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Finland has realized that its welfare state is not enough to avoid the birth crisis. Now look for how to stop it

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The world has been looking at the Nordic countries for decades with a mixture of admiration and envy for their model of social welfare. A clear example is Finland, a benchmark in education, aids to motherhood and spent in social benefits. None of this, however, has prevented him from seeing how his birth rate it contracts little by little. In fact, the fall has been so forceful since 2010 and its rate is at such low levels that the Government has decided to hands to work. Now you have a diagnosis… and a formula with 20 ingredients. What does the data say? That Finland has a birth problem. A particularly complex one. The statistical basis The World Bank shows that its birth rate has plummeted over the last six decades, going from 2.7 during the baby boom to 1.3 in 2023. The decline was particularly sharp between the 1960s and 1970s, followed an oscillating curve until the last decade and accelerated again towards 2010. latest data of Macrotrends show a slight recovery, but the rate still remains far from past values. Why is it important? Because it shows that Finland has a problem, one recognized without half measures by the Government itself. “Finland’s birth rate has been declining rapidly over the past 15 years. In 2024 the country’s total fertility rate became as low as 1.25,” recognized last March the Ministry of Social Affairs, which admits that although Finland is not the only country dealing with this challenge, the collapse there has been “exceptionally rapid” in the last decade and a half and threatens to become an economic and social challenge. “Finland’s rate has fallen to a historic low and the decline has been more pronounced than in the other Nordic countries. There is a considerable gap between the ideal number and the actual average number of children. It is essential to find solutions to reduce the gap,” advocated in spring the Minister of Social Security, Sanni Grahm-Laasonen. In 2023 the indicators of the neighbors Norway and Sweden there were around 1.4 children on average per woman, also far from the replacement rate that allows countries to stay away from immigration. Why is the birth rate falling? That’s the million dollar question. And the one that the Finnish authorities did a while ago. To answer it in 2024 the Government commissioned a report which had to clarify the factors that hinder the country’s demographic engine and (just as important) explore possible solutions. The task was relevant because, as the Executive assures, in Finland there is “a big difference” between the number of children that couples want to have and those they have. “Studies show that Finnish family policy has favored both well-being and birth rates and continues to play an important role. However, the current decline is mainly due to the fall in the number of first births and the increase in the proportion of childless people,” reflect Professor Anna Rotkirch, from Väestöliitto (the Finnish Family Federation), one of the experts who participated in the preparation of the birth report. Did you identify the causes? Yes. And no. The Government quote somebut he also recognizes that there is no “clear reason” that alone explains the decline in birth rates. “Therefore there are no easy solutions to stop it,” the Ministry of Health resigns itself before listing some factors that come into play, such as cultural changes, unstable relationships, health, the situation of the labor market and income or the problems of reconciling professional life and parenting. The NPR organization was recently one step further and interviewed experts and young Finns to find out how they approached parenthood. Poa Pohjola and Wilhelm Bomberg, aged 38 and 35, are the first ones he cites in his analysis: the couple has been together for about three years and last July they had their first baby, although Pohjola admits that not so long ago he believed he would never have children. “It seemed impossible to me,” the woman confesses. His case is paradigmatic because it agrees with a phenomenon that Finnish researchers have observed and can be extended to many other countries, including Spain: delayed maternity and the increase in people who directly choose not to have children. In the case of Finland this has led to a fertility rate slightly lower to that of the EU average and nations such as Iceland, Denmark, Sweden or Norway. Does it matter beyond Finland? Yes. And it matters because Finland offers a particularly interesting case study. As remember Liisa Siika-ahofrom the working group of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, “in Finland benefits and services for families are relatively good.” In fact the Nordic countries they usually stand out precisely because of the facilities they provide for having offspring. Specifically Finland does it in aspects such as incentives, education and paid leave. “We can no longer claim that our good family policies explain the good fertility of the Nordic countries,” points out to NPR Annelie Miettinen, from the state agency Kela. “What baffles researchers is how this can be true, because all of these countries are relatively good at offering family support,” Miettinen said, “but there are really no good explanations for today’s very low fertility rates.” Just as it happens in Spain if the country is managing to weather the demographic storm is basically thanks to the immigration flow. How to solve it? A few months ago the Government made public a report on the topic that includes twenty proposals focused on the family and birth rate, all based on the premise that the commitment to early childhood education, family leave and economic support will boost birth rates. Until it is confirmed, the Health Department itself remains cautious. “In Finland the benefits and services for families are relatively good. This means that there are no areas where simple changes can be made,” takes on Sikka-aho. “However, all systems require maintenance and that is what many of our proposals address. It is unlikely that … Read more

