successfully

The European Union is successfully demolishing hundreds of dams across the continent. It’s for our good

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When Tore Sorebakken and a team of workers reached the Vinstra River in the heart of Norway in December 2025, no one knew what they were looking for. But when they emptied the pond, drilled dozens of holes and installed 750 kilos of explosives, local authorities stopped them and asked them what why were they trying to destroy that natural waterfall. Sorebakken, surprised, had to explain to them that this was actually a dam built at the beginning of the 20th century to facilitate the transportation of wood and generate a minimum amount of hydroelectric energy. The locals had completely forgotten about it: as I say, they had no idea that it was a human infrastructure. And that is a beautiful metaphor for the enormous abandonment that European rivers have suffered for decades. Free the rivers. Six years ago, the demolition of old dams and clogged weirs was anecdotal in Europe. But in 2024 it came into force European Union Nature Restoration Regulation. It sought to return 25,000 kilometers of river to “free-flow” status before 2030. Since then (since before, really, because there were countries that began to implement it before it came into force) we have had five consecutive years of historical highs. In 2025, according to Dam Removal Europe annual reportat least 603 barriers were removed on the continent. This allowed more than 3,740 kilometers of river to be reconnected. The ‘more’ in the previous paragraph is because reconnection data is only available for 198 of the 603 barriers removed. But why do we want to ‘reconnect kilometers of river’? There are many data, but one that is especially clear is that More than 42% of European freshwater fish species are threateneds and about two-thirds are at risk of being so. Whether we like it or not, 9 out of 10 natural disasters in the European Union in the last decade have had to do with water. And having the rivers full of forgotten structures is part of the problem. ‘Taking back control’ of rivers is essential to reduce the risks of contemporary European society. But that will have consequences, right? This can be read in many places: that European policies of “dam demolition” aggravate droughts. The problem is, of course, that is inaccurate. At least, if we go by the majority of the demolitions. Almost everything that is being torn down are weirs of less than two meters. That is, small barriers that do not store water, but rather raise the sheet to divert flow to an irrigation canal, hydroelectric plant or mill. In fact, most of them should already be demolished because the concessions that allowed them have expired, but no one has paid special attention to it. Until now. Image | Red Zeppelin In Xataka | “In the next ten years, Spain and Latin America are going to suffer (a lot) with water,” Robert Glennon (University of Arizona)

The next treatment for depression could be in the eyes. They have already successfully tested smart contact lenses on mice

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Drug-resistant depression is one of the greatest challenges of today’s medicinesince when antidepressants they don’t workpsychiatry and neurology have to resort to therapies such as electroconvulsion. Now, a team of researchers has given this issue a radical turn by developing smart contact lenses capable of treating depression by stimulating the brain through the retina. a study published in the magazine cell shows very good results in mouse models with the use of these contact lenses which have made it possible to reverse the depressive phenotype with a capacity comparable to that of the antidepressant fluoxetine, or better known as Prozac. It is not invasive. To understand the milestone that this study represents, we must first look at the current therapies that involve using what is known as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to be able to do non-invasive neuromodulation for patients with drug-resistant depression. The possibility of transcranial electrical stimulation by direct current is also being studied. But the problem with these therapies, which are at the bottom of psychiatry, is that reaching the deep regions of the brain without resorting to surgery is extremely difficult. And one of the risks of applying a strong electric field from the outside to reach the depths of the brain can end up damaging part of the brain. The solution. This physical inconvenience is where temporal interference technology comes in. As detailed a review done in 2025this stimulation is a great strategy, since it consists of applying two high-frequency electrical currents that do not affect the superficial brain tissue. In this way, when crossing in the deep areas of the brain, the frequency difference creates a new low-frequency wave that does stimulate the target neurons. It is a functional concept that was demonstrated for the first time in mice and that allows access to the depths of our anatomy without a scalpel. Some contact lenses. Under this principle is where we are now looking for a way to apply it in a way that is comfortable for the patient and is where the use of contact lenses equipped with electrodes made with gallium and platinum oxide comes into play. Here the direct anatomical connection that exists between the eye and the brain through the optic nerve is used to transmit this stimulation through the retina which allows temporary interference signals to be sent to the neural networks involved in depression. The application. In the research, this stimulation was simply applied for 30 minutes a day for three weeks in the rodents. What was achieved here is a restoration of healthy brain oscillations and a behavioral improvement that, according to the researchers, is comparable to that obtained by administering fluoxetine in these same animal models. Caution. Here we must keep in mind that this is the first time that contact lenses have been used to treat a brain disorder, and although the design of the device is a display of engineering, we must be cautious. As is often the case with these advances, the transition from the laboratory to the patient is very slow due to the need for numerous trials to assess the effect and safety in humans. But the idea is already on the table right now and we just have to wait for science to continue advancing. Images | rawpixel.com on Magnific In Xataka | We say we are “depressed” beyond our means: where does the illness end and where does the illness begin?

