession of milestones in recent months explains this change in stage. KAI introduced the first production unit on March 25 and flew it on April 15, before the program passed final combat fitness evaluation on May 7. A little over a month later, June 15the initial type certification arrived, which certifies compliance with government airworthiness and flight safety requirements. The next step will be the formal acceptance of the device and its delivery to the South Korean operator. The project that would end up becoming the KF-21 began to take shape in March 2001when then-President Kim Dae-jung expressed ambitions to develop an advanced fighter of his own. The initiative, however, took years to overcome feasibility studies and debates about its cost. The industrial leap arrived in December 2015when the procurement agency DAPA signed the system development contract with KAI. Indonesia joined as a partner and initially assumed about 20% of the cost, in exchange for technology, industrial participation and local production capacity. That distribution began to break down when Indonesia accumulated delays in its financial contributions. After several renegotiations, both governments agreed in June 2025 to reduce its contribution to about 600 billion won, about a third of the original commitment, and also limit the technology it would receive. The withdrawal of local co-production was made public in April 2026 and confirmed by Indonesian authorities in June. Jakarta is still studying the purchase of a smaller number of aircraft completed in South Korea, although there is no final order yet. Converting the KF-21 into a fleet has required two large pools of investment. The first, of about 8.8 trillion won, equivalent to approximately 5.24 billion euros at the exchange rate on July 24, 2026, corresponds to the development of the plane. The second, estimated at 7.92 trillion won, nearly 4.72 billion euros, includes the initial plan to acquire 40 unitsits weapons and other associated costs until 2028. This item does not offer a clean price per device, because it also includes engines, training, spare parts, documentation and logistical assistance. What the South Korean Air Force will receive is a 4.5-generation twin-engine fighter, not a fifth-generation stealth aircraft comparable to the F-35. The KF-21 can reach approximately Mach 1.8 and transport up to 7.7 tons of weaponsin addition to integrate an AESA radaran IRST infrared sensor and electronic warfare systems. The first units will belong to Block I, a configuration focused mainly on air-to-air missions. Broader air-to-ground and air-to-surface capabilities will come with the further evolution of the program. The industrial leap is best understood when we look at who is actually building the aircraft. The South Korean KAI leads the design, integration and assembly, while its compatriots Hanwha Systems and LIG Nex1 provide, respectively, the AESA radar, part of the avionics, electronic warfare and weapons management. Hanwha Aerospace, also South Korean, Assembles in Korea and produces components under license for the F414-400K engines from the American GE Aerospace. Since the first flight of the prototype on July 19, 2022, the six test aircraft have completed around 1,600 flights and around 13,000 test conditions without accidents. The arrival of the KF-21 does not mean that South Korea will do without foreign fighters either. Seoul has ordered another 20 US F-35Aswhich will begin to arrive from 2027, and a fleet made up of platforms of different origins and functions will continue to operate. The change is elsewhere: the country can now lead the design, production, maintenance and much of the future improvements of its own combat aircraft. When the first installment is completed, the Boramae will not have eliminated external dependence, but it will have tangibly reduced its limits. Images | Government of Korea/Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Airbus has made a revolutionary bet for its business model: manufacturing the hydrogen engines of the future

Japan did not need another aircraft carrier to make a move. His next military step begins with Vietnam