This is how they are using oysters to stop global warming

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A few days ago we said that 55,000 oysters were about to invade the Mar Menor and, as strange as it may seem, it is good news. It is about the first step of a project of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography to recover the flat oyster in the largest lagoon in the country and, at the same time, introduce a natural biofilter that contributes to solving the dead end in which that area is. And this is just one example of something really curious: for years, oyster farming has been claimed as (perhaps) the (only) “agricultural” industry that is good for the global environment. And it’s not a ’boutade’: we have data. A few days ago, Nature magazine published a very interesting analysis of life cycle in Irish oyster farms. From there we can extract numerous data on its ability to reduce “environmental and climate pollution”: for every ton of oysters, 3.05 kilos of nitrogen, 0.35 kilos of phosphorus and about 70 kilos of carbon are fixed. All aquaculturists they know that oysters are “ecosystem engineers.” They filter water, reduce turbidity, eliminate problematic components and facilitate the robustness of habitats and boost biodiversity. That is to say, there is no doubt about the local benefits of this type of exploitation. The news is, in any case, that this contribution also goes beyond the local. And is it? Compared to terrestrial livestock farming, bivalves usually have a low carbon footprint in relation to their protein density. In fact, according to the analysis we were talking about, the footprint per ton is very manageable and a good part of it is offset by the mineralized carbon of the shells. If they manage well, of course. Because, if we look at the raw data, as a global climate solution, oysters are a modest strategy. In the end, carbon balances depend of the specific site, the management of the bivalves, the reuse of shells and, of course, the energy used throughout the production chain. Therefore, when we talk about “potential to fight climate change” we must keep two things in mind. The first is its ability to show that we can build another food industry. The second is to show that the impact of the things we do goes beyond what we are able to see directly. In the case of oysters, we have to take into account that their impact on water quality and biodiversity is not only powerful and cost-effective; but rather contributes to stopping climate change indirectly. Good news beyond the specific data. That’s the summary: if oysters can change the playing field; If they can push us, even an inch in the right direction… welcome. Image | Visual Animation In Xataka | The Mar Menor is so bad that scientists only see one solution: put 60 million oysters in there

Amazon kept losing money on its Echo devices. He has found a way to stop the bleeding: flood us with ads

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Amazon has been losing a fortune with their Amazon Echo devices. Connected speakers and displays are in millions of homes, but they have never been profitable. The company’s hope was that they would become a vehicle to sell more products on its e-commerce platform, but that goal was never met. Now Amazon has found a way to get a lot out of them: to put advertising in them for good. Lots of advertising. Why is it important. Amazon has just launched on the market your new Echo Show and Eco Dot. Prices have risen in all cases, but they also arrive with Alexa+ —although not in Spain at the moment—, the AI ​​assistant that the company has been working on for several months. These products are supposed to offer important advantages in the user experience, but at the moment what is happening is that these devices are displaying advertisements frequently. Wasted. Between 2017 and 2021 Amazon lost more than $25 billion with its Amazon Echo. The idea seemed good: they could sell them at a loss if they later amortized them by converting them into products to sell us things. Instead, users ended up taking advantage of them for little more than setting timers and musicand that has ended up being a huge problem for Amazon. Ads everywhere. There are several users of Amazon’s connected screens—the Echo Show—who are seeing surprise ads appear on these screens. a user Reddit account how the alarm clock feature on your Echo Show 5 became an annoying ad. Other user checked that in addition to one advertisement, songs that he had not specified were playing, while another he complained about how his Echo Show kept advertising the Amazon Plus service. Ads now appear more frequently on Prime Video. Source: Xataka. Flooded with advertising. These screens don’t stop showing ads, match other users, but in addition none of those users accepted that their devices could be used to display advertising, and there is no switch or configuration parameter that stops this behavior. Even people who are paying $20 for Alexa+, Amazon’s new AI assistant, are complaining from all that advertising avalanche. Also on Prime Video. Personally, I don’t have an Echo Show, but I have noticed that when enjoying series and movies on Prime Video, advertisements are broadcast with greater frequency and duration. I am not he only (not much less). Amazon allows customize preferences regarding advertising, but those who have done it affirm that this does not hardly reduce the frequency with which advertisements appear. What Amazon says. An Amazon spokesperson stated the following: at Ars Technica: “Advertising is a small part of the experience and helps customers discover new content and products they may be interested in. If customers don’t like a suggestion, they can swipe to the next card on the screen or directly provide feedback by tapping the info icon or tapping the screen.” If you move away, I announce to the song. The Amazon Ads website details the ad formats, and the text explains that “The ad viewing experience dynamically adapts based on the customer’s proximity to the device.” Once it is detected that the user is more than 1.2 meters away from their device, “the ads are displayed in full screen alternating with other content, such as the weather, recipes, sports and news.” This seems to be getting worse. The latest comments seen on Reddit or on X (formerly Twitter) seem to make it clear that Amazon is increasing the amount of advertising it displays on its devices and services. The question, of course, is how far they will go… and how that will impact both sales of their devices and subscriptions to their platforms. In Xataka | Amazon missed the AI ​​train, but it wants to catch it back. The new Alexa with AI will arrive this month to try it