China is successfully replacing a 19th century industry with drones: skyscraper window cleaners

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When we think of skyscrapers, the Western culture in which we have grown up makes us inevitably associate them with the United States and iconic skylines in cinema such as New York or Chicago, but the current reality is very different: China is the country that breaks the cord, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitatthe world’s leading authority on the classification of tall buildings: it is home to more than half of the world’s tallest skyscrapers. This architectural explosion has created an unprecedented maintenance challenge: having to clean millions of square meters of glass and metal facades. What started as a need for manpower has become a testing ground for advanced robotics and unmanned aviation thanks to a state plan called “Robot+” that automates tasks to compensate labor shortage. One of the most striking recent examples: automated cleaning from Nanchang Railway Station. Goodbye to human window cleaners. The traditional Spider-Man of buildings is disappearing and it makes perfect sense: the risk of accidents and the climatic conditions of cities like Shanghai or Guangzhou have made this profession increasingly less attractive for new generations, so cleaning companies it is difficult for them to find relief: the perfect scenario for automation. Furthermore, the data from cleaning drones is compelling: going from being able to clean 200 square meters a day to 10,000 with a cost between 10 and 20% less, according to the Wuhan startup Aero Technology collected by China Daily. Drones are best suited to difficult outdoors such as corners and nooks and work even on rainy or windy days without risk. And when finished, the drone uses its camera to capture images of the clean surface, which it transmits to ground personnel for review. If it doesn’t comply, give it a review. Why is it important. We have already glimpsed some of the advantages of automating cleaning at height, but one is truly essential: safety. According to the WHOfalls are the second global cause of death due to unintentional injuries, only behind traffic accidents, with about 684,000 deaths annually. In the specific workplace, they constitute one of the main risks in sectors such as construction or industry. especially dangerous are the falls in height. In the United States, OSHA data They return that falls represent between 35 and 39% of construction-related deaths. In Spain, falls from height represented in 2024 12.2% of all work-related deaths during work hours in all sectors and this year alone they cost the lives of 79 people in the Spanish state alone. The other big advantage is price: less labor, less operating time because they clean faster, lower equipment costs, and lower insurance premiums. Aero Technology quantifies savings between 10 and 20% compared to traditional methods, although the drone company Apex is more optimistic for your business, raising the range of savings up to 30 or 50% (although the reason is probably that you consider assemblies like scaffolding). Regarding water consumption, a study by Shanghai University of Engineering has shown which spends 21.8% less. Context. China faces the worst possible scenario in this framework: it is the country with the most skyscrapers in the world, it has a lot of air pollution that quickly dirtys its facades and it also suffers labor shortage for manual jobs. Although if we are looking for pioneers in the drone cleaning segment we have to go to the North American one. Surname born 2014, the Elevation from the Swiss Aerotain AG back in 2015 or the Norwegian KTV Working Dronethe owner and mistress of drone window cleaning is China. China had been preparing the ground for years, as demonstrated by different academic research papers on glass and facade cleaning robotsas this of cable-driven parallel robots from Tsinghua University or this other of fan-powered cleaning robots from the Harbin Institute of Technology. The Asian giant has the academic ecosystem, state financial support and an obvious need. Said and done: China was the one who democratized technology, moving from prototypes and more or less “artisanal” devices to large-scale production with scalable industrial systems and companies like DJI, UAEAV and Foxtech. Today they already produce between 80-90% of the world’s commercial drones and lead an industry that in 2024 was valued at 248 million dollars and has a projection of 1,257 million by 2033. according to Growth Market Reports. The substitutes. China has developed a complete industrial ecosystem that is essentially divided into two major technological aspects. On the one hand, high-pressure cleaning drones that are connected to water pumps that are on the ground, such as the DJI M400 or the solutions of Foxtech Robotics. On the other hand, autonomous climbing robots with sensors and AI navigation (such as robot vacuum cleaners) such as those from OneMovecapable of detecting and adapting to variations in façade surfaces. In between, variants in the form of projects with hybrid platforms such as that of Skybotics Technology Limited or wired parallel systems that offer high precision, such as this from the Faculty of Engineering of Shanghai University with three degrees of freedom. Some of the technologies that can be found in this type of robots are adaptive joints to reduce wind discomfort or “zero distance” spraying to increase pressure, both present in the DJI M400one of the most popular in the sector. Yes, but. Although facade cleaning robots are a revolution for the sector, they are not a panacea: they work best on flat surfaces, they have height restrictions (typically between 60 and 120 meters for wired systems) and although they have more margin than human labor to operate in worse weather conditions, they are not infallible. Finally, the initial cost is significant, which constitutes a barrier to entry for smaller companies because it is not only the drone, it is also extra auxiliary elements such as pumping stations, batteries, software or safety certifications. For example, only the complete Lucid Bots Sherpa kit It costs $75,000.which leads to opting for solutions such as renting or leasing. In any case, and … Read more