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Japan has spent decades measuring every military gesture with almost surgical caution. Not due to lack of industry, technology or capacity, but due to the weight of its recent history and the political limits that have marked its defense since the post-war period. Therefore, when Tokyo moves a piece in this area, it is advisable to look beyond the apparent size of the gesture. What we have before us shows where the Asian country is moving. The specific news. The movement appears in a statement from the Japanese Ministry of Defense after the meeting that the Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi He held two days earlier with General Phan Van Giang, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of Vietnam. According to Tokyo, both agreed to start talks to establish new forms of cooperation in defense equipment and technology. The most striking part is the possibility of jointly developing and producing fast landing craft. Vietnam, partner without alliance. The choice of Vietnam is not coincidental. We are talking about a country whose recent history was marked by the war with the United Stateswhich since diplomatic normalization in 1995 has elevated its relationship with Washington to the rank of comprehensive strategic partnership and that, at the same time, avoids presenting itself as part of a military bloc. That combination is precisely what makes its role interesting for Japan: Hanoi needs to strengthen its capabilities, diversify partners and protect its maritime interests, but without becoming trapped in a formal alliance. In this balance, Tokyo appears as a useful, advanced and politically less strident partner than other actors. The policy of balance. This position has a very specific translation in Vietnamese defense doctrine: the so-called “four noes”. Hanoi maintains that it does not participate in military alliances, does not align itself with one country against another, does not allow foreign military bases or other countries to use its territory against third parties, and does not resort to the use or threat of force in its international relations. It is an architecture designed to cooperate without being absorbed by anyone. The maritime map. The Japanese statement does not mention China as a direct recipient of the message, but it does place the conversation in two very specific spaces: the East China Sea and the South China Sea. For Tokyo,the first is part of its major security concerns; for Hanoi, The second is the stage where they concentrate some of its main maritime tensions. That is why the two ministers stressed the freedom of navigation and overflight, in addition to respect for international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Why they matter. The expression “fast landing craft” may sound minor compared to submarines, fighters or large warships, but their function is very specific: moving troops, vehicles, equipment or supplies to a coast, an island or an area that is difficult to access. In a fragmented maritime environment, with archipelagos, reefs and territories where distance is not always measured in kilometers but rather in the ability to arrive sooner, this mobility has strategic value. We are not talking about a spectacular weapon, but rather a practical tool for operating where the map narrows. Japan moves its industry. The possible cooperation with Vietnam fits into a broader transformation: Japan is trying that its defense industrial base weighs more inside and outside the country. We have seen this in the reform of its military equipment transfer rules, revised again in April 2026 to promote more defensive cooperation with allies and like-minded countries, and also in advanced projects that are still in the research phase, such as the electromagnetic railgun. The point is that Tokyo is moving away from viewing its military industry as a purely domestic matter. A very measured turn. The interesting thing is that neither country needs to present this as a breakup for it to have weight. Japan does not suddenly abandon its historical caution, and Vietnam does not sign a formal military alliance. What we see is a much more discreet formula: industrial cooperation, defensive technology and naval capabilities in an area where every small movement is read in a strategic key. That’s why landing craft may seem like a small thing on paper, but they say a lot about where the Indo-Pacific is moving. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana In Xataka | Germany wanted to armor its army with a volunteer military. He has encountered a boom of conscientious objectors

Orange has taken complete control of MasOrange. European consolidation is one step closer

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Orange has taken full control of MasOrange after closing the purchase of the 50% that was still in the hands of Lorca HoldCo, the company owned by the KKR, Providence and Cinven funds. With this operation, expected for monthsthe French company becomes the sole owner of the largest telecommunications operator in Spain. The movement represents a very important step towards a long-awaited market consolidation which the large operators have been behind for years. One in which the fewer intermediate operators, the better for the giant operators. what has happened. On Christmas Day, Orange, Bouygues Telecom and Iliad (Free) announced the joint purchase of SFR for 20.35 billion euros. Agreement through which the three groups will share the clients, assets and frequencies of the second largest operator in France. The transaction, which will be closed in 2027 after passing the necessary regulations, follows the line of what happened in Spain: Orange has acquired MasOrange. The other half. Orange has acquired the remaining 50% of the capital of MasOrange, to date in the hands of his co-sharer Lorca. The agreement, valued at 4.25 billion euros, already has the necessary authorizations in Europe. Following this move, Orange now controls 100% of the operator’s capital, completely diluting MásOrange. Why is it important. Spain becomes the second most important market in Europe for Orange. At the end of the first quarter of 2026, MasOrange had 26 million mobile telephone customers and 7.1 million fixed broadband customers. Those numbers now belong entirely to Orange. “The acquisition of all of MasOrange is a strategic step in our “Trust in the Future” plan and reinforces Orange’s position in Spain.” Secondly, the movement advocates the European consolidation of the telecommunications market. The large groups are closing the circle: Telefónica, Orange, and Deutsche Telekom. The photo. Europe is one of the regions with the most operators per region, a total of 34 compared to 3 in the United States and 4 in the Chinese market. The major European companies need to continue absorbing their small rivals. Reason? The following: Proportionally, Europe has eight times more operators than the US and China, something that ends up translating into much more compressed margins and a drop in 41% in the market capitalization of the sector between 2015 and 2023. Without consolidation, European telecoms have a difficult time not depending on foreign funds and capital.