a plague of flies that no one can stop

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Not the Gaza massacre, not the increase in salaries, not the improvement of public health or the fight against corruption. A few days ago the residents of Tomiño, a town in the south of Galicia, took to the streets to protest something very different and that is not common to find in 21st century Spain: the fly pests. Tired of encountering annoying insects even in the soup (and no, it is not a figure of speech) some 300 people They gathered in the town to demand that the institutions solve a problem that they have been for years dragging “It’s horrible, really terrible,” they cry out. What has happened? That Galicia has just experienced what may have been the most peculiar manifestation so far this year. Not so much for the form as for the substance. What has brought people to the streets in Tomiño, a town in the south of the province of Pontevedra, is a plague of flies. Thousands and thousands of dipterans that sneak into businesses and homes, complicating the lives of part of the town. The rally was organized last Sunday in the center of Carregal, the most affected parish of Tomiño, and brought together around 300 residents, according to Tele Mariñas specifies. The mobilization not only served to demand solutions from the administrations. It has also helped to better understand how the plague affects the inhabitants of the area, who claim to be living a true hell. “This plague doesn’t let me eat, sleep, or anything,” he lamented a 77-year-old neighbor who has lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade. “It’s horrible, terrible.” Is it that serious? The testimonies of the inhabitants of one of the most affected areas, Amorín, in Carregal, show that the invasion of flies is much more than a simple nuisance. “It’s terrible. You kill one and three come to the funeral,” counted a few days ago The Voice of Galicia Avelina, a neighbor. People talk about flytraps that fill up shortly after hanging them, businesses “desperate” and even people who are considering throwing in the towel and selling their homes if the problem is not solved. A few months ago in Forcadela, another parish in Tomiño, the owner of a bar confessed that the plague forced her to work reduced hours and do without the terrace so as not to lose customers. “When you moved there were so many that you could grab them with your hand, you even stepped on them,” recounted the hotelier, Ana Belén, The Voice of Galicia. “The ceiling of my establishment is white and it was black.” At Sunday’s rally, the residents of Carregal took to the streets a poster which, pulling back, emphasized the same complaint: “Menu of the day: 1st, broth with flies; 2nd, chickpeas with flies, coffee with flies. Enough already.” Their discomfort is not only due to the dipteran invasion itself. It also bothers them that the problem is repeated year after year without the administrations finding a solution. “We want solutions now.” What areas does it affect? The weekend protest was organized in Carregal, Tomiño, but a few months ago They complained about the same problem in Forcadela, another neighborhood in the town. In reality, it will have caught few by surprise. In 2024 in the village they were already complaining of the same problem and there are neighbors who report that flies have been a challenge for about five years. In reality, Tomiño is not the only Galician town that has had to do with the invasion of dipterans. Almost 175 kilometers from there, in Narón (province of A Coruña) there is another parish, O Val, which has been with a challenge to simulate. “It makes you desperate,” confessed In June one of his neighbors The Confidential. In his case he has even tried to combat flies with bleach. Without much success. What is the reason? In Tomiño the problem is serious enough that some time ago the City Council commissioned a study to clarify its causes, a task that fell to a group specialized in environmental biology from the University of Vigo. Salustiano Mato, professor of Zoology, he resisted last year to talk about a “plague” of flies as such, but admits that there are “disproportionate population booms” of insects in some parts of the municipality. Its protagonist is the common fly, an insect with a fleeting life cycle, between seven and 30 daysbut which is capable of depositing about a thousand eggs during that brief period. The affected neighbors they explain that “strong pests” are suffered between spring and well into autumn, although the problem is not completely solved during the cold months. “We continue with flies because there is no more frost.” Regarding the possible causes of its uncontrolled presence in Tomiño, Mato explains that “a perfect storm” seems to have occurred, an opinion shared by Galicia Ambiental. “The combination of climatic factors, temperature and humidity could be behind everything. There is a set of environmental circumstances that favor hatching, irruption or mass reproduction,” they sentence. And how to solve it? The problem is more complex than it seems. When it comes to pointing out the causes, more factors have been pointed out, such as the use of fertilizer in crop fields, humidity (the area is near the Miño), the destruction of native forest, with the consequent loss of trees and birds that feed on insects, or the expansion of crops. A few months ago, in fact, the Tomiño City Council related the Forcadela plague with a poorly fertilized farm, in which manure supposedly accumulated on unplowed land. Things don’t seem to be clear in the offices either. Last year the local government I remembered that there is a royal decree of 2022 that establishes that the powers over the inspection and control in the care of farmland falls on the Xunta, but the municipal opposition insist in which the law obliges the City Council to “act” and remembers that it is the … Read more