Artemis II takes off successfully and humanity returns to the Moon after more than 50 years

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Artemis II It has taken off successfully and we are not facing just any launch. What we have seen marks the return of beings humans heading to the Moon more than half a century after the last missions of the Apollo program, a milestone that for decades seemed reserved for the history books. This time, furthermore, it is not just about returning, but about taking a crew further from Earth than any human being has gone in more than half a century, in a mission designed to validate NASA’s deep exploration system in real conditions. To understand the dimension of this takeoff, it is worth stopping for a moment at what exactly Artemis II is. The mission represents the first crewed flight of NASA’s new exploration system, which combines the Orion spacecraft, the SLS rocket and the Kennedy Space Center’s ground systems. For approximately ten days, the astronauts will evaluate the behavior of the ship in real deep space conditions, something that until now had only been tested without people on board. NASA itself raises it as an essential step to pave the way for future missions designed to return to the lunar surface. The journey that returns humans to the lunar environment Before reaching this moment, what we have had has been a countdown with some tension. In the hours before, the teams had to review an anomaly in a temperature sensor of a battery of the abort system, which NASA attributed to an instrumentation problem and which, according to the agency, would not affect the launch. Added to this was another incident in the flight termination system, the safety mechanism that allows the rocket to be destroyed if it deviates from its trajectory and poses a threat, a problem that placed the mission in “no go.” Both setbacks were left behind before takeoff and are now part of the background of a day that finally went ahead. The planned flight path of Artemis II Over the next few days, what we will see will be a relatively short, but very demanding mission. After launch, the spacecraft will first enter a high orbit around the Earth for about 24 hours to check that all systems are working correctly, before beginning the journey to the Moon. From there, the crew will perform various maneuvers, including a manual control test and approach to the upper stage of the SLS, to validate Orion’s behavior in real situations. The plan is to circle the Moon and return without setting foot on our satelliteon a journey of about ten days designed to rehearse each key phase of the trip. The crew of Artemis II If you look at the crew, What we find is a very measured mix of experience and symbolism. Reid Wiseman is the mission commander, accompanied by Victor Glover as pilot and Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen as mission specialists, four profiles who have already experienced space first-hand. Together they have accumulated 660 days in orbit and 12 spacewalks, which fits with a mission in which every decision counts. Added to that is something that also weighs: Koch will be the first woman to travel to the Moon and Hansen the first non-American to do so, opening a new stage in who is part of these trips. There is a detail that touches us a little more closely and that we should not lose sight of. Part of this mission also passes through Spainspecifically by Tres Cantos, in Madrid, where Airbus Crisa has designed, manufactured and validated the Thermal Control Unit of the European Service Moduleintegrated into Orion. This system is responsible for supplying air and water to the crew and maintaining the temperature within appropriate levels for both the astronauts and the equipment. It is a discreet piece within the whole, but without it it would not be possible to sustain a mission like this in safe conditions. In development. Images | POT In Xataka | The Artemis II astronauts will carry out experiments in what will be their own study models

NASA lost the best camera in Jupiter. A suicide plan has served to recover it successfully