Spain is committed to connecting Madrid and Barcelona at 350 km/h. And you have already taken the first step to achieve it

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Madrid and Barcelona linked by a train capable of reaching 350 km/h. Just when the journey between the two largest Spanish cities has become a Russian roulette if your goal is to arrive on time. And just where the Renfe trains are having the most problems fulfilling what is expected. However, the Government is determined to increase the maximum speed of the line. And you have already taken the first step. At 350 km/h. In November 2025Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport, presented one of his star projects: linking Madrid and Barcelona with a train that travels at a maximum of 350 km/h. The final objective is to be able to travel between both cities in less than 120 minutes when it is now necessary to spend at least 182 minutes. As long as everything works correctly, of course. To reduce the trip by one hour two interventions are necessary for which the necessary papers have already begun to be moved. One of them is the construction of two new stations, one in Parla (close to Madrid) and another in El Prat de Llobregat (close to Barcelona). The objective is to decongest the traffic that currently passes through Madrid and offer a variant of exit and entry to Barcelona. The other intervention would be applied to the infrastructure itself and, it seems, will be the first to be carried out. A first step. The Ministry of Transport has confirmed which has already awarded a first supply batch of overhead traverses for the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line. A 112 million euro contract that is key for trains to reach 350 km/h top speed. These first air traverses will be installed in four sections: Mejorada del Campo-Brihuega (232,400 units), Brihuega-Alcolea (143,150 units), Alcolea-Ariza (166,250 units) and Ariza-Calatayud (138,600 units). In addition, some maintenance tasks have been awarded “such as the renewal of the seat plates for sleepers (elements that ensure the fixing of the rail to the sleeper).” Finally, the Ministry of Transport points out that “treatment and improvement actions are being carried out on two viaducts on the Guadalajara-Calatayud section of the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed rail line, Benamira and Río Blanco, both in the province of Soria.” A physical question When the train exceeds 300 km/hthe aerodynamic load on the underside of the trains increases. This load is generated by turbulence under the train car, “gluing” it to the track. The more load, the more energy the train has to use to maintain speed. If the train releases that aerodynamic load a little, it does not need as much energy and it is easier for it to reach the desired top speed. It is the same case as a Formula 1. The car is interested in having a lot of downforce on a circuit with many curves because it will be able to go through them faster. However, it will penalize on the straight because the top speed will be lower. On the contrary, if the circuit has few corners and many long straights, you are interested in low downforce to “fly” as fast as possible. But the car will be more unstable when cornering. Furthermore, the Ministry of Transport explains that the ‘ballast flight’ must be added. This is the vibration of the stones, the ballast, when the train exceeds 300 km/h. At that speed it is critical because the turbulence raises these stones and produces constant collisions against the undercarriage and increases the risk of them being thrown and falling on the tracks and sleepers, generating potholes and vibrations. The air traverses. Since the project was presented, the Ministry of Transport has indicated that the aerocrosses are key to being able to guarantee speeds greater than 300 km/h on the route. But, What are aerocrosses? The aerocrosses are born from an Adif project which has been working on for more than a decade. Its design is very similar to current sleepers at first glance, but it has a rounded design that reduces the turbulence generated under the trains and, with it, the pressures that increase the aerodynamic load and ballast flight. According to his calculations: Reduces the aerodynamic load in the space immediately above the ballast bed by 21%. The design allows increasing the distance between the ballast level and the upper face of the sleeper. It has no higher manufacturing or handling costs (they are still molds). And most importantly: the aerodynamic load generated by a train at 330 km/h on a track with current sleepers is equivalent to that generated by the same train at 370 km/h, but with aero sleepers. In a delicate moment. He Adamuz accident in Córdoba led to the machinists to lift their foot on the line and Adif ended up lifting temporary restrictions of speed that have been happening until today while the line is being reviewed. The result is that Madrid-Barcelona will be played in the promised 182 minutes (25 minutes more than usual) is, right now, taking a chance. This has caused a good part of the passengers who used the train to travel during their work day, with many comings and goings during the day, to move back to the Aerial Bridge. The CNMC calculates that up to half a million passengers may be lost if travel times remain higher than usual. But, in addition, the Madrid-Barcelona line is where Renfe has detected the most problems with its Avrils. The vibrations on this route ended up generating cracks in the Talgo trains, designed to be used on variable gauge trackwhich gives them a competitive advantage in Madrid-Galicia. However, Renfe had to remove them from circulation upon seeing that they broke on this route that is now being renewed. Photo | Pablo Nieto Abad In Xataka | Spain decided to build its social life around the AVE. And now he’s discovering the consequences of failing.