Stop importing gas and turning your subsoil into the new energy strength

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While Europe monitored its gas deposits at the beginning of September –at 76%, a breath to the winter that is coming-, at the other end of the Chinese world he wrote another story. Far from the preventive mentality, the Asian giant is extracting gas at an unprecedented rate. It is not just about filling warehouses, but about rewriting the rules of your energy safety. The awakening of a gas giant. China was already a power in energy matters: storing oil and An undisputed leader in renewables. But now a new identity is carved: being a gas axis. In just twenty years, Beijing has achieved what few believed possible: turning from an almost absolute dependence on imports towards unstoppable rising domestic production. According to analyst John Kempinternal gas production has not stopped growing at a rate close to 10% per year since the beginning of the century. The provinces of the Northwest –xinjiang, Shaanxi, Interior Mongolia– They have registered Even more vigorous increases, 13%, while the Sichuan basin, more mature, maintains a remarkable 9%. Three main levers. The first bet has been the riskiest: getting where few arrive. The big state companies –Sinopec, Cnooc and Petrochina– They have reoriented their efforts towards wells up to 10,000 meters deep and the development of the complex shale gas in Sichuan. . It is not just a technical issue; It is a political strategy with a clear objective: to reduce the dependence of foreign gas, although that means drilling in hostile geological formations and a high cost. The second lever has been geographical. Secondary regions on the Chinese energy map, such as Xinjiang or Interior Mongolia, They have become the new gas engine in the country. With the determined support of Beijing, these areas now concentrate conventional and unconventional gas projects, backed by a logistics network that connects them with the east consumption centers. The third play has been geopolitical. China and Russia They signed a memorandum For the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, an infrastructure that could inject up to 50,000 million cubic meters per year from Yamal to northern China. Although the price and calendar details are still on the table, the message is clear: Beijing ensures long -term supply, at probably lowered prices, and shields against the volatility of the global LNG market. The numbers do not lie. Official data collected by the Xinhua agency They reflect this turn. Between January and June 2025, China produced 130.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 5.8% more than in the same period of the previous year. In June alone, production reached 21.2 billion cubic meters, with a growth of 4.6% year -on -year. The International Energy Agency (AIE) Recognize that gas Win weight in the Chinese energy mix for its flexibility and lower emissions against coal, although it warns that the country must redouble efforts to meet its climatic goals. Meanwhile, liquefied natural gas imports (LNG) sink. According to the data of the KPLer consultant collected by BloombergLNG Chinese purchases will fall in September 22% year -on -year, up to 5.4 million tons. It is the eleventh consecutive month of descents. Reuters anticipates That total imports of 2025 could be reduced between 6% and 11%, weighed by a faster internal demand, the increase in local production and the largest flows by gas pipeline from Russia and Central Asia. Infrastructure for Independence. China is not only extracting more gas; also has woven a colossal network submarinto consolidate its autonomy. The Asian giant already exceeds 10,000 kilometers of underwater pipes, a web that connects gas platforms, wind farms and refineries with the terrestrial network. Emblematic projects such as the Bay of Hohai or the Deep field No. 1 symbolize this new energy border. These pipes transport gas and raw, and in the future they are called to carry hydrogen. The goal is not just technical; It is strategic: to ensure national supply and reduce exposure to international fluctuations. Forecasts The IEA provides that Chinese gas consumption reach its peak by 2035, before stabilizing with electrification and renewables. In the short term, the demand will remain moderate: the lazy industrial growth and the impulse of domestic production could maintain the imports of minimums also in 2026. Meanwhile, investments in deep perforations, the offshore network and the Russian gas pipelines consolidate China as self -sufficient actor and strong negotiator against traditional producers such as the US, Qatar or Australia. The new board. Europe keeps gas to survive winter. China, on the other hand, cava deeper to not need it. In just two decades, the country has gone from depending on metaneous cargoes to negotiate from abundance. If the plans are fulfilled – more national production, pipes until 2030 and Power of Siberia 2 operation in the next decade -, the global map of natural gas could definitely turn to Asia. And the old continent, which today breathes relieved with its full reserves, could soon discover that the next energy crisis will not be decided in Moscow or in Doha, but among Beijing’s offices. Image | Freepik Xataka | The new maritime record of China is shaped like a floating gas plant: 376 meters long and Africa destination