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It seemed the premature end of the mission. The Junocam, the camera that has given us the most spectacular images of Jupiter and his moons, was dying. The relentless radiation of the gaseous giant had degraded the sweat sensor Juno turning his photos into a noise knead and corrupt lines. We had to try. With an overfruit of the moon ío just around the corner, the NASA team played the whole for the whole with a risky maneuver: cook the camera slowly at 600 million kilometers away to try to repair it. Although all at the control center endured breathing, the play worked. And not only that, but the miraculous rescue has sat a precedent for future space missions. Jupiter’s best photographer. Trying it was worth it because Junocam is not any camera. Is responsible for those Jupiter images that seem impressionist paintings and that, curiously, they are prosecuted by a community of fans on Earth. But its location is priced: it is out of titanium “bunker” that protects the main electronics of the Juno probe. NASA engineers knew that their useful life would be limited in one of the most radioactive environments of the solar system. The Calvary of the Junocam. The juno probe, that arrived in Jupiter in July 2016was designed to last until 2018, but its success has led NASA to extend the mission several times. During the first 34 orbits, Junocam worked perfectly. From orbit 47, radiation ravages began to be evident. For orbit 56, in November 2023, the situation was critical. “Almost all the images were corrupt,” admits NASA In a statement. The planet Jupiter and the moon ío photographed by Juno before and after repair A repair to all or nothing. Diagnosing the failure of a component at millions of kilometers is a titanic task. Repairing is a miracle. The clues pointed to a damaged voltage regulator at the camera power supply. With few options, the team resorted to a process called annealing or Annealing. The idea was, in essence, to heat the material and then cool it slowly, with the hope that heat would repair microscopic defects at the atomic level. “The annealing can sometimes alter a material such as silicon at the microscopic level, but we did not know if this would solve the damage,” explains Jacob Shaffner, chamber engineer. Forged on fire. NASA sent a command to Juno so that the only heater in the Junocam raised its temperature at about 25 ° C, much more than usual. The result was a success … temporary. The camera sent sharp images for several orbits. But Jupiter does not forgive. As the probe entered the radiation belts, the damage returned more strongly. “After orbit 55, our images were full of stripes and noise,” says Michael Ravine, head of the instrument. With an upcoming one Near Iro of íoonly one option was left. The only thing they had not tried was to take Junocam heater to the fullest and see if a more extreme recovery would save us. The reward. The first week there were no improvements. The tension in the equipment was maximum. But just a few days after the encounter with ío, the images began to improve dramatically. By the time Juno went to just 1,500 kilometers of the most volcanic moon in the solar system, the camera worked almost as well as the day of its launch. The success of the maneuver allowed Juno to capture very unprecedented and unprecedented images of the northern pole. The images revealed mountains covered with sulfur dioxide frost and Lava rivers that allowed scientists to rebuild geological formations as fascinating as A lava lake with a glass mountain Inside. This achievement is the culmination of an extended mission that has led Juno to explore Jupiter’s great moons. First it was Ganímedes in 2021the largest satellite of the solar system, and then Europe in 2022. I was as follows on the list, and losing the main camera would have been a hard blow. The repair, of course, is not eternal. NASA informs that noise has begun to reappear in orbit 74. But the lesson learned is incalculable. Images | NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SWRI/MSS In Xataka | The NASA Juno probe sends six photos of its passage through ío, the most inhospitable moon of the solar system

For the first time, a private company has managed to reach the moon successfully. And it has been after resurgence from bankruptcy