The AVE to Extremadura has taken a key step in its connection with Madrid. It’s a small step that takes us back a decade.

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They say that things in the palace go slowly. We could say the same about high speed. Not only because “high-speed” trains are taking longer than ever, but also because the construction of each new line resembles a birth that lasts decades. For example, the AVE to Extremadura. A quarter of a century has now passed since the project was approved. 25 years. And what we continue to have are connections typical of the 70s until we enter Extremadura where, coincidentally, the pace is already accelerating past Cáceres. We don’t lie. In 1970whoever took a train to Extremadura would arrive at the current Monfragüe station in 181 minutes. Today if everything goes well it will only take 20 minutes less. More than half a century after passing times collected in this guideit still takes more than three hours to get from Madrid to Plasencia. And right now it is necessary to stop at the aforementioned station and take a bus because the train no longer goes there. At least, in Extremadura they can boast since last December of having Cáceres and Badajoz connected, now, by high speed. Since the last days of the year, it is possible to cover the journey in 50 minutes. It is the result of works that, although they have taken time, have ended up being completed. A milestone that they cannot boast of in Castilla-La Mancha. And, 25 years after beginning to study where the AVE will pass on its way to Lisbon, a new step forward has been taken. One that also takes us almost ten years back. One step forward, Toledo. One step back When it was planned that an AVE would connect Madrid with Extremadura, it was decided that the work would have two large, clearly differentiated sections. One of them would be Madrid-Oropesa, the second Talayuela-Cáceres. With its obvious delaysthat second section is close to completion and its completion past Cáceres is what has allowed the arrival of high speed in that interprovincial Extremaduran section. And, as they point out in this great review of the diary Today Despite all the dates that have occurred in this quarter of a century, the end of the project could have been very advanced if the La Mancha section had been built at the same speed. However, since 2008 the various parties involved have been discussing what to do with the passage through Toledo. Or, rather, whether or not the train should pass through Toledo. That year, with the environmental impact report of the Madrid-Oropesa section already approved, the final approval was given to the informative study that contemplated a connection with the Andalusian corridor next to the Toledo town of Pantoja. The idea was to take a branch of this line towards Extremadura and thus save costs. The works, however, were not carried out. The 2008 crisis wiped out the project and it was never launched. Without machines working, the environmental report expired and that was when the Ministry of Public Works indicated that the AVE would pass through Toledo. We are already in 2017. The Government’s proposal was that, by passing through Toledo, the line would attract a greater number of travelers since the line would connect with a city that is a World Heritage Site. Of course, this meant traveling more kilometers and increasing travel time because Toledo is located further south than the first proposal. The idea was rejected by local authorities from the first moment. And the passage through Toledo It’s delicate. The Executive’s proposal has always been to take the AVE to the current station, which is just two kilometers in a straight line from the city center. But that means building a viaduct to overcome the passage of the Tagus, which has received continued rejection from local governments and the neighborhood platforms that consider that the image of the city would be damaged. Their proposal was to build a new station in a nearby industrial estate. This is how the year 2020 was reached, with an informative study in which it was proposed to subdivide the section into four parts: Toledo, Torrijos, Talavera de la Reina and Oropesa. They also showed their rejection of this project in Torrijos, which led to more bureaucracy and carrying out a complementary study in 2022. This document was presented in 2024 and had the approval of this town the following year… but in Toledo, as we have said, they still do not view the project favorably. In order to streamline the project, finally The Ministry of Transport has finally approved a new informative study that would contemplate building two branches from the Andalusian corridor. They explain in Today that if the branch goes ahead it would have its origin in Pantoja (as planned from 2008 to 2017) and that it would allow passage in both directions with trains of Iberian width and international width. However, it would be necessary to use trains capable of making this jumpsince the rest of the route to Extremadura is built on Iberian gauge. That is, right now what is being studied is the same to the conclusion that It was arrived in 2008 and that remained on the agenda until 2017. At least, as an alternative until it is decided whether or not the AVE to Extremadura passes through Toledo. And, if it happens, where is it going to do it. Photo | Gunnar Ridderström, Jaime Lillo and Falk2 In Xataka | The theory said that the entry of the AVE into Galicia would plummet aircraft prices. Practice is something else