I’m generating absurd memes where I am the protagonist and I can’t stop

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Openai is not a gray company. When he presented Sora’s first version, it seemed that the video associated with Chatgpt was going to change everything, but the reduced model that ended up arriving at users 10 months later was a complete fiasco. Now have launched Sora 2 without prior notice And, well, I can’t stop. It is totally addictive. It has a metic potential that far exceeds The launch of Nano-Banana de Googleand that reminds the Studio Ghibli phenomenon of Chatgpt, which makes me think that, this time, OpenAi had everything coldly calculated. You have to have effort to get to Sora 2 In the absence of API to get access to the model in third -party tools (Freepik claims to be in it), The only way to create videos with Sora 2 is through Sora, a new OpenAi social network that works like Tiktokbut with videos generated by artificial intelligence itself. Sora is only available, for the moment, In the United States and Canadaso the first thing I had to do to access is to install a VPN. After choosing a username (or importing the one I already had in the old Sora), uploading a profile picture and putting on a bio, I could finally start generating videos with nine seconds sound, in panoramic or vertical format. Not so fast. Sora’s web version is missing several functions, including the most popular of all: create a “cameo” with your face and your voice to become the protagonist of your own videos or to appear in the videos of others. To configure that option you have to download the Sora app, which is now exclusive for iPhone, and is only available in the United States and Canada app store. So I had to install a VPN in iOS, create an Apple account in the United States, associate the new account to the app store and download Sora. Once inside, I found a very familiar interface. A Feed of recommended content, another to see the publications in chronological order and another to see only what you follow. In addition to creating your own content, answering comments, etc. As a novelty, he has an option to tell the AI ​​in what “Mood” you are: what kind of content you want to see. Openai has given in the nail with the “cameos” Anyone who has generated images and videos with AI in recent years knows that models tend to change your face. Nor are they very good to maintain the same face in different scenes. Until recently, the solution was the Loras: Train a model with your photos (technically, refine an already trained model) to generate videos with your face. But Loras are a complex and expensive solution, which has resulted in new techniques to improve the consistency of image models. Flux Kontext of the German company Black Forest Labs or Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Nano-Banana of Google are paradigmatic examples that have pushed the entire sector to improve their consistency. And now Sora cameos arrive. When you open Sora’s application for the first time, you can directly configure your cameo with the phone camera, reading some numbers that appear on the screen and turning the head in the addresses indicated by the app. The recording is used to generate videos with your face and your voice in the context you can think of. There is A huge guide OpenAi to improve your cameos, but the most important point is to be in a well -lit room. With the recording enough for the results to be convincing, but you can add personalized instructions in a text box: I am smiling, I am serious, I am fat, I am skinny, etc. The most important thing is to select who will be able to use your cameo to make videos: only you, only the people to whom you have approved access, all your friends or all users. Sam Altman, the OpenAi CEO, has a public cameo that carries Sora’s initial success. Almost all the videos that have been viralized have Altman as the protagonist. Sora’s first great meme are uncomfortable videos of Sam desperate because they give her more servers: Sam Altman stealing graphics cards in a target, Sam Altman asking for donations, Sam Altman screaming at the Nvidia headquarters that need more GPUS. He Presentation video Sora 2 included OpenAi engineers flying over dragons or riding giant ducks. The same generation of Sora can have several cameos, so one of the star functions could end up being mixed with celebrities. The problem is to find celebrities willing to give your image that way. In one of my videos, Ijustine tells me How fine the iPhone Air and Sam Altman replies that “it is a respectable size, I would say.” The videos take a few minutes to generate. You can do several at the same time (up to 100 a day) and then publish or leave them in drafts. More similar to I came than Tiktok or Instagram Sora is first and foremost an poisoned dart against goal. The queen of social networks has not only been fishing Openai engineers with her astronomical salaries, but just a week ago she had just launched her own social network of self -generated content: “Vibes.” With a more creative or artistic approach that Sora, Vibes has been described by the less flattering comments as a “Ai Slop” landfill, garbage content generated with AI. Sora is still, in large part, garbage generated with AI. But the feeling I have while I do Scroll It is to have returned to the times of Vine, the precursor of Tiktok that was bought by Twitter and then close. An amalgam of scathing sketches and anonymous moments with the innocence of a time in which the short video did not monetize nor competed for your attention against millions and millions and millions of other vertical videos. For now, people are in Sora to pass it well. And to put Sam Altman in trouble. … Read more