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The early morning of March 2, the Blue Ghost ship of Firefly Aerospace fell gently on the lunar surface. It was the First time in history that a private company achieved a completely successful moon landing: in vertical and with the solar panels well -oriented to survive the 14 days that a lunar day lasts. Blue Ghost nailed the moon landing. Preceded by the failures of the Beresheet ships (From the Israeli company Spaceil), Hakuto-R (of the Japanese ispace), Pilgrim (of the American astrobotic) and Odysseus (also American intuitive machines), Blue Ghost landed in a stable position after a descent maneuver designed to dodge rocks and dangerous geographical accidents. The lunar module touched soil in the Mare Crisium region, near the volcanic formation of Mons Latreille. The instruments and sensors on board reported that Blue Ghost was at an optimal angle, and the first images of the shadow projected by the Firefly Aerospace ship showed that it had perched on the lunar surface vertically. A respite for NASA. The historical achievement of the Texana company is also an achievement for NASA, which breathes quiet after the first round of the CLPS program (Commercial Lunar Payload Services), designed to send regular missions to the Moon in commercial ships. Intuitive machines I could achieve the second in a couple of dayswhen its new Nova-C module athens tries to alunize in the South Lunar Pole after Nova-C Odysseus overturns in February 2024. The Ghost Riders. On board the Blue Ghost module of Firefly there is a series of instruments, experiments and technological demonstrators, mainly from NASA, that will drill the soil to collect samples, investigate how the dust rises to mitigate the problems they represent in future lunar missions, and measure the level of radiation and the magnetic activity in the environment. Blue Ghost will display and operate these loads for 14 terrestrial days, equivalent to a lunar day, before the lack of sunlight and the very low temperatures compromise their batteries. An eclipse of earth. Blue Ghost has already given us overwhelming images of the Dawn on the moon or the Planet Earth in the firmament. “We are all in that image,” Firefly engineers recalled during the press conference. But the best will come in the last days of mission. Among the planned mission milestones are the capture in high definition of a total eclipse on March 14, when the earth blocks the sun from the perspective of the ship on the moon, as well as a recording of the lunar twilight on March 16 in which we will see the lunar dust levitating. The Renaissance of Firefly Aerospace. The Firefly feat is especially remarkable taking into account the recent history of the company, marked by a bankruptcy, an internal scandal and a sound change in property. Firefly was saved by the Ukrainian inverter Max Polykovwho invested around 200 million dollars and resurrected the company. However, Polykov was forced by the United States government to sell its majority participation in 2022 for a symbolic price of 1 dollar. And all for geopolitical reasons. Since then, Firefly was under the majority control of the private capital firm AE Industrial Partners. His current CEO is Jason Kim, who assumed the company’s management in October 2024 after his predecessor, Bill Weber, retired from An alleged inappropriate relationship With an employee. Image | Firefly Aerospace In Xataka | In 2011, a collector bought in Morocco a meteorite. It has turned out to be a direct test of thermal water on Mars

Boom XB-1 has successfully completed its first supersonic flight

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“There is! The XB-1 is supersonic. ” These words broke the expectant silence that has governed a transmission study located in the Mojave air and space port in California, and at the same time confirmed a historical feat. The first civil supersonic plane manufactured in the United States had broken the sound barrier. At the command of the XB-1, the pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg accelerated to show that the tireless work of the Boom Technology team had been worth it. On land, in front of the camera, he was Mike Bannisterwho was chief pilot of the Concorde fleet of British Airways for almost a decade. Baby Boom, the basis of overture The XB-1, also known as “Baby Boom,” has traveled a long way until you get here. Its initial design was released in 2016, but financing for its construction did not arrive until a year later. After suffering several delaysthe filming tests began in 2022 to give rise to the opening flight of March last year. Since then, Boom Technology team has coordinated almost a dozen test flights, but none of them as important as this. The fastest speed on those test flights was reached on January 10, which the company registered as Mach 0.95. This Tuesday, before the watchful eye of 25 engineers, managers, future clients and thousands of spectators, the XB-1 reached Mach 1.12 at an altitude of 35,290 feet (10,756 meters). The XB-1 on a trial flight The XB-1 is a demonstrator whose technology will become the basis of the Overture, the passenger plane that wants to happen to concord with supersonic commercial flights. As the manufacturer points outthe future plane will benefit with four very important characteristics: Increased reality vision system: Since the plane will have a long nose and a high angle of attack, the Overture will have an augmented reality vision system so that the pilots can have good visibility of the track. That is, we will not see a mobile nose like the Concorde. Digitally optimized aerodynamics: The engineers explored thousands of designs for the XB-1 with computational fluid dynamics simulations (CFD). This same type of resource will be used for the design of the Overture. Carbon fiber compounds: Overture will be manufactured almost entirely with carbon fiber compound materials, which promises to offer an aerodynamic design with a resistant and light structure. Supersonic shots: The experience obtained in the XB-1 about the development of the specialized shots will be applied to the Overture and its turbophah engine. More than two decades have passed since supersonic commercial flights ceased to be an option. Boom Technology has an ambitious project among hands. He hopes to be the protagonist in a new era of high -speed civil flights. The Overture should be able to transport between 64 and 80 passengers to Mach 1.7 towards the end of the decade. But it is a shared ambition. The manufacturer has received more than a hundred airline orders like United AirlinesAmerican Airlines and Japan Airlines. And their plans seem to be very seriously. Last year he completed his superfactory overture In Greensboro, North Carolina, where, if everything is going as planned, its aircraft will be assembled. Images | Boom Technology | Screen capture In Xataka | Airlines have found another way to gain space at the expense of the passenger: end the reclining seats

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