The shape of the hands is one of the last evolutionary mysteries of the human being. And we are one step closer to solving it

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Our hands are, without a doubt, one of the wonders of biological engineering, since for a long time, the dominant evolutionary narrative has focused on how our anatomy transformed to allow precision grip and the manufacture of complex tools. However, if we look beyond the fingers and focus on the wrist, the bones tell a much older and more surprising story. New tests. A comprehensive published study in the magazine Proceedings of the Royal Society B has put on the table quite important evidence about how our ancestors moved. And the conclusion is that the morphology of our wrist retains an undeniable echo of a common ancestor adapted to walking supported on the knuckles. How they have done it. To reach this conclusion, the researchers have not relied on isolated conjectures, but on a large-scale anatomical analysis. The team analyzed more than 2,037 carpal boneswhich are what form the wrist, belonging to different species of primates, crossing these data with the anatomical analysis of 55 fossils of extinct hominins. What they discovered by mapping all this morphology is that human wrist bones don’t look like those of most primates, but instead share deep structural similarities specifically with African great apes. It’s not a coincidence, since it responds to the biomechanical adaptations necessary to support the weight of the body on the hands when they are closed. That is, although today we use our wrists for complex tasks such as typing, painting or even performing surgery, their architecture was designed for walking on the knuckles. Cautiously. Does this mean that our ancestor walked on his knuckles with absolute certainty? In science, closed statements are dangerous, and the authors of the study themselves are cautious, since they do not present this ancient practice as an irrefutable dogma, but as the most consistent and plausible interpretation according to the anatomical evidence on the table. Its evolution. Our body did not evolve suddenly to its current form, but rather went through different phases at different rates. Here the study shows this phenomenon in our hands, since, while the general structure of the wrist has preserved those primitive evolutionary signals shared with African apes, other parts of the hand changed later. Specifically, adaptations associated with fine, precision manipulation appeared much later in our evolutionary lineage. In Xataka | We had always believed that evolution had been arrested for thousands of years. The redheads were telling us the opposite

Huawei has found a way to step on TSMC’s heels

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The development of current semiconductor technology is deeply dependent on the size of the transistors that reside within the chips. TSMC, Intel, Samsung and other integrated circuit manufacturers they dedicate a lot of resources generation after generation of its technologies to the optimization and the miniaturization of its transistors. Even so, perfecting them is so difficult that sometimes they barely manage to improve them between two generations of consecutive integration technologies. That the chip industry depends so deeply on transistor size is a problem. Make them smaller it’s getting harderso the ideal is to undo this dependency as much as possible with a purpose: to ensure that the integration technologies developed by integrated circuit manufacturers continue to improve without being so profoundly limited by the physical characteristics of the transistors. This is precisely what Huawei has just achieved as part of the effort that China is making to ensure the development of its chip industry despite the pressure of US sanctions. He Tingbo, the president of the semiconductor business and director of the scientific committee of this company, has presented a new scaling law and a new chip architecture capable, on paper, of taking its semiconductors to a lithographic process node equivalent to 1.4 nm by 2031. Currently the most advanced integrated circuits that TSMC, Intel or Samsung produce are 2 nm. The “tau scaling law” promises He Tingbo made this announcement during his keynote address at the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS 2026) in Shanghai, China, today. Huawei’s plan is to continue improving the performance and density of its chips despite restrictions that limit China’s access to the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment. And the heart of their strategy is the “tau scaling law.” Tau is the time it takes for electrical signals to go from one transistor to another. Huawei’s bet is to reduce it to the maximum This principle seeks to reduce the time it takes for signals and data to travel through computer chips and equipment. According to He Tingbo, it proposes a paradigm shift that replaces the traditional geometric miniaturization of transistors. for a temporary escalation (τ), hence its name. It seems like a very complicated strategy, but it’s actually reasonably simple. We can easily understand what it is by referring to this example. Let’s imagine that we have a city (the chip) with many buildings (transistors) connected by roads (wires). Moore’s Law says: “make buildings smaller to fit more into the same space.” Huawei, however, proposes: “buildings can no longer be much smaller, so instead let’s make cars (electric signals) travel faster on the roads, and redesign the urban layout so that they travel less distance.” τ (tau) is, precisely, the time it takes a car to go from one building to another, and Huawei’s commitment is to reduce it as much as possible. Huawei’s LogicFolding architecture plays an essential role in this approach. And, if we continue with our example, it proposes a new design of the roads on which cars circulate, so that the chip will perform better without the need to build smaller buildings. Huawei has anticipated that its next generation of Kirin chips, which will arrive next fall, will be the first to implement the LogicFolding architecture. Image | TSMC More information | Reuters | SCMP In Xataka | The condemnation that afflicts China: after decades of manufacturing a competitive desktop processor, it is six years behind