The question is not when it will stop raining, the question is how much water this fall will fall

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The Mediterranean slope has once again been in the center of an important rainfall episode. From Zaragoza to Murcia, rainfall has flooded streets and squares. Fortunately, the situation has not achieved the magnitude of what we saw last fall, but the situation led yesterday to the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet) to issue several notices, including red notices due to extreme risk. Final in sight. The situation has not yet been reversed, although the focus of the rains has been moving. If yesterday the most affected areas were in the center and north of the Levantine coast, today the risks are concentrated in the provinces of Valencia, Alicante, as well as in Murcia and in the Balearic Islands: in the early hours of today, Eivissa has seen fall More than 115 mm of water. Yesterday the accumulated rainfall They touch the 240 mm in barxValencia, and exceeded 100 mm at the province airport. In some areas of Castellón and Tarragona, rainfall also exceeded 57 mm. Experts expect the transition to October to bring a radical change in the atmospheric. Aemet does not include in its forecast the arrival of significant phenomena and indicates that it is expected “it provides stable time in much of the country”, except in the eastern zone that will still see rethinking instability due to the influence of the cold trough. Radical change. The Aemet monthly forecasts They seem to secondary this idea: the agency provides that a driest month of October than usual in almost the entire peninsula and, especially, in the northwestern zone. It is also expected that the temperatures of the next few days will be higher than what would correspond to these autumn dates. The thing could change during the second half of the month. Although temperatures could continue to be high, the agency begins to glimpse anomalously high rainfall on the Levantine coast during the week that begins on the 13th. Some somewhat more abundant rainfall is also expected than usual in the southwest quadrant during the final stretch of the month. Two slopes, two stories. But if we want to know (or at least intuit) what we have autumn, we have to go to the longer term forecasts. What do these forecasts suggest? Well, the tonic will last, with two different trends in peninsular Spain. Regarding rainfall, Aemet foresees a dry autumn in much of the territory. Probabilistically, the agency talks about 45% probabilities of a dry autumn compared to 20% probabilities of a humid fall. However, the thing changes in the east zone, where uncertainty prevails with respect to whether autumn will be wetter, drier or if on the contrary it will remain within the parameters of normality. Echoes of a different autumn. The forecasts give rise to a complicated scenario: the lack of rainfall in much of the country implies the return of the ghost of the drought. As if this were not enough, the predictions on the Mediterranean coast are compatible with the arrival of intense rainfall episodes. These do not have to reach the magnitude of those that occurred last year, but the rains of these days show us that they do not have to reach such dimension to cause important problems. In Xataka | After months of indecision, meteorologists already see the girl in Pacific waters Image | ECMWF

The USB-A ports are not going to disappear so please, manufacturers, stop eliminating them from their equipment

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My Logitech keyboard has a wireless receptor in the form of USB-A adapter. The same goes for the Anker webcam that I use, which is great and that connects to my equipment with its cable with a USB-A connector. The wired mouse I use to play, surprise, also uses that port. In fact, the Mac Mini M4 that I use daily to work has a great paste: It has no USB-A connectors. On its front there are two great USB-C ports, but I do not use them as such: I have long bought two USB-A (female) adapters to USB-C (male) to be able to use my peripherals easily in that equipment. That has long been the constant appearance of the front of my Mac. It is no longer as stylized as they conceived in Apple, but I don’t care, because what is is practical. I have some USB-C peripherals, yes, but they are the least, and despite the advantages of the USB-C connector, the reality is that today many peripherals-trays, keyboards, webcams, pendrives, etc.— They are still betting on the well-known, old and good USB-A connector. The dichotomy of the industry: do we kill the USB-A, yes or no? It doesn’t matter if it is more speaking, more rough and zero reversible. In his favor he has played the fact that he is recognizable and that he managed to give a simple answer to the problem of differentiation. In USB-C there is no easy way to know if a cable offers better transfers and supports better load capabilities than another. In USB-A connectors, look if The inner color of the connector. Color Standard Speed Special characteristics White USB 1.x 1.5 – 12 Mbps None Black USB 2.0 Hi-Speed 480 Mbps None Blue USB 3.0 Superspeed Up to 5 Gbps None Red USB 3.1 Gen 2 & USB 3.2 10-20 Gbps Always on Yellow USB 2.0 & USB 3.0 480 – 5 Gbps Always on, Power Liabilities Delivery Orange USB 3.0 Up to 5 GPBS Always on, Power Liabilities Delivery The connector USB-C has been imposed In the mobile devices segment. The same European Union chosen it as the standard of iure that They had to use all manufacturersincluding an Apple that surely did not like the idea. The funny thing is that this same company has been an ultranza defender of the USB-C connector in its Mac and MacBooks. Apple went through a terrible stage in which the number of connectors minimized to the maximum –The infamous MacBook He only had a USB-C port— and that made many complain about The #Donglelife condemnation although in the end it was not so much. The funny thing is that Apple ended up reconciling with connectivity, and both the Mac Studio and the MacBook Pro are an example of it. The first to They tell With USB-A ports (surprise!), While the latter include SD card reader and HDMI port but, pity, no USB-A ports. The laptops loved (alone) to the USB-C connectors That unique obsession with not including USB-A ports in laptops is common in the segment and is not limited to Apple’s MacBook. You have to search well among the available models of HP, Lenovo or Dell to find equipment that has USB-A ports. Even “big” teams like the Dell XPS 16 They pass olympically from that port. The manufacturer goes further and, anticipating the complaints, gives us the option of buying a USB-C adapter to USB-A (additional 25 euros) to be able to connect peripherals of this type to their laptop. Arch. Fortunately those ports Yes they are available For example, in its gaming laptop alienware range, something logical if we consider that it is much more normal to connect gaming peripherals that usually use the USB-A connector. There is no doubt that the USB-C connector has important advantages. Murphy’s law is usually complied with the USB-A connectors: We often try to connect on the side that is not. That does not happen with the USB-C connectors, wonderfully reversible, but it is also possible to combine data transfer with the video signal. But with everything and with that, the USB-C connector and those cables have their own problems, among which it stands out the chaos of variants that exist. That is a separate problem that does not especially affect that other reality we are talking about: the USB-A connector is still used by all types of manufacturers for all types of peripherals. And that is why it is striking to see how most portable manufacturers (and some desktop equipment, such as the Mac Mini) continue to be obtained with a forced update that has not been produced. Some brands have been trying to forget the port and USB-A connectors, but again and again the peripheral market prevents it. It is true that adapters and the Dongles They solve the problem acceptably. But it would not be to see from time to time no gaming teams that recovered those ports. That, I’m afraid, it’s going to be difficult. Image | Bram van Oost In Xataka | Clariating with USB-C ports is an impossible mission. A new labeling system wants to end the mess

stop desertification in China

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China has found an ingenious way to give a second life to the giants who once dominated their energy landscape. The pales of the wind turbines, who begin to retire after 20 or 25 years of service, are becoming more than a difficult product to recycle: they now serve to stop an enemy that advances silently, desertification. A barrier against the sand. Researchers at Research Station of Gobi Desert Ecology and Environment, Under the Chinese Academy of SciencesThey have found a way to transform the old blades of wind turbines into porous barriers against the sand. It is a solution that takes advantage of the geographical coincidence: many of the wind farms of western China are installed in arid or semi -desert regions, just where the control of the desert progress is most lacking. A quite simple process. The turbines are cut, pierce and process until they are made into porous structures. The wind can cross them, but in a controlled way: enough to catch the sand and alter its flow. In laboratory tests They showed that these barriers They are 14 times more resistant than composite wooden boards and that support ultraviolet radiation, extreme heat and constant abrasion of the sand. After that, the experiments in wind tunnels and computer simulations They confirmed that they reduce Significantly the transport of sand at ground level. Unlike traditional methods – like straw or cane barriers, which decompose quickly – new structures are designed to resist for years in extreme conditions. A double benefit. The value of this innovation goes far beyond engineering. The new barriers offer entire communities a more stable protection in front of sand storms that destroy oasis and crops. The clearest example is Dunhuang, in the province of Gansu, which located on the edge of the Kumtag desert, just 4.5% of its surface is covered by Oasis, and its famous cultural treasures – like Mogao’s caves— They have been threatened by the sand for decades. For its part, the project responds to a more urgent need: the massive recycling of wind blades. According to China Dailyduring the 14th five-year plan (2021-2025) is expected to withdraw more than 1.2 million kilowatts of wind capacity and in the following plan (2026-2030), the figure could reach 10 million kW per year. This volume of waste poses an environmental problem, but also an opportunity to transform them into useful resources there where they occur. Looking for solutions before the residue. The challenge now is to climb the technology. Field trials They continue to adapt it To different climates and deserts, and the potential is enormous: convert an awkward residue into a key environmental management tool. China, that already leads the world renewable capacityshows with projects like this how its strategy goes beyond installing panels and mills: it is about closing the circle, taking advantage of waste and, incidentally, protecting fragile territories against desertification. The energy transition not only produces electricity: it can also rewrite the landscape. Image | Pexels Xataka | He was deported to China after co -founding NASA’s JPL. Now China has made one of his ideas come true: flying wind turbines