This is how astronauts prepare to step on the Moon in 2028

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This week, SpaceX may take a giant step toward the Moon If Starship Flight 12 goes well. However, its main competitor in this race, Blue Origin, is not far behind. Its lunar module, the Blue Moon MK1, has successfully passed tests in a NASA vacuum chamber. And if that were not enough, there is now a model of the Blue Moon MK2 installed at the Johnson Space Center, so that the Artemis astronauts can practice the steps that will be carried out during the long-awaited moon landing. A step that SpaceX has not taken. The Blue Moon MK2 model is positioned in Building 9 of the Johnson Space Center, next to a prototype of the Orion capsule. The goal is for astronauts to rehearse the transition from one ship to another just before landing on the moon. This maneuver will take place during the Artemis IV missioninitially with Starship. This is because NASA closed the contract for this point of the mission with SpaceX. As for Blue Origin, would come into play in Artemis V. However, given some SpaceX delays, NASA has expressed the possibility of making changes to the contracts and advancing Blue Origin if it is ready sooner. At the moment, both are going well and it seems that SpaceX is recovering from its delays. The astronauts have also been able to do some training on Starship. However, everything has happened at the SpaceX facilities. It is the first time that NASA itself houses a mock-up of one of the landers so that the future crew can carry out the maneuver together with Orion. Different from the Apollo program. The Apollo program missions were manned by three astronauts, of which two landed on the moon and another remained orbiting the Moon. This happened after the two stages of the ship separated. The lander descended towards the Moon, but the command module remained in lunar orbit. In the case of Artemis there is not one ship that separates into two, but two ships. Astronauts will travel to lunar orbit aboard Orion. Once there, the ship will dock with the human landing system (HLS) developed by Blue Origin or SpaceX. This will allow two of the astronauts to transition to it and embark on the moon landing, while the other two remain in Orion. A very close race. The manned moon landing will happen on Artemis IV. However, before that, each company will need to have demonstrated the landing capability of its HLS separately, as well as the possibility of refueling directly in orbit. This is mission essential and has never been done before. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are making good progress. Some more advanced than others in specific steps, but without stopping moving forward. A lot of money at stake. It is logical that both companies are putting so much effort into this competition. Not only the pleasure of making history is at stake. There is also a lot of money on the table. If everything goes as planned, is calculated that SpaceX could earn up to $4.5 billion and Blue Origin $3.4 billion. It may end in a tie. Although this has always been seen as a competition, in reality if both prove to be viable, it is expected that neither will be left without visiting the Moon in the Artemis program. It is expected that Artemis III already has one of the landers for its docking with Orion in 2027. Afterwards, a manned lunar landing would be completed in 2028 with Artemis IV. From then on, the goal is for trips to the Moon to become a regular occurrence. For that, the more landers, the better. In principle, the two companies will have their piece of the pie. Images | POT In Xataka | In 2018, Elon Musk put his own car into orbit. Eight years later it is still circling the Earth

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