Openai has just changed the chatgpt rules with Pulse. Stop waiting questions and start anticipating your daily life

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You get a notification to the mobile. It is not the calendar or mail: it is from Chatgpt. It’s called Pulse and, According to OpenAi“investigate proactively“To give you a personalized summary of the day with thematic cards that you can get quickly or open for more detail. The grace is that you stop waiting for your question and advance with ideas and next steps, learning from your chats and your feedback And, if you decide to connect them, of apps such as the calendar. The result is a Briefing Matinal that tries to fit with your routine before it starts. Pulse arrives as a view and, for now, is only available in the ChatgPT mobile application for payment users in THE PRO PLAN. It does not replace the usual model, but is presented as an addition: the assistant maintains the option to answer on demand questions, but adds a new functionality. With this movement, Openai takes the first step towards an assistant who aspires to be present before even the user invoices it. Of the chatbot that responds to the assistant who advances Every night, the system analyzes recent conversations and interactions history to prepare a set of cards with information selected These cards are presented the next day in the application as a daily summary that can be browsing in seconds or expanding to obtain more context. The content expires at the end of the day unless it is saved in the history of chats. In addition, each card can be opened to request clarifications or following steps, so that the experience is not limited to reading, but connects with the usual conversation. Personalization is built on simple signals. The user can give a thumb up or down, ask that the next summary include a specific topic or modify what is not useful. Pulse collects that information and applies it in the next night cycle. Openai points out that all adjustment history is accessible and reversible: it can be consulted or erased when desired. To reduce risks, each set of cards undergoes safety checks that block problematic recommendations or contents that violate the platform standards. One of the characteristics is in the possibility of COnectar Gmail and Google Calendar. In doing so, press can suggest an agenda scheme for a meeting, remember the purchase of a birthday gift or recommend restaurants based on a scheduled trip. These integrations are deactivated by default and are managed from the configuration. Openai insists that they improve the relevance of suggestions, although they also expand the surface of personal information that the assistant handles. The examples are varied and very everyday. Openai mentions from tips to prepare a quick dinner to reminders linked to a trip or training suggestions for a triathlon. In the Chatgpt Lab, several students commented that the utility of Pulse became evident when they began to guide it with concrete requests. One of them reported that, after talking about how to organize his calendar in Taiwan, the system offered him practical steps to optimize train journeys that would not have looked for himself. Openai has been working on the security of his chatbot for some time. Even so, cybersecurity experts warn that the risk never disappears completely. Radware documented a case in which an altered mail managed to The in -depth research function of chatgpt will filter sensitive data. Vulnerability was already corrected, but the example reminds that integrating personal information into such an assistant increases exposure and demands to keep caution. For now, Pulse is in a view phase and only those who have the Pro subscription in the mobile app. OpenAI warns that not always right: Reminders of already closed projects or little relevant suggestions may appear. The idea is to collect that early use to correct failures and refine the model. If everything progresses as planned, the function will open first to Plus clients and then to the rest, in a progressive deployment. It is a launch that fits a broader strategy: to make Chatgpt become a daily assistant and not only a specific tool. OpenAi seeks to increase the time of use and take a step towards the more personal relationship With the application. The movement also marks distance in front of competitors such as COPILOT of Microsoft or Claude of Anthropic, which until now have prioritized professional or productivity uses. According to Reutersthe company also works on a browser with AI that would reinforce this commitment to accompany the user in more facets of their digital life. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | Microsoft has never been so valuable throughout its history. And he has never been so close to the abyss